Re$taurant Dining

Restaurants have changed. Yes, I know. Everything has changed. And especially since the pandemic, everything but everything has changed.

The thing is, that since the pandemic especially, restaurant staff has decreased yet restaurants are producing larger size servings and jacking up prices, to make up for lost revenue. Dining out is one of the nicer experiences in life, but it can be very, very costly to go out even 1 day a week.

What are we to do? The answer is simple. And the Answer is simplify, simplify, simplify. Years ago, it was no problem to go to a restaurant to order an appetizer then a full entree and perhaps even a salad and dessert. Going out with a family of 3 or 4 and doing that can cost you big bucks.

Recently we found that by studying the appetizer or starters section of the menu carefully, we can actually end up with a great meal and pay less for it. I'll give you an example. In one of our favorite Greek restaurants, spinach pie is available as an entree that comes with rice on a platter For about $18. However, when we look at the starters or appetizers section they also list spinach pie which is a slightly smaller size and comes without the rice, which we really don't need or want.



Another example is fried calamari. Our family loves fried calamari. Yet ordering fried calamari as an appetizer with all the Bells and whistles can get pretty pricey. Yet ordering it from the appetizer section affords you a slightly smaller version, without all the sides.

Salads are another issue. You can order a salad and you'll be charged for an entree salad at about $9 to $10. But ordering a side salad worded exactly that way, can get you a very nice salad for about $4.

Now the most difficult strategy of all, especially for men. Sharing. I long subscribed to the notion that real men don't share. That sharing was limited to women going out to lunch and sharing a salad or sharing an appetizer. But that's not true. I'm more than happy to share, as long as it's something that I like. Sometimes, I feel like having a great big corned beef sandwich on rye. My wife likes this too, but we may not want one each so we'll order 1 sandwich and share the other person will order a salad and will share that as well. If you feel that that marks you as some sort of cheap skate, who the heck cares?? It's your money. And you are bound to protect it and save it, or it will be gone.

Another thing you can do is take home items that you may not want to consume at the table in the restaurant. At 1 of our favorite restaurants, their great dish is mussels. The mussels are served with a light wine sauce. I can't imagine how many gallons of that wine sauce go down the drain when the dish is brought back to the kitchen. We ask for a cup to take the broth home, and we use it to make rice or soup or other foods, where we want the flavor of seafood.



Rather than go on and on, I'm sure you get the idea. Develop strategies for dining out, in this high priced high volume high serving area. And use the money you save to go out again.