Yeah not sure Olive Garden and Red Lobster are good examples. I quit going to them 15+ years ago for the most part because they suck or at least there are better options for the same cost or cheaper if you look. In more recent memory the family tried Macaroni Grill (which didn’t last long at the mall) just cause and we were unimpressed. For the same dining out cost we could go to a small local place with quite a bit of local sourced food and in house made pasta and much tastier food.
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You’re right about what the article says, and it is presented here as evidence of the growing wealth gap.
I don’t think anyone can really deny the existence of that phenomenon, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t other things going on than simply “here are the rich, here are the poor, but there’s no more middle, and these stats prove it.” I think people in the middle (wealth/income-wise) trading in a steady stream of mediocrity for the occasional luxurious splurge is surely one of them.
Is the next 20-40% being pulled in the cultural wake of the 1%, consciously or not? I think so. After all, a Michelin *** restaurant that costs upwards of $200/person can’t survive on billionaires alone – even today there aren’t enough of them to go around to support all the ultra-fancy places. That restaurant also needs ordinary folks out for a splurge.
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I think the evidence is actually pretty solid.
- Before, the “neighborhood guy” and the local Olive Garden were both making enough revenue.
- Now, only the “neighborhood guy” is making enough revenue. Total revenue seems to have gone down. The number of “middle class” eateries seems to have gone down.
- Couple this with the well-established fact that the middle class has lost purchasing power in the last few decades and you have a pretty good support for the hypothesis that the US middle class is in decline.
Whatever you personally think about Olive Garden and similar people have been eating there for decades. If they aren’t any longer and if new “middle class” eateries aren’t replacing them then I’m not sure what sort of evidence would satisfy you that fewer people are eating at such places.
I worked at a Red Lobster in the mid-1970s for a while. Now, I’m not saying the food was good, but it was good enough that family members who were excellent cooks felt it was an acceptable place to eat out occasionally. That has not been true for a while.
In other words, I think there are a lot of variables which were not factored in. Specifically, I think there has been a downward spiral in middle-class chain restaurants in the following areas: quality of ingredients, staff training, and number of employees (resulting in longer hours, fewer breaks, covering more tables, less attention to details, etc.).
A big reason these chains aren’t doing so well is because they’re not as good a value as they used to be. People aren’t stupid: if all they can afford is crappy food, they’re going to pay McD’s prices for it, not Red Lobster’s.
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It is very rare that family/co-workers/friends and I will go to one of the chains – we almost exclusively go to locally owned places (usually mom-n-pop). Much better food, much better service and prices are lower or competitive.
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I’m not sure that I would use the word ‘feeds’ when referring to mcd’s
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I think everyone agrees that the major chains just aren’t a great value anymore. Another reason I think you are seeing that is the rise of the fast serve mid/low tier. I don’t know the segment name, but places like 5 Guys or Chipotle. So for $5-6 I could do Taco Bell, for $8-9 Chipotle, or $12-15 Chili’s…I mean if I’m spending $15 bucks I’m going to go to one of the dozen locally owned Mexican places - which will be better than any of the other cheaper options.
I agree that as one of the solid middle class people I’d rather spend my money eating out at places like Chipotle or a local mom and pop than I would The Olive Garden. And from time to time my wife and I splurge and do the +$100 nice meal.
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There’s a sadness in that, also, as there are so many perfectly wonderful pubs all over England. I’d rather have dinner in a pub than anywhere else in the world, really.
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The vast majority of pub food is homogenized rubbish these days, presumably because it’s hard to compete with the likes of Wetherspoons.
More sadly, there are nowhere near as many pubs as there used to be. Admittedly, I haven’t been in the UK much in the last few years, but in my old village half the pubs closed between 2006 and 2012.
Restaurants are a very competitive business. It’s easier to open a Chili’s than it is a comparable independent restaurant, because of big chain support (not sure how this translates to franchises), even if the food there is not very good in comparison. By the time the chain restaurant folds, it has driven a couple of local restaurants in the same value range under, not unlike what Wal*mart does to smaller retail outlets.
OTOH, I would rather save up for 6 months and eat at Ruth’s Chris Steak House than Outback every other month. I find it to be a better value.
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What the heck makes that ridiculously named steak house any good? (Not Outback, I already know what makes that chain mediocre.) I don’t eat land animals, so I’ll never eat at one, but our little town will soon be getting one so I’m curious what the deal is.
Here’s some quotes to chew on:
For example, luxury gambling properties like Wynn and the Venetian in Las Vegas are booming, drawing in more high rollers than regional casinos in Atlantic City, upstate New York and Connecticut, which attract a less affluent clientele who are not betting as much, said Steven Kent, an analyst at Goldman Sachs.
and
At G.E. Appliances, for example, the fastest-growing brand is the Café line, which is aimed at the top quarter of the market, with refrigerators typically retailing for $1,700 to $3,000.
“This is a person who is willing to pay for features, like a double-oven range or a refrigerator with hot water,” said Brian McWaters, a general manager in G.E.'s Appliance division.
I love the Wynn - sooo gorgeous. And sure I’d like a fridge with fancy features, but these products are not just an example of people choosing something higher value, but people opting to spend significant cash for flash.
I’m not sure it’s possible to explain what makes a steakhouse good to someone who doesn’t eat steak.
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Refrigerators should not, by their very nature, dispense hot water. The very idea is weird.
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It’s hilarious to me that 2/3rds of this thread is people competing to be the most revolted by popular chain restaurants. Chili’s? How appallingly bourgeois. Fetch the fainting couch!
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I told my SO that one was going to be coming to our area and he’d never heard of it before. And since I don’t eat teh critter, even though he does, I’d like to be able to explain how/why it might be some kind of “big deal” for one to open here.
i know, right? But I had an aunt who was very aspirational in her living who had a three way fridge - freezer, fridge, and then one compartment that could flip to be either of those things. That seemed really useful. Better than hot water.
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Not bourgeois, just plain terrible. There’s a difference, you know.
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She had a what? Now that’s a goddamn invention and a half. Why the hell don’t we all have one of those, instead of a stupid identity-crisis fridge that spits icecubes and hot water?
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bourgeois?
It’s for the proles.
