71–80 of 280 posts
This is a strong argument that habits formed during covid stuck around until today, as it was long enough to reshape the baseline. Unfortunately these habits seem to affect the sociability of everyone, and I think we still underestimate what a terrible burden staying locked in was on the population.
So what kind of macro event might nudge us back to sociability?
I haven't noticed it as much with other restaurants. Maybe Thai (and other Asian) dishes hold up well because the topping is typically kept separate from the rice?
How much of this is the COVID-correlated normalization of delivery apps [0]? Anecdotally I do sometimes notice people eating quickly or taking out, but what I really notice is the nonstop flurry of app delivery folks darting in and out of the pickup area... Seems consistent with the study's observations, too: > As a result, we think the growth in take-out or delivery is the primary driver of the jump in short visits.…
What I'd like to know are the demographics of the people using the delivery apps. Everyone I know refuses to touch them due to the massive extra costs piled on top, but whenever I swing by somewhere in-person to get takeout, I have the same experience as you - there's always at least a few bags on the "Doordash shelf" or equivalent. Who's burning all this money?!
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The timing is perfect for drone delivery to make a big impact here. Meals could arrive fast enough to stay hot, so the quality of the food goes up while reducing delivery times too. I don't get why companies can't figure out how to make this profitable.
Because drones are noisy and irritating in reality and nobody wants them flying around their neighborhood and they don’t scale and they can potentially scare animals and and and…
I get recruitment emails for a startup some people from Uber are making called Cloud Kitchens. Basically kitchens that can scale based on demand. The company provides ingredients and the kitchens make the food. Share resources make it more productive. I think restaurants themselves are unproductive.
You think one of the staples of all commerce for basically all of time are unproductive?
I would imagine basically any form of sustainability for them has been tried. Sure patterns change; but, I mean literal millennia of food service is something to not ignore.
I've noticed at several Thai restaurants in the Portland area that we are the only or almost only customers in the restaurant. There's a steady stream of Door Dash, Uber Eats, etc. drivers picking up orders. I haven't noticed it as much with other restaurants. Maybe Thai (and other Asian) dishes hold up well because the topping is typically kept separate from the rice?
Over in say, Europe, the cost of commercial real estate is much lower (including more restaurants owning their own building) and governments simply covered lost revenue versus loans which enabled more full service restaurants to stay in business.
The fact is, full service restaurants are a horrible business model and most aren't priced appropriately (they should be priced much higher).
> The restaurants’ productivity growth rates are strongly correlated, however, with reductions in the amount of time their customers spend in the establishments, particularly with a rising share of customers spending 10 minutes or less. The frequency of such ‘take-out’ customers rose considerably during COVID, even at fast food restaurants, and never went back down. The magnitude of the restaurant-level relationship…
Just look at the furniture in American restaurants - cheap, plastic, and uncomfortable, even in high priced restaurants. I empathize with the economic predicament of restauranteurs but I'll continue to frequent establishments with better comfort features especially because the prices are high no matter where you go. Why pay $25 rushed sloppy meal when you could pay $30 for a better meal, in a better setting, and resu…
People switched away from cash during COVID. Lots of people who might have been unbanked or lightly banked went all-in as everything went digital. Now restaurants (historically a pretty cash-heavy industry) have fewer cash transactions. Possibly related?
The convenience of digital simply made cash useless (mostly).
I wonder if there are also cultural/regulatory differences here. I'm in the EU, and of course we had the forced shift to takeout as well, during covid. But while homeoffice as a concept stayed, restaurants very quickly went back to in-house dining when it was over. Seeing a takeout-only restaurant with a repurposed dine-in area here in 2025 would be beyond weird and would probably just give everyone covid flashbacks.…
Going out to even a basic lunch with my wife is close to 50 usually for the meal.
Takeout I can tip the delivery person a little less. And keep left overs a little easier. Take out is only for being lazy, I'd still just cook and meet or beat in quality any restaurant except ones that mignt win an award or you can't do at home.