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[Mech#4]

Well, I wouldn't use YouTube for foundation repair.

[heydude6]

Many of these options involve cooking at home. Grocery chains are increasingly competing with restaurants, thanks to lower prices and perks such as pick-up and delivery, new technology, and trendy features like wine bars and to-go meals.

Convenience is also a factor...casual dining chains are still playing catch-up with regards to delivery.

"They have more of a healthy perception, there's quicker service times,"

"The healthiness and the speed of service — that's been taking market share from casual dining."

With the information above, this is the articles conclusion:

casual dining brands just aren't cool any more.

Yes, because that's totally the reason why casual dining chains are losing customers. Because they aren't cool. Let's just ignore the struggling job market that forces us to be more fiscally responsible, the increased health consciousness that is making us be more aware of what we put into our bodies, or the general lack of free-time we have due to a need to work long hours in order to survive. Let's ignore all of that and just say it's an issue of popularity.

Rage aside, I feel casual dining restaurants are in an unpleasant master-of-none sort of situation. If you are well-off, you will likely got to a real restaurant rather than one of these places for a stay-in dining experience. If you aren't, then one of the reasons mentioned in the previous paragraph likely applies to you and you will likely go for something cheaper and quicker like McDonalds.

Despite this reason, this news still makes me sad. I liked TGI fridays. Back when I was in New York, I would order drinks at that place while waiting for the subway to arrive. It had a kind of atmosphere that you just wouldn't get at McDonald's or a real restaurant. You could just sit there, forget about all of your troubles, and enjoy the experience.

[CABL]

I just found a familiar face in YouTube comments...

Spoiler: Picture (click to show/hide)

Kinda Off-Topic: Speaking of YouTube comments, I sometimes get some parts of my brain melted off after reading them, yet I still love to read the comments just to see how bad they are. They're magical in that regard.

[scriver]

It's the car crash phenomena. Can't look away.

Anyway, what does a "casual dining restaurant" mean? Like, diners?

[smjjames]

It's the car crash phenomena. Can't look away.

Anyway, what does a "casual dining restaurant" mean? Like, diners?

Pretty much, or something you can take for a family outing. Basically everything between fast food places and formal restaurant.

[heydude6]

Try to think of something like "Mclaren's" from How I Met Your Mother. You can think of casual dining as the middle ground between fast-food and real restaurants. You still sit at a table or booth, but the food is a bit more... "junkish" and cheaper for lack of a better word.

Applebey's, Checkers, Denny's, and TGI fridays are some examples of casual dining. In Canada, we have Swiss Chalet though I don't think management realizes that's what they are.

[MrRoboto75]

Those restaurants are failing because honestly they suck.

[hector13]

Appleby's is pretty good.

Food takes too long and is quite expensive, but I like it...

[NJW2000]

Talking of youtube comments, this is probably appropriate to the thread.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

[Lagslayer]

>elites encourage a generation of NEETs and shut-ins to break down social cohesion
>are shocked when they act like NEETs and shut-ins by not wasting money on their garbage

Like pottery.

[Rolan7]

Gotta agree, even with friends, bachelor cooking or fast food is cheaper and more fun that sit down restaurants.  Though I did get pwned last week by the grocery store's pay-per-pound asian buffet.  Tasted great but way more expensive than I expected.  DIY FTW.

I just found a familiar face in YouTube comments...

Hi!  I've also seen Metal Slime Hunt on some of those W40K videos, I think Bruvah's stuff.

[Frumple]

Yeah, pretty much. Restaurants like tgif were appealing back when I didn't know how to cook, or shop, or before I was cognizant of how massively bloody inflated their services cost compared to doing it yourself. Food's usually pretty alright, but for 15-20 bucks a plate I can do a whole hell of a lot better than pretty alright, or a whole hell of a lot more of pretty alright, and not have to spend gas money or deal with traffic or whatever. Things have a niche when you're meeting with someone you wouldn't let into your home or vice versa, but other than that... nah. They can enjoy dying off or they can get with the times somehow or another.

Can't think of anything intentionally built for that kind of half-way sit down that's not something like a bar, ferex. Give it another 5-10 years and you might be seeing a potential market. Rent a booth for cheap for an inside picnic? Something like that.

[wierd]

I am in a kind of tight spot-

I KNOW how to cook. Just not in small portions.  I grew up in a family with 3 other siblings, so I learned how to prepare food for 6 people. Not for a single person. I make damn good food too-- but I cannot get the flavor right when I try to scale down the recipes.

As a consequence, rather than have a fridge overstocked with leftovers, I just buy microwavable slop.  It is also very convenient, as I just pop that crap in the microwave at work.

[Lord Shonus]

For me, the problem is in the quantities stores sell. Meat's not so bad since you can easily freeze it, and I generally buy most vegetables in frozen form anyway, but things like potatoes, breads, tortillas (at least the sort I prefer), eggs, and fruits are often packaged in a way that you either have to buy more than you could possibly use, or get gouged horrible on the smaller amount that you'll actually use up. The only recourse I've found is to cook once a week and eat the same thing for every home-meal until it is gone, but there comes a point where you just can't eat any more lasagna, or else you get to be afraid that the shredded pork tacos you made up are starting to taste a little funny.

[Frumple]

Oh aye, dealing with perishables is easily one of the more sketchy bits about home cooking. There's various fancy ways to go about mitigating it (drying, canning, etc., etc.), but personally I mostly just don't cook much with stuff that goes bad quickly, heh. Beyond that it's just figuring out what you(r household) will actually use and tailor purchase habits to it. Do indeed often have to pay more if you're going to avoid wastage, but *shrugs* Regardless it's going to cost less than the alternatives, by and large.

E: Though the other thing to do is make that one thing in bulk, but make sure it's something you can add to pretty easily. There comes a point you can't eat any more lasagna, but that point stretches a lot further if each one has different spices added in when you re-heat. Maybe one has extra cheese, one added peppers or something, another worked into a quick soup base of some sort (can be tricky with stuff like lasagna, but if you have a fairly thick base, via adding something like mashed potatoes or rice or whatever, it can work out well enough), stuff like that. I drive some of my family a bit up the wall by largely eating the same things regularly, but the trick is for all I'm still cooking noodles or whatever, wht I do to it changes. One type of sauce one day, cheese the next, bacon bits the third and so on.