Have you noticed?

It depends where we go but a combination of several things for us. Since Covid we have become more aware of just how nasty we were before and we prefer not to be around as many ppl. We've noticed how ppl are sick or don't wash their hands, etc. No thank you.

But things have also become more expensive where it's costing more. The food isn't as good and the drinks are worse then it's costing more for that then when you add a tip of $20+ dollars it feels more like we have been ripped off. Nothing worse than sitting there disappointed then the bill comea. We mainly do takeout now. Way cheaper since sometimes everyone doesn't even want the same food.

Everywhere I’ve gone is still packed, even with the price increases and decline of service and quality. I’ve curtailed eating out by at least 70% as a result

Inflation and people are maxing out their credit cards, no choice but to cut back. People figured prices would come back down and/or their pay would increase even more than than the Covid years, and that plan didn’t work out well. I recently read that people are saving more for the weekends, skipping going out during the week. Also the lunch crowd is still down due to some people still working from home.

I am going to go out on a limb and say chain restaurants and fast casual were products of a different economic era that is rapidly fading in the rear view mirror.

I'm old and when I was a kid in the 60s going to a restaurant was a really big deal. Restaurants were mostly adults only. In other words you couldn't assume kids were welcome, you had to ask. There were no national chains, just locally owned. People dressed up to go to them, kids only went to restaurants on very special occasions and were expected to dress up and behave like midget adults. And it was expensive, really expensive but people still tipped whatever was considered expected at the time.

So maybe what is old becomes new again. It's possible national chains and fast casual are the dinosaurs struggling to survive after the covid meteor hit.

I saw where olive garden is going to raise prices to make up for slower sales. Um, yeah, that should get the seats filled. Oh, and don't forget to tip 20% on top of that price increase because their servers deserve a raise for working for a sinking ship.

This is probably based on location. I travel for work and see some areas that are packed. Especially in cities like Austin, phoenix, Los Angeles and Denver. I’ve also heard restaurant owners say that delivery service apps have become a larger part of their business so that may be contributing to the availability of tables.

Restaurants and most businesses in general have raised their prices so high, that doing the normal things like going out to eat, are just too expensive. They felt people would just pay it, which they were, but eventually habits start to change, and if/when social habits change the market changes. As for tipping in general, that was never really the issue, for things like table service, delivery, haircuts, or anything else that is common. But once we start saying everyone gets a 20% tip, it started to get to a point where everyone was feeling siphoned for cash. It's now shifted to only going to places with simple transactions, for necessities. People still go out but much less. There will however always be those who aren't great with their money and spend like nothing is wrong, but they were always that way.

That is part of it I feel. But I am noticing though is that the menu prices are higher, the portions are smaller and just not as tasty as they used to be. Wait staff is still the same, most all are friendly without trying to be your best friend, but I just hate now feeling like I HAVE to tip someone who is doing the bare minumum of their job 20% on top of the increased food cost. It's just too much, and we pretty much only go out to eat Sushi about once every two months.

“Servers” tell us if we can’t afford to tip we should stay home. So we are.

When your restaurant owners come crying we’ll remind them what their former plate fetchers told us.

Well, lots of people still don't eat in restaurants because it's still a pandemic and restaurants are a prime way to catch Covid. Add in the over-inflated prices due to greedflation and you lose more customers. People haven't gotten raises anywhere near the rate of inflation over the last four years. Now factor in the insane tip culture and... restaurants are closing.

Happening in fast food too. And frankly it's a good thing. Things in the industry need to change, and apparently it's up to consumers to force change by walking away, since corporations have gotten out of hand with price increases. Traffic is down, yet net profit is up, as is executive compensation. I don't want my money buying some rich guy's new vacation home.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackkelly/2024/06/06/major-restaurant-chains-that-have-closed-down-locations-across-the-us-in-2024/

Restaurant are less busy. The prices are much higher for a lower quality, credit card fees are added and tips. It’s become unaffordable.

Absolutely.

More money for less food, less quality, and laser staff. Fewer options as well. Combine that with all the people ordering delivery instead of walking in.

Sit down dining is on the decline. I imagine many places will kill the overhead soon and become delivery only.

Ozempic

Low quality for high prices. If I go out to eat it’s for something I couldn’t possibly make at home or don’t want to. The beauty about capitalism is that the market will work it out. Things change with demand. There’s lots of competition, gas stations have good, grocery stores have places you can sit and eat and have sushi. It will work it’s self out over time and we just have to see what comes out of it. I’ve never eaten at a red lobster but I want to before they don’t exist anymore. Whatabuger apparently was bought out. People are moving around, getting older, diets are changing. So many things to factor in.

I haven’t really noticed but I live in a tourist town. For me personally I ate out a lot when I worked. Food quality has gone down post Covid IMO. Prices have gone up. I’m a good cook so with a few exceptions like Indian or Thai food I can cook as well or better than what i get in a restaurant. Although I can afford it price with tip isn’t worth it to me anymore.

Inflation and expecting more money for less quality and product.

It’s because food prices are through the roof and the wait staff do less but demand more tips. Did it to themselves.

"Lazy burger flippers and servers" got better jobs, as they had been advised to.

Pretty fucking cut and dried.

If business at restaurants slows, I would blame inflation as the number one reason.

Most major cities are seeing an upturn in dining out over the past few years till this year. This excludes the Bay Area in CA where tax revenue has been down between 22% to 60%. It seems to follow the trend of spending power by the customer and economic trends that ebb and flow.

Meanwhile major cities with a large suburban sprawl have seen the highest rates of dining out excluding Atlanta. Though that may be because there’s less to do in these areas than in more urban environments. LA has has had a huge increase in dining out as has NYC.

Since tipping has been the cultural norm before and after the pandemic it’s unlikely to be the main reason for the downturn in dining out. It’s likely to be the ebb in the economy and the uncertainty that this election cycle has brought.

Where do you live? Every time I want to go out, every table at every decent restaurant is booked for a week in advance...

Price + fees + increased tip expectations + quality drop + portion drop = It's just too much of a mental and practical bother majority of the time

The "experience" of having someone bring a couple plates to a table and occasionally refill a drink or two is no longer a winning value proposition like it was in the past

Restaurants being less busy?

There's a little bit of both going on.

We went back to our favourite spot for the first time in over a year the other weekend. Popular spot, used to be rammed right from opening on a Saturday evening with lines out the door quickly forming thereafter. I was surprised to walk in and be seated right away when wait times used to be over an hour, and as we walked through the place was at about half capacity whereas you used to be practically tripping over people. The prices were about double so I think that's the major reason. Tipping expectations probably aren't the major reason but they don't help at $40 on a $200 meal. It was already outrageous, now it's just comical.

But I have seen other restaurants very busy still and others report the same. I think this is because a lot of restaurants have closed recently, leaving fewer places for people to go, so even though demand is down, supply is down further meaning the remaining restaurants are as busy or busier than they normally would be, giving the impression to some that the restaurant industry is in good shape.

The data proves otherwise. The industry is struggling according to the National Restaurant Association. They run a monthly report called the Restaurant Performance Index that tracks performance metrics to get an idea of whether the industry is expanding or contracting. The baseline is 100 - anything above it means the industry is expanding, anything below it means it's contracting. It's at 99.1 at the moment up slightly in May. Their "expectation index" expects this will rise to 99.6 - still below stability levels. And one should note that expectations almost always track far higher than actual.

57% of their members report lower foot traffic than the same month year prior compared to only 18% that reported an increase. It represents the 14th month of continued decline in foot traffic - and foot traffic numbers late last year were down double digits from the year prior.

do you think it is a result of “tip fatigue” and/or insane tip expectations. Or is it just a product of inflation

As I mentioned above, because tips are directly tied to the price of a meal I don't think you can have one without the other. Both are to blame, but definitely sticker shock plays a bigger role IMO.

It's definitely that way where I live.

I think it's probably a combination of factors. People got used to getting takeout during the pandemic, but also, everything's more expensive. It costs a lot to eat out now, and if you factor in even a little bit of tip fatigue, that's going to make a difference.

Tbh, no. I’ve noticed the opposite. I haven’t been in a restaurant that wasn’t busy since peak covid. It’s actually one of the reasons I think everyone is bullshitting when they says the economy is bad. Every restaurant I go to has a wait. Constantly.

It has literally nothing to do with tip fatigue The average citizen really doesn't seem to actually mind tipping It's mostly just due to the general trend of people not eating out anymore because it's not really worth it due to the fake inflation being caused by corporations

I just dislike tipping culture so much that I RARELY go any more

We rarely eat out anymore. The food often isn't good. And it's a lot of money for a so so meal. Service is often not good. We are not the demanding types. But if I get served fries and a steak and ask for ketchup and A1 and they disappear for 20 min, then i either have to eat it without and not enjoy it or wait till my food gets cold. I have asked for those condiments to be brought when ordering thinking they will just grab them and bring them in advance but they never do. Then i have to ask again, and again. I am tired of it all. Or i get my water or drink and they don't come and refill and i am sitting eating with no drink.

Honestly I would rather just stay home now. The time, expense and experience is no longer a net positive.

I think it's a combination of both. Inflation definitely has kept people back. But then wait staff also decided that the 10%-15% tip now has to be 20%-25%. They were already making more from inflation but decided to double their tip percentage.

I know I am done with traditional tipping. $1/person at the table is all you get. Don't like it? Not my problem. You took a minimum wage job, not me. I am not your employer and refuse to continue being treated like I am.

The price is 60%-70% more, so does tip, most people don't have the raise like this, and the greedy servers are expecting higher % by doing exactly the same thing.

I do think a lot of places are doing online delivery as well

I definitely notice many restaurants being less busy, even compared to just last year. Personally I have cut down on eating out because the prices feel ridiculous, the 20% tip expectation only makes it worse.

What really pisses me off is all the traditionally non-tipped businesses asking / shaming people for tips. If I stand up in line to place an order, why do I have to tip? I know I can just decline it, but it’s still a negative experience. I eat out because I want to have a little fun, getting pissed off due to unwarranted tip request and dealing with the face they make (when I put 0) takes the little fun out.

Many major companies were laying off massively earlier this year, so there’s a lot of people who can ill afford eating out. The employment number is still ok because many people are getting part time jobs, but of course this kind of jobs doesn’t support frequent eating out either.

Yes to everything. Inflation is insane, tipping is insane, the quality of service isn't as good as in the past, the food doesn't seem as good or worth the money, and people have gotten used to eating at home. I know that all of that has affected me.