How Often Do You Eat Out?

How often do you eat out?


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DPinBucks

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It got me interested because I read the other day that one of the reasons Tesco's recent figures were so disappointing is that chains like Wetherspoons, offering £5 meals, are having an effect on how much groceries people buy. The same article also said that people in the UK now eat out on average once a week.

I took both claims with a pinch of salt, especially the latter, but I did happen to put Wetherspoons to the test yesterday. There were two of us, and we had a perfectly adequate and nicely cooked basic dish each, plus a half of bitter and a coffee, for about £9.70 all-in. The meals themselves were 2 for £7.20. Other places like Harvester also offer similar deals. I guess it's the pubs fighting back for custom.

So how often do you eat out? By that I mean any main meal which you might otherwise cook yourself, so it excludes meals at work, etc. I think though it's reasonable to include takeaways. I'm not trying to make any judgements, so include MacDonald's all the way to The Fat Duck.

I'm in the first category, usually an Indian or pub meal.
 
Roll on Sunday. I hope it's nice and sunny, but dry will do. We will usually go to the beautiful Oxwich Bay on the Gower coast. Then it's back to the Greyhound Inn for Sunday lunch. £13.95 for a three course meal, the price starts at just £7.95 for the main course, all locally sourced ingredients. We would do that on every Sunday that the weather allows the wife to take our Cocker Spaniel for a walk on the beach. The bonus being that the Greyhound Inn has a room especially for patrons and their dogs.
 
Including Take aways I'd say once a week is about right. Actually going out for a meal a normal month would just be once but sometimes multiple times, ate out last Sat/Sun and this coming Sat, when we go for a meal as a couple is more tied in with something else, cinema, theatre etc rather than just going out for a meal and take aways are normally tied in with working late/laziness or bad day at work fancy a curry.

With Family/friends we go out just to eat though quite often.

If we lived somewhere other than Coventry we'd go out more often just as a couple to eat. It's just a very poor place for interesting or quality food and we often chose to drive to Lemington or Birmingham to eat out.

Tescos are getting alot less money from us because their selection and quality is worse than Ocado for most things and the home delivery often has substitutions whereas Ocado almost never does and Tesco let us down very badly with a main christmas online shop, Ocado nailed it the following year. Also while their loyalty scheme is still decent it's alot worse than it was and it's now not enough to keep us doing our main shopping there. we still do some shopping their as it is close walking distance to our house.
 
Usually once or twice per month. We are out this weekend at our favourite Indian restaurant, then sometimes during the month pop out for Sunday lunch.
 
Pub main meals can offer good deals and great value. Its when the puddings and drinks start piling up that the bill can really grow. We have some good eateries in the local area, so a couple of meals out a month with family and / or friends wouldn't be amiss. Possibly once a week if you count takeaways, rarely splash out on a big takeaway unless we have friends over though, so any take out bill is usually small.
 
Less and less. Most times I eat out I openly declare ( and my wife concurs) that the food I make at home is usually much better. The quality of restaurant food has declined markedly since the recession. All the best stuff at Wagamammas has disappeared from the menu and even the chips from the takeaway have almost doubled in price.
I've been eating in almost all the time ( with the exception of Thai which I have yet to attempt making )
 
we tend to stay at a hotel 2-4 times a month and normally eat there...some bargains to be had - 4 star (tho, that's debatable) with dinner, B&B, and a bottle of wine with the meal, plus full use of the gym, pool, jacuzzu etc for 109 quid on a sat night...not to be sniffed at :)
 
Roll on Sunday. I hope it's nice and sunny, but dry will do. We will usually go to the beautiful Oxwich Bay on the Gower coast. Then it's back to the Greyhound Inn for Sunday lunch. £13.95 for a three course meal, the price starts at just £7.95 for the main course, all locally sourced ingredients. We would do that on every Sunday that the weather allows the wife to take our Cocker Spaniel for a walk on the beach. The bonus being that the Greyhound Inn has a room especially for patrons and their dogs.

This sounds idyllic.
 
I had a 2 person, 2 course, 2 soft drink impromptu lunch at a well know Mexican chain, £44.00 inc a 10% tip.

I could have spent less in a country local and had better food, maybe a pint but it was convenient and the quality was acceptable.

I have spent a lot more for a lot less in the past, but would eat out 5 days a week now if time permitted.
 
we tend to stay at a hotel 2-4 times a month and normally eat there...some bargains to be had - 4 star (tho, that's debatable) with dinner, B&B, and a bottle of wine with the meal, plus full use of the gym, pool, jacuzzu etc for 109 quid on a sat night...not to be sniffed at :)
£400 a month sounds excessive to me. Our family David Lloyd membership comes in at £145 and I can use the gym, pool, jacuzzi 7 nights a week including saturday. I also have the pleasure of sleeping in my own bed with pocket sprung matress with memory foam topper and goose down duvet. The only thing different is I don't have a kettle in my bedroom with little cartons of UHT milk but then the wife will go and make me a coffee if I'm a good boy.;)
 
Maybe once a month, it just not some we really do. Partly down to general lifestyle choices and partly down to affordability. Going out and spending £30-40 a few times a month on just eating out isn't really in our budget.
 
Maybe once a month, it just not some we really do. Partly down to general lifestyle choices and partly down to affordability. Going out and spending £30-40 a few times a month on just eating out isn't really in our budget.


Ditto. With two kids I'm looking at £100 a pop to eat out, and that's just a curry. We tend to prefer what we cook at home nutrition wise as well. And I'm a pretty decent cook :)

We might eat out once every few months I guess. Takeaways aren't really our thing, Thai is probably the only one that's reasonably healthy
 
I probably go to a top Michelin star restaurant or in that sort of league about two to three times a year, a burger bar, independent local restaurant or decent pub perhaps once or twice a month.

Fast food is quite rare for me these days, perhaps after I've been to the pub with mates and am really in need of food or on the motorway, I reckon only about four times a year.
 
£400 a month sounds excessive to me. Our family David Lloyd membership comes in at £145 and I can use the gym, pool, jacuzzi 7 nights a week including saturday. I also have the pleasure of sleeping in my own bed with pocket sprung matress with memory foam topper and goose down duvet. The only thing different is I don't have a kettle in my bedroom with little cartons of UHT milk but then the wife will go and make me a coffee if I'm a good boy.;)

well, everyone's different - and you can easily spend 100 quid on a decent night out if you factor drink, meal and taxis etc... :)
 
Once every couple of months, difficult with kids as it involves getting babysitters etc. Plus I can't really be bothered anymore. I love cooking anyway and like to try out different things so we tend to make a night of it and have friends over. I'd rather be comfortable at home with my own music and friends and spending the money saved on some good ingredients and wine.
 
I get really hacked off when I'm presented with something I can do myself far better in my own kitchen. Not sure if the standard of cooking in restaurants is going down or my own cooking is getting better. Consequently when we do go out for a meal these days it will be to more high end places where there is a better chance (not always the case) of getting something that is better than I can cook myself.
 
I tend to stay away from stuff we can do better ourselves, Roast Dinners are the biggest example. even quality, higher end gastro pubs tend to frequently serve things that I'd consider a real failure if we'd done at home. Overcooked meat and roast potatoes that aren't crispy in particular. The one area where roast dinners out put us to shame is Yorkshire pudding, Our aunt bessies just can't compete with a proper one, not sure why we haven't got around to doing them properly ourselves yet.
 
I get really hacked off when I'm presented with something I can do myself far better in my own kitchen. Not sure if the standard of cooking in restaurants is going down or my own cooking is getting better. Consequently when we do go out for a meal these days it will be to more high end places where there is a better chance (not always the case) of getting something that is better than I can cook myself.

This is fine, but only seems to take account of the food.
Whilst the food is important when we go out, there's far more to it than that.
It's the whole looking forward to it beforehand, getting ready (maybe bought a new shirt etc.) and just the general feeling of being 'out', being released from the house and part of society again etc.
This can't be replicated by staying at home, no matter how good the meal.
We eat out as often as we can get an overnight babysitter, which is 2-3 times a month (circa £100 a time)
Carryouts at least once a week (circa £20-£30 a time)
 
Probably get a Chinese delivered twice a month, around £25 for both of us, big portions though so leftovers do a meal the next night. We like the local pub for food too, although probably only once or twice a month as we would only usually go if friends or family were visiting.

Fast food we might have once a week, if we are in town its convenient and we don't have to worry about our toddler making a mess or a fuss. Plus we both like it, and consider it a treat.

Some people go to a restaurant and order steak or sea bass, because they can't cook it the same way at home - well I can, but I can't make fried chicken, so..
 
This is fine, but only seems to take account of the food.
Whilst the food is important when we go out, there's far more to it than that.
It's the whole looking forward to it beforehand, getting ready (maybe bought a new shirt etc.) and just the general feeling of being 'out', being released from the house and part of society again etc.
This can't be replicated by staying at home, no matter how good the meal.
We eat out as often as we can get an overnight babysitter, which is 2-3 times a month (circa £100 a time)
Carryouts at least once a week (circa £20-£30 a time)

I agree it's about the whole experience, that's why I'm disappointed when the atmosphere and service is great only to be let down by mediocre food. I have had great meals that haven't even cost much, just not so often lately. I admit I don't go out much in this country, mainly due to work, but I spend 2 months a year in the US where I find far more consistency and a lot more diverse food.
 
Italian is something I grudge paying money for and is bottom of my list for meals out.
£8+ for a bowl of pasta, often done way beyond what I would consider 'al dente', is bloody ridiculous.
Although I have zero interest in cooking, pasta is something I can genuinely say I can cook better at home.
Of course, the wife considers 'al dente' as undercooked.....:(
 
More than I should since Five Guys opened near by. I'm convinced they mix crack into the meat patties.
 
Used to eat out on average about once a week, but a new M&S food store opened up close by and we now try out their ready-made meals, ready prepared veg in a packet that just needs 3 mins in a microwave, 3-course meals + bottle of wine for £10 and other similar stuff.

Up until now we've always poo-pooed supermarket prepared foods, but the quality seems to have improved remarkably.

So we now eat out about once a month.
 
Every couple of months for us. I enjoy cooking, and hate eating and paying for food i could have cooked better myself. I'm an IT professional, not a chef, and some of the things i've eaten when eating out :censored:

I sometimes poison, sorry, treat myself to the works canteen........they get the basics wrong, rock hard chips, watery curry, dry meat, heavy cakes, etc.
 

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