Eating Out becoming a Luxury?

Quitelife

I’d class myself as middle income but with each passing year just paying the essentials like mortgage , clothing & educating children and putting food on the table , paying energy bills I have less and less left for anything else .

7 years I gave up smoking because I couldn’t afford it any more , during covid I gave up my twice a week visit to pub and haven’t drank since , myself and my wife used go out for a meal once a fortnight up to last year when we could back to once a month and now this year we have decided to give up going out altogether due to lack of funds , both of us work .

Passing pubs and restaurants I feel we’re not alone in having no disposable income , in Dublin there is a share of high earners and tourists which camouflage the Irish middle class disappearing due to lack of funds but many towns are an awful lot quieter than they were in the past ???

Jequ0n

I had higher expectations when I saw the title

SharkMX

Went to the chippers about 6 months ago (used to go twice a week instead of cooking dinner) and the price was already high, but that night it had gone up again to €13 for a cod and chips plus €8 for a kebab plus €8 for a snack box.

€4 for a "large" (dont know what their definition of large was, it wasnt much bigger than a small one) bag of chips. and €1.80 for cans.

To feed 3 of us with chipper food that night it cost €35. and I left the drinks behind and we made tea at home.

Well we decided that night that chipper food was not only bad for us, but bad for our house savings.

Price is ridiculous and I heard they went up again since. Havent been near a chippers since and wont be ever again. And feeling so much the better for it.

On an equally depressing side note, last night I called to a friends house. Himself, wife and 2 kids were ordering Indian takeaway as I was leaving. 2 adults and 2 kids Indian order - €65. He said it was ONLY €55 the week before.

Akrasia

Eating out was always a luxury, but now just eating is getting to be a luxury too with food prices in the supermarkets going up waaaay more than the inflation rate

bigroad

Even mcD and Burger K1ing are not cheap anymore.

Its only a few quid more for a proper roast dinner in a pub.

looksee

Its easy to dismiss it as 'prices have gone up', when we all go through stages in our lives, generally a few years married and a young family and mortgage to consider, when eating out is not an option if you are any way sensible with money. Things will move on and it will become an option again.

We were in that situation for most of the 70s and 80s, going out for a meal was not an option, between baby-sitters and the price of the meal, so we didn't go. Occasionally we would get the kids to bed and put together a meal with something a bit special, steak usually, bottle of wine, civilised table. Nowadays a meal out doesn't seem like a stretch at all, things come around.

SharkMX

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121638142#Comment_121638142

I went into a pub for food one Sunday lunch before Christmas with the GF and her niece.

Over €50. Never again.

blackbox

Eating out has always been a luxury.

Thelonious Monk

Can only speak for Dublin but bars and restaurants are packed here at the weekends anyway. Hard to get tables in a lot of places. I would still eat out regularly enough.

bigroad

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121638165#Comment_121638165

I know I've started leaving the woman at home.

2 Restaurant’s & 1 other nobody seems sure of yet have closed since Christmas in My town.

I think that whole industry is in trouble

SteM

There was a similar thread before Christmas and we had people telling us that restaurants didn't want people who couldn't afford to eat out. That places in Dublin were packed etc

https://www.dublinlive.ie/whats-on/10-beloved-restaurants-cafes-closed-28325650

https://evoke.ie/2023/11/21/food/fears-closures-high-end-restaurants-just-beginning

ongarite

The cafe, restaurants in my area are always packed lunch time & especially weekends. Plenty of money being spent in farm shop & restaurants , garden centre cafes & local coffee shop, pub carvery.

lbunnae

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121638142#Comment_121638142

Yeah fast food and takeaway have increased at a higher % than a normal restaurant. Not sure about the high end restaurants , never go!

dxhound2005

There is a house in a street near me with the same house number. Judging by how often drivers arrive with food deliveries for them to my house, they must be spending big money. On the rare occasions that I go to takeaways, there are always drivers coming and going, and phone orders being taken. That might account for some of the decrease in footfall, if it is happening. I also get drivers with deliveries for a house the other side of a high wall from mine. Satnav or whatever tells them they can drive through the wall.

When the OP has their mortgage paid off, they will have maybe €800 a month available, and they can join the luxury people eating out again.

lbunnae

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121638262#Comment_121638262

Yeah mine too , it’s probably quite area dependant. I feel like good numbers cafes and restaurants are constantly opening and closing since the beginning of cafes and restaurants. I think many owners try it out and get it wrong.

BraveDonut

A nice takeaway and a few beers from the off license is the way to go these days.

I used to love pub lunches but they have become so expensive - especially when you add €7 pints to the bill.

If I go to the local for lunch with my wife, you're looking at €60+ for 2 mains, 2 pints each plus tip.

esker72

Higher Interest rates and high energy costs have taken a huge amount out of people pockets in the last year. With a bit of luck both of those will have eased back by the end of this year and make life a little easier for a good chunk of people. Also at some stage a bit of competition will come back into the food sector and that will stop the prices rising. Already I think Lidl and Aldi have realised they can't keep jacking up prices indefinitely and started to compete again. There was a lot of people got through Covid unscathed financially and with nothing to spend money on, had a lot of cash built up. Retail and hospitality have bumped up their prices to grab that but it won't last forever

Bobson Dugnutt

Splashing out 17 or 18 quid for a carvery really shows you’ve got your priorities wrong in life.

Bluefoam

Dining out in this country was always a luxury, but in recent years it became cheaper/more affordable with the proliferation of fast food and transient labour... Now that the cost/value proposition is rising there's a portion of the population who grew up with access to easy affordable dining out. Their expectations are unrealistic & maybe there needs to be a rebalancing in society.

Bluefoam

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121638223#Comment_121638223

The Duck on Fade St. was closed due to phenomenal breaches of health and safety regulations...

Bobson Dugnutt

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121638504#Comment_121638504

The food was class though.

lbunnae

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121638444#Comment_121638444

Depends how much money ya have really doesn’t it. 17 or 18 quid is SFA to a lot of people in Ireland. Time taken to make it they’d be losing more money.

miamee

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121638444#Comment_121638444

Not everyone's priorities are the same. Some people get great pleasure in sharing a meal out with a loved one or treating them to an afternoon or evening out for some good food. On the balance sheet of life it's a win, on the balance sheet for your bank account maybe not :)

Bobson Dugnutt

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121638534#Comment_121638534

It’s not a money question. Spending 18 quid on some cremated beef and vegetables that came out of a catering truck that morning is just a complete waste of time. Spend a bit extra and get something nice or cook a roast at home. Most pub grub is horrific.

orangerhyme

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121638165#Comment_121638165

That's not expensive.

miamee

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121638723#Comment_121638723

OK I see now your issue is with the carvery specifically and yes they can be hit and miss and there are some bad ones out there.

lbunnae

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121638723#Comment_121638723

silly generalisation of carvery’s.

Bobson Dugnutt

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121638758#Comment_121638758

There is absolutely no pub in Ireland buying in their own roasts, cutting their own spuds, making their own gravy, and serving it up for less than 20 quid. It’s all coming out of a Musgraves, Plassey etc truck. That’s the business model.

hello2020

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121638262#Comment_121638262

IMHO , the economic growth is driven by immigration (legal & others) which enrich the high & powerful class of society.

working/middle class will be become poorer while non-working class is taken care by social welfare !

lbunnae

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121638802#Comment_121638802

I’d find that statement hard to believe. I have had fairly different tasting carveries in different pubs but I’m not in the industry , I’m sure if you are right nobody will come along and correct you. What about hotels? You never mentioned pubs originally anyway.

listermint

Yet its still hard enough to get tables in restaurants in Dublin. Based on that I think there's still many people with disposable income even January places are busy.

Citizen Six

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121638525#Comment_121638525

What ever you are into I guess.

• Blood from raw duck was noted to be dripping onto containers and bags of rice, flour + sugar
• Dirty cleaning cloths used to mop up bloody water were placed on various surfaces
• Flies were observed on raw ducks
• A black bin bag filled with waste was stored in a sink in the kitchen basement

Bobson Dugnutt

Chapter One is 190 quid per person with the wine pairing being another 110. Can’t get a table for months. People appreciate world class dining. It’s the “I couldn’t be bothered cooking so I’ll go somewhere that serves me up a representation of what I would have cooked anyway” sort of spots that will be in trouble.

Quitelife

Dublin is nearly a law onto itself with many top earners residing there and a huge chunk of tourists visiting Dublin but elsewhere in the country there’s not as high a percentage of high earners and low tourist numbers, I do feel a lot of what would have been middle ireland 10/20 years ago are now not much better off than minimum wage workers / welfare cases who have low rent council houses by the time you pay a mortgage etc

SharkMX

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121638723#Comment_121638723

I just spent €18 on a breakfast and a cup of tea this morning in a cafe. That will be the last time i leave the house without breakfast now too.

listermint

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121638944#Comment_121638944

And yet... eat out food places near me are always busy. Especially the good ones. You even have to book an order time.

I'm not in Dublin., near regional town.

rob316

There is a handful of restaurants in my city I go to that justify the price and I'm happy to go there spend my money and enjoy the eperience. But I do that 1 every couple of months. I perfer cooking my own food.

The proliferation of Deliveroo/Just Eat has created a lazy generation though who don't cook and they are now complaining about the prices.

Sonic the Shaghog

You only have to look at the media from before Christmas.

The hospitality sector have been on several times moaning about reduced footfall and lots of places closing and having to close. The government has only started paying lip service by some sort of debt restructure thing in the last week.

Moaning about the VAT rate and the last time it was cut they kept the same prices and even added a little bit in some cases.

In my town there's 2 chippers and an ethnic takeaway. They used all be open to 11pm weekday now are closing at 9.30pm, you never see anyone in there. The pub owners whinging too when tho they are pushing nearly €7 a pint coming soon for a rural area.

I keep saying it, a silent recession of sorts. I do remember when the crash hit in 2008 and half the nation getting laid off it was similar, gobeens kept raising prices for like the first year or two of it and then being shocked at having to close up shop. I remember 2 of 3 takeaways closing that time that I mentioned above and are under new owners now so am curious if it will be similar again due to inflation.

Liam O

I'd say the pubs could make good money bringing down the prices by a good bit but why would you when you have people willing to pay as is clear by them being generally packed out every week?

Restaurants you can see a bit more value in now with good cooking over the pubs for not much more but the drink prices in most has stayed beyond the pubs. More palatable though because you probably don't drink as fast there.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058332137/eating-out-becoming-a-luxury

I think you are giving up on life and cutting back on a rare treat you that your wife enjoyed. Are you sure your wife agrees? “Date nights” / occasions are very healthy and important for marriages or they can quickly become stale. It’s a treat after a hard week of work, a chance to park life’s distractions and problems and have a good time and chat.

Hate to be harsh but If you can’t afford a €20 meal (plenty of 2 course early birds out there you just have to make the effort) every two weeks which is €10 a week then I don’t think you can all yourself middle income.

yourdeadwright

Went to a pub on Christmas eve at about 2 o'clock with the wife & 3 kids ,

We all had a bite to eat & i had 2 pints & it was 80 euro ,

That was 4 meals , (the youngest is only 2 months old), 1 diet coke for the wife, 2 juices for the kids, & 2 pints for myself , The kids also had 2 ice creams ,

That's not to bad is it ?

Jinglejangle69

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121639436#Comment_121639436

That’s good value.

orangerhyme

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121639436#Comment_121639436

Really it's €60 for 4 meals which is decent.

Eating out isn't that expensive considering what you're getting.

They've a lot of overheads to pay. I think they make their money on the drinks and coffee.

I think food trucks are a rip-off as they cost almost as much as restaurants and they've very few overheads.

SteM

Here love, fancy going on a date night? Yeah, we can only go on Monday or Tuesday to Thursday between 4pm and 7pm and you can't have the steak, ribs or chef's special but it'll only cost us €26 each.

How romantic.

orangerhyme

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121639510#Comment_121639510

Plenty of time for lovemaking after the early bird

looksee

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121639510#Comment_121639510

Yes, its called life. Or cutting your coat according to your cloth. Your relationship should not depend on your ability to splurge on expensive food in a restaurant. You need to apply a bit of imagination to your ideas for romance.

Sonic the Shaghog

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121639379#Comment_121639379

I understand you to a point about not being able to afford €20 but you have to consider what the mortgage is, childcare fees, electric is still nearly double what it should be despite "reduction" grocery shop in Aldi or Lidl they've gone mad in prices, I'm hearing Dunnes with the vouchers they offer bring them par.

I will say tho not directed at the OP but there is a lot where people could cut back with won't too in fairness. Like ones I know on maybe €80 monthly for a **** phone plan to have the latest iPhone when an android or even keeping their iPhone rather than every 2 years having to upgrade. Then again maybe the eating out is the cut back 🙈

In fairness it's funny I remember restaurants here when prices started to go mad smugly giving the old "if you can't afford x price then maybe you shouldn't be going out"

Well we've seen where that's got a lot of em, the dole.

SteM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121639583#Comment_121639583

It doesn't, we're both much happier cooking the food we like, spending time together cooking and then sitting down to eat it. Your relationship should not depend on going out to restaurants at times you don't want to eat to buy food from a limited menu.

McGrath5

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121639501#Comment_121639501

Agree on the Covid box style food vans. There is a local cafe to me that does nice sandwich's / toasties/ wraps for €7 with table service in a warm & cozy setting. Meanwhile the food van 2 minutes away is doing pretty much the same "gourmet" sandwich's for €12 with much smaller overheads.

orangerhyme

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121639639#Comment_121639639

https://maps.app.goo.gl/kvpkgfoa6zLGEqu3A

This place case in point.

I'm sure it's lovely but it should be cheaper if you're sitting outside on the side of the road.