Your opinion/personal experiences on the restaurant & food service industry?

[MaxPC]

I think there are fewer people than there used to be, both potential business owners and potential employees, who are willing to work the hours required to run a successful family restaurant, namely working late evenings and weekends when dining out is most in demand.

Still, the restaurants that manage to continue operating should be busy because there are fewer of them, and seemingly as much demand as ever. They should get to charge more for their service because of reduced competition.

The big question is how much of a shift occurred in people's habits over the last couple of years toward less dining out and more eating at home. I think a certain shift of that nature has occurred. I know of numerous grocery stores that were struggling prior to Covid who benefited hugely from the boom in eat-at-home food and who seem to be staying solidly on their feet since. In my own grocery store, the increase in sales that occurred during Covid was more than just a temporary phenomenon. Inflation is driving some of growth, but not all.

I agree with this. One local family owned restaurant did not see crowds until the other restaurants closed. We enjoyed their food which was well-made but also because the restaurant was not crowded. Now there are lines to get into the buffet.

Inflation is in the double digits, depending on whether you are buying groceries or going out to eat. We are growing more of our food now.

[Sliceitup]

The pandemic obviously left a mark on this industry. Costs of food & material are higher or fluctuate rapidly. Wages are up yet they still have multiple positions to fill. Locally, many restaurants are cutting hours, taking things off the menu (or they are special order).

I am noticing that the smaller diners and family-owned establishments are taking a hit and I'm afraid to say it, they're not gonna survive. One diner was planning to build a new restaurant pre-pandemic. As of this week, they have four open positions. Meals have gone up well over 50%. Portions remain the same but quality has become inconsistent. Service has tanked as every shift has call-offs. people are noticing the parking lot is not nearly as full as it used to be. Building maintenance has slipped as well.

The above scenario can be repeated over and over through out our area. Chain restaurants seem to weather the economy well. Anything smaller than that appear to struggle.

What is your take on this?

P.S. My advanced apologies to those here that work in that industry.

The effects of the pandemic took out at least three of the old standby family restaurants in our small rural area, and probably a number of smaller places I can't think of at the moment. However, I think that it was a bit like Covid itself, which most severely affected the folks who already had other risk factors.

The biggest pre-existing challenges for these restaurants was probably that that the owners were older and there was no succession plan, and not enough profits to entice anybody to buy them. Then the shrinking of available labor and the rising cost of labor probably finished them off and hurt their profitability enough to discourage any prospective buyers. Two are still for sale, and the third just sold as an office building. The few family style restaurants that remain are mostly chains, and of course prices are up significantly.

I think there are fewer people than there used to be, both potential business owners and potential employees, who are willing to work the hours required to run a successful family restaurant, namely working late evenings and weekends when dining out is most in demand.

Still, the restaurants that manage to continue operating should be busy because there are fewer of them, and seemingly as much demand as ever. They should get to charge more for their service because of reduced competition.

The big question is how much of a shift occurred in people's habits over the last couple of years toward less dining out and more eating at home. I think a certain shift of that nature has occurred. I know of numerous grocery stores that were struggling prior to Covid who benefited hugely from the boom in eat-at-home food and who seem to be staying solidly on their feet since. In my own grocery store, the increase in sales that occurred during Covid was more than just a temporary phenomenon. Inflation is driving some of growth, but not all.

I wonder how much the tend towards getting a drivers license later plays into some of these dynamics. Our two oldest children didn’t get their license until 18 and 17. The one who got it at 17 still doesn’t drive very many places. Most of their friends don’t have their drivers license either. I think that was much more uncommon 20, maybe even 10 years ago.

When teens don’t have transportation it’s harder to get a job, so that removes a nice amount of labour from the pool, especially for places like restaurants. Secondly, this also removes all the income that the teens would spend while eating out with their friends at restaurants.

I also think that the mental health crisis that affected many teens since 2020 has reduced the number of teens who get jobs. I know that when my children were very depressed I wasn’t comfortable with them having a job. They needed all their emotional energy to survive school.

[steve-in-kville]

I wonder how much the tend towards getting a drivers license later plays into some of these dynamics. Our two oldest children didn’t get their license until 18 and 17. The one who got it at 17 still doesn’t drive very many places. Most of their friends don’t have their drivers license either. I think that was much more uncommon 20, maybe even 10 years ago.

My oldest children were in a hot hurry to get their permits and so was I at age 16. The next few kinda show interest but seem not to be in as great a hurry. I'd have to ponder that a bit...

[temporal1]

I wonder how much the tend towards getting a drivers license later plays into some of these dynamics. Our two oldest children didn’t get their license until 18 and 17. The one who got it at 17 still doesn’t drive very many places. Most of their friends don’t have their drivers license either. I think that was much more uncommon 20, maybe even 10 years ago.

My oldest children were in a hot hurry to get their permits and so was I at age 16. The next few kinda show interest but seem not to be in as great a hurry. I'd have to ponder that a bit...

i was reluctant and 19. i think i had fender bender within 2 weeks or so. wanted to QUIT FOREVER right then.
my grdaughter is not ready, not wanting it. she’s only 15. her mother is PUSHING her hard. i don’t think that’s a wise way.
her mother pushes as a way of living. she pushes herself, which we always viewed as her choice, her nature. pushing a child is another matter.

[ohio jones]

Never a dull moment around here, wondering which way the bunny will jump.

[Josh]

It's disputed whether or not the pandemic is over,

Is it? The Biden administration has ended the federal emergency. COVID as a "pandemic" or a reason to blame things is over.

High prices are because of inflation. COVID does not cause inflation. Printing money does.