Poll: eating out

MobKaz · January 2019

banana468 said:

Does you coworker also have young kids? When we had DD we didn't do a lot of going out simply because I had a fear that taking her would mean I had to parent in a parking lot while DH ate. As they get older we have more flexibility with places.

We're at 1-2 times/week now with one solid stop being Dunkin after Sunday mass. That's two coffees, two B,E,&C wake up wraps and two donuts so the net bill is under $12 and it rewards them for good behavior.

There's often some kind of take out pizza or Chinese in the mix as well. Aside from that I couldn't tell you the last time that DH and I went out to a restaurant and ate inside with kids - it's been months. For DH and me the last time we had a meal out was the night we saw Hamilton after Christmas.

Side note: am I the only one relieved that this didn't have to do with oral sex?

We typically stopped at DD's as well after Sunday morning mass. When we would hit up Saturday 5 PM mass, that was the few, rare times we would drive through Wendy's or some other fast food joint. For the most part, that was the extent of non-cooking excursions.

I grew up with restaurants being a "special occasion only" type of event. Of course, we were also a family of 7. In my head, I don't really miss what I didn't have, so even now I don't think too much of it. As an empty nester now, I will sometimes go out with co-workers on "school nights". I was honestly shocked to see how many restaurants were filled with families with young kids. "Back in the day", we either did not have that type of "disposable income" , or it never really dawned on us to dine out during the week. The few times we did, it was weekends only. A true treat was when the trend of "kids eat free" began!

MesmrEwe · January 2019

1-2/wk - and mind you, this is quick grab type meals out, not sit-down 5 course type things... As for going out to fancier meals, only when I'm on the road, otherwise it's really light on the road meals - for some reason I end up losing weight when on the road, probably easier to eat healthier because it's a conscious choice...

missJeanLouise · January 2019

When I was working 5 days a week, DH was a 6-7 meals a week type of guy (including lunches at work). Now that I am home more often, I still haven’t gotten back into cooking regularly but the delivery has cut back.

kvruns · January 2019

MobKaz your post made me think of when we were younger there was a restaurant called Ponderosa (chain?) and it was "pay what you weigh" for kids. So a 50lb kid would cost $0.50 for the meal. I think that was about the only place we went until they stopped doing that promo (or maybe we aged out of it).

climbingsingle · January 2019

kvruns said:

MobKaz your post made me think of when we were younger there was a restaurant called Ponderosa (chain?) and it was "pay what you weigh" for kids. So a 50lb kid would cost $0.50 for the meal. I think that was about the only place we went until they stopped doing that promo (or maybe we aged out of it).

The Ground Round used to do that too!

It was the same for me growing up - we only went out for special occasions and it would only be on a weekend.

ei34 · January 2019

climbingwife said:

kvruns said:

MobKaz your post made me think of when we were younger there was a restaurant called Ponderosa (chain?) and it was "pay what you weigh" for kids. So a 50lb kid would cost $0.50 for the meal. I think that was about the only place we went until they stopped doing that promo (or maybe we aged out of it).

The Ground Round used to do that too!

It was the same for me growing up - we only went out for special occasions and it would only be on a weekend.

I remember that at the Ground Round too!

Did anyone else do the Book-It program with Pizza Hut? We’d read I think 5 books and then get a coupon for a free kids’ pizza. It was fun. We were a family of six we also only ate out if a child-friendly restaurant had some sort of promotion...and the occasional special occasion at a “nice” restaurant, although that was really once we started getting older.

kvruns · January 2019

Yes Ground Round - that is what I meant, not Ponderosa whoops. Is Ponderosa a buffet or am I mixing that up too? And they had bowls of popcorn on the table as an appetizer

We also did Book It for pizza

CharmedPam · January 2019

kvruns said:

Yes Ground Round - that is what I meant, not Ponderosa whoops. Is Ponderosa a buffet or am I mixing that up too? And they had bowls of popcorn on the table as an appetizer

We also did Book It for pizza

Ponderosa is a buffet yeah! I still see some from time to time. So they could have done a pay what you weigh too. Around here they usually do .50 cents/yr under 12. Or used to, when I frequented buffets.

short+sassy · January 2019

My H and I eat out or have take-out pretty frequently. Probably 2-3x/week. I also pick up lunch a lot during the work week. It's all too much! Cooking more at home...real cooking, not grabbing equally bad for you stuff out of the freezer...is one of my current goals.

Growing up, we probably went out to eat (including fast food) about 1-2x/month. If it had been up to my 5-year-old self, we would have gotten McDonald's French fries every day, lol. Nothing else. I only wanted the fries.

Now I have to parent myself and obviously don't do as good a job as my mom did, lol.

ILoveBeachMusic · January 2019

My kids all did the Book-It program in elementary school. It was a huge deal! We normally took the kids out for their birthdays at restaurant of their choice. The boys usually picked Benihana! When I was a kid, going out was for special occasions.

MNNEBride · January 2019

We eat out about once a week and have been ordering pizza most Friday nights. Sometimes we'll eat out a couple of times during the weekend depending on who is in town or family get togethers.

6fsn · January 2019

My friends worked at ponderosa in high school!! We did book it too. Pizza Hut and frozen pizza from school fundraisers were "treat pizza." Everything else was scratch made. I've started to bring back the pizza making at home too. The kids love it!

Dog story: Our dog growing up was THE BEST. He was collie, dalmation, australian shepherd mix. He got caught in a fox trap when he was little and lost two toes, but you'd never know it except when pizza was involved. He never begged, except when there was pizza. If we had pizza he would sit next to the table with that one little paw up in the air doing this little whine begging for crust.

One time my mom made up all the fundraiser pizzas and left them on the counter to go to the bathroom. She came back and Toby had licked the top off of every pizza. It's the only time that dog got in trouble.

Ro041 · January 2019

We get Home Chef delivered for 3 meals a week. We eat out 1-2 days a week and I cook 1 meal with enough to have leftovers for the final night of the week.

Growing up, we ate out constantly. With a single mom who worked all kinds of hours, takeout was the norm. And when I got a license?? Shooooot, we never cooked at home. She always just sent me to pick up whatever.

OliveOilsMom · January 2019

We average about 2-4 times per month eating out/take out. It all depends on our cash flow. We have Christmas and a new TV bill to pay now, so it will be on the 2 side of things right now. I get lunch probably 1-2 times per week too. H gets it about once per week.

Growing up, there were 4 kids, so we did not go out all that often. Every Friday was pizza night though! And about once per month we would go out to a local bar/restaurant that was known for their pizza. 2 pizzas and 2 pitchers (1 beer and 1 soda) was very much in my parents price range, even though they didn't have much extra income. But my parents always packed their meals for work - their jobs didn't allow for them to really go anywhere for a bite to eat anyway.

When my mom was still working, but my dad retired, those still living at home (parents, sister, niece, and me) went out much more frequently. It was usually to a bar/restaurant for sandwiches of some kind. Sometimes 2x per weeks. My parents are both retired now and my parents probably do about once per week, but sometimes less, depending on their bills.

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