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The curious surge of productivity in U.S. restaurants

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Re: The curious surge of productivity in U.S. restaurants

#81

Post by bmandale »

lastofthemojito wrote: post #78
tmpz22 wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Fun fact, there's no N in restaurateur: https://www.ciachef.edu/blog/what-happened-to-the-n-in-resta...

>restauranteurs

>Plural form of restauranteur

>noun

>Alternative form of restaurateur.

odd

Re: The curious surge of productivity in U.S. restaurants

#82

Post by j_timberlake »

6stringmerc wrote: post #70
j_timberlake wrote: post #69

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 can't tell if this is sarcasm, because it sounds almost exactly like how a horse rider would have described new-fangled automobiles.

Re: The curious surge of productivity in U.S. restaurants

#83

Post by happyopossum »

xg15 wrote: post #67

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.…

> Seeing a takeout-only restaurant with a repurposed dine-in area here in 2025 would be beyond weird

Well, I’m in California and I have no idea what that would look like - it’s just not a thing where I am, nor do I see it mentioned in that abstract. What are you referring to??

Re: The curious surge of productivity in U.S. restaurants

#84

Post by syntaxing »

colonial wrote: post #65
alwa wrote: post #36

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?!

Anecdata, but I usually see people who live alone or DINKs that have been together for a long time use it the most often. Those who started dating usually opt to cook or go out together. Those with kids don't even bother.

Re: The curious surge of productivity in U.S. restaurants

#85

Post by UltraSane »

tayo42 wrote: post #80
xg15 wrote: post #67

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.…

Eating out seems less popular in the the US right now. Everything is more expensive and there's the 18-25% tip that gets applied. 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…

most restaurants are absolutely terrible value for money.

Re: The curious surge of productivity in U.S. restaurants

#86

Post by harrall »

People got out of their comfort zone during COVID and tried new things.

Campgrounds got packed, people got into skateboarding… if you look at statistics, you’ll see a 2020-ish bump for many interests and an associated sudden growth in revenue.

But the question is how long it will last…

Some outdoor brands that expanded with new stores post-pandemic discovered that many people who tried camping/surfing/etc. only had a fleeting interest and these brands had to close stores.

Tech companies that hired during the pandemic found out a lot of people who tried online meetings/online work only did it because they had to and stopped as soon as they could and these companies had to lay off staff.

But maybe the people who “discovered delivery orders” during COVID won’t ever stop.

Re: The curious surge of productivity in U.S. restaurants

#87

Post by TriangleEdge »

t-writescode wrote: post #75
TriangleEdge wrote: post #66

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.

> 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.

Yeah, true. I meant sitdown restaurants.

Re: The curious surge of productivity in U.S. restaurants

#88

Post by harrall »

happyopossum wrote: post #83
xg15 wrote: post #67

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.…

> Seeing a takeout-only restaurant with a repurposed dine-in area here in 2025 would be beyond weird Well, I’m in California and I have no idea what that would look like - it’s just not a thing where I am, nor do I see it mentioned in that abstract. What are you referring to??

I’m in California and there is a take out only Dominoes near me.

The first In-n-Out had no seating or parking.

Re: The curious surge of productivity in U.S. restaurants

#89

Post by fumufumu »

renewiltord wrote: post #61
renewiltord wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s the age old story of change aversion. I imagine one can post-hoc rationalize an argument for the decrease in third spaces and ensuing loneliness or some nonsense that will quote statistics of the quality of “50% of all Americans live paycheck to paycheck”.

Hahaha I bullseye’d that.

[dead]

Re: The curious surge of productivity in U.S. restaurants

#90

Post by SoftTalker »

colonial wrote: post #65
alwa wrote: post #36

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?!

I have never once ordered delivery from an app. I very rarely order delivery period. I will order carry-out sometimes, maybe a few times a year, but I use the phone to place the order and I pick it up myself.
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