<p>
RE Lee, </p>
<p>Did you miss gsp’s comment? As far as I’m concerned, that’s the best answer to your question. Eating out isn’t always better than home cooking. Home cooking is often better for many reasons, but eating out can be fun. As they say, “variety is the spice of life” and I think that also applies to what and where we eat.</p>
<p>hey, you can make your own clothes too while your at it.</p>
<p>Just to spite Lee - my g/f and I went out to a steakhouse, and after tip, $88 for both of us.</p>
<p>Why do people have to ***** and moan about others’ enjoyments that do not affect them?</p>
<p>I just skipped from page 4 to here, so forgive me if I reiterate something that has already been mentioned.</p>
<p>I am a waitress at a diner, and have worked there for the past 3 years. We have people who come in every single day, three or more times a day. These people EASILY spend 20/day which is a lot, considering they are almost all retired and on fixed incomes. Our regulars often come soley for company and conversation, which is partially sad but makes me feel good about going to work! People go out to eat for a ton of different reasons!</p>
<p>If you say restaurants have no atmosphere, you have never been to a genuinely nice place (no, Olive Garden is not a “nice” restaurant!!). I have no problem paying 100 dollars to enjoy a fondue for two at The Melting Pot - although it’s nothing I would do multiple times a year. Yes, it’s overpriced for the portion size, but there is a certain ambiance in higher class places that you just can’t bring home from walmart for 79 cents. Just being waited on is a wonderful experience when your feet are dragging and you are exhausted. </p>
<p>Also - regarding the Olive Garden, and other similarly priced places (Ground Round, Applebees, 99, Friendly’s, etc.): I eat at establishments like these about 2 times a month with a friend. I can probably count on one hand the number our bill was over 20 dollars over the course of a year. No appetizers, drinks other than water, or dessert. The meals are usually large enough for two whole portions, and to me 10 bucks for 2 meals that you didn’t have to cook is well worth it.</p>
<p>I know plenty of people who spend $50k on APPLIANCES they never cook on. First you’ve got your Aga stove, then you add two Sub-Zeros in the kitchen and two in the pantry. Two Bosch drawer dishwashers in the kitchen and two in the butler’s pantry. Two Gaggenau wall ovens. A microwave. An automatic espresso machine. Wait–that’s at least $65k!! </p>
<p>Many empty nest women lose interest in cooking, especially if they have the money and the understanding spouse. They lose interest after cooking non-stop for a couple of decades. Recently I read that this drop in concern for others can be linked to hormonal changes. Personally, I still love to cook but-- ooooh, honey–I hate to shop for groceries. I am trying to hire someone to do that for me. Is that a sin too? </p>
<p>Cooking at home is not necessarily a righteous activity, Mr Lee. One can be equally wanton and gluttonous at in one’s kitchen at home.</p>
<p>I agree with weenie and others. We’ve had some fabulous restuarant meals with our family–all over the world–from sidewalk soup bowls to Michelin star restaurants. Starched white tablecloths and linen napkins bring out a certain verbosity in boys. Worth every cent… and every minute in purgatory if it turns out that restaurants are a sin… :eek:</p>
<p>kk06: Melting Pot is to die for. From a waiter to another… STOP ORDERING WATER! IT’S ANNOYING!</p>
<p>I think that Robert E. Lee is missing some points here, so let’s summarize:</p>
<p>1) eating out is fun and has entertainment value
2) eating out can be more cost effective depending on what you eat where
3) eating out is a social experience
4) eating out is a great way to try new foods you can’t or don’t know how to make
5) it’s a great way to support local businesses
6) it is a nice break from cooking and cleaning every so often
7) it doesn’t matter how people choose to spend their money.</p>
<p>I wonder if your family feels the same way you do, REL, or if they wish you all ate out more instead of eating the same stuff at home all the time.</p>
<p>I personally ate out just last night and it was beyond excellent. Went to the local italian place with a friend from school, had two plates of pasta (hers with pesto, mine alla bolongese) and two lemonades, plus endless excellent foccacia. Bill was $19.53 before tip. After tip it was $25 for the two of us because I tend to tip generously. There’s a good two or three portions left over in the fridge, which my dad will assuredly eat for lunch. From the time we ordered to the time we got food was maybe ten minutes, the service was excellent, the food was excellent. We enjoyed nice conversation and an excellent view of the town center while we waited.</p>
<p>Could I have made pasta with pesto in fifteen minutes? Sure. Pesto’s super easy. Could I have made pasta and fresh bolognese in 15 minutes? Absolutely not. That would have taken me half a day to construct the sauce.</p>
<p>Instead I got a plate of it for $7. Well worth it IMO.</p>
<p>“eating out is a social experience”</p>
<p>Can not eating at home be a social experience. Man alive! Our forefathers must have been social eating at home. Some of the most prominent of people would dine at home for a more private atmosphere.</p>
<p>“it’s a great way to support local businesses”</p>
<p>Or you could support the local grocery stores and farmers markets. Restaurants typically patronize large distributors like Sysco. </p>
<p>2) eating out can be more cost effective depending on what you eat where</p>
<p>No way! AIN’T NO WAY! As I said before, the ingredients needed are far cheaper than going out to eat. Plus, the ingredients that you can buy are typically not all depleted after preparation. Curry, for example, is not always expended in one use.</p>
<p>The components for sushi go bad very quickly. And it’s very very expensive to buy all the fish needed.</p>
<p>And yes, eating at home can be a social experience. But it also means that at least one person has to work a lot harder for that experience.</p>
<p>^If you have all the pre-meal preparations finished, work will no longer be needed. How is fish purchased from the pier expensive?</p>
<p>You don’t get sushi, do you?</p>
<p>Sushi isn’t about eating meat from one fish. Sushi is about sampling different kinds of meats from many different fish. How is buying 5-10 whole fish cheaper than buying it at a sushi restaurant?</p>
<p>Oh, and good sushi rice is very hard to prepare properly. There’s also knowing how to cut it…how not to get sick…</p>
<p>I wonder just how much REL’s family appreciates this sort of attitude…</p>
<p>And you still haven’t told me where I keep my shawarma rotisserie in my apartment kitchen!</p>
<p>^Uh, in a kitchen cabinet? Try a George Forman fat reducin’ rotiserrie machine!</p>
<p>^Uh, in a kitchen cabinet? Try a George Forman fat reducin’ rotiserrie machine!</p>
<p>And where should ucla put the food?</p>
<p>^Uh, in a refrigerator?</p>
<p>haha neverborn - i can handle water if it’s all that they drink.
what bugs me is when three people feel the need to have four beverages per person…coffee, water, oj, and tomato juice is common around here =X</p>
<p>REL:</p>
<p>The money UCLAri would save by eating at home would be outstripped by the cost of having a house big enough to contain all the kitchen implements, fresh food, and condiments required to make enjoyable meals. And if you want meals to serve as social experiences to boot, you need to have a place large enough to hold more than one person–or even two.</p>
<p>Cheers:</p>
<p>There are some food delivery services in my area: you do your shopping online and it gets delivered at a certain time.<br>
I know a busy couple whose wife stopped cooking–or so she claims-- the minute her youngest went off to college. She likes to entertain, though, so she has the meals catered when she does.</p>
<p>Robert I agree with what you are saying. But for some things, the extra work and equipment and skills doesn’t balance out. I eat out very rarerly, but when I want some kind of hard to make MiddleEastern dish, or sushi, I am willing to shell out money for the meal. Simple as that.</p>