Why is eating out so expensive now when the food quality is worse?
Restaurants are simultaneously hiking prices, shrinking portion sizes, and letting service and food quality slip. This combination of higher costs and lower value makes customers feel cheated, pushing even loyal regulars to stop dining out entirely.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1cooking at home
- 2buying cheaper alternatives like grocery store rotisserie chickens
- 3switching to lower-cost fast food or local food trucks
- 4ordering delivery instead of sitting in
In their words
Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.
“We have reduced our dining out for a few reasons. The prices have gone up, which I understand and can handle, but the quality has gone down.”source ↗
“Younger buyers (like me) quit going because their portion size and customer service went to crap.”source ↗
“They really lost me, and I was an easy person to keep”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 2Why do restaurants charge a fee for sharing a meal?
- 4Why are food delivery apps so expensive?
- 3Why do restaurants charge extra for basic sides and additions?
- 4Should I keep going with my stagnating business or quit?
- 2Is it rude to skip a distant wedding when travel and money are tight?
- 3Do you need a microphone for a small outdoor wedding?