Amen brother!

Right on Speeder! I love to cook, my mom was a great cook. My family has been it the food business and I think I know it well enough. I don't go out to restaurants for food that I can cook at home.

When I do go out to eat, it is probably for something that is different or something I wouldn't do at home. My dinner bills tend to be more expensive. The last time I went out to eat was March 13th (Friday). Everything has change since - including me. My attitude on dining will change. I'm almost certain restaurants (those that remain standing) will change too. With margins at 5%-6% - reduced seating capacity and more take out - menus and the experience will change. I'm no fan of take out.

What is starting to happen in Chicago (and I'm sure elsewhere) is restaurants shutting down in dine service and become grocery stores which include pre-packed meals with cooking instructions. In is an interesting model.

Caesar salad is pretty straightforward to make. Lemon breaks up the anchovies, then garlic and olive oil, a little Dijon mustard. Use a couple of forks to tear up the anchovies. I don't like anchovy paste, prefer the fillets. Boil some water and put the egg in bowl of hot water while you are doing the rest. Put the egg in last and it is about right, sort of half ass starts to cook the white, gives a better consistency.

I will use half a lemon sometimes, but I get pretty big lemons. 2-3 fillets, about a teaspoon of dijon. Too much mustard is not what you are after, like 2/3-3/4 t. Get the anchovies pretty torn up with just the lemon, then the garlic, sort of crush it with a fork. Egg goes in last, whisk it all with your forks, toss in the romaine, parmesan cheese it up and plate it

It is all about the proportions. Time for you to plant some lettuce and practice Shaun. It is only too cheesy and lemony if you make it that way. Half a lemon will do the job turning the fish to tiny pieces, the acid don't you know.

I'd love to know where you suggest people get "realistic information" that does not come from news reporting? :confused:

Anecdotal stories from people you know who also don't read? I'm really searching here...

As for violent crime being, "through the roof," where you live, that is strange. It is way, WAY down in Los Angeles and NYC...no one is out on the streets other than joggers. It is exactly the opposite of what you describe; cops are bored and medical professionals are working double shifts. Hospitals are an absolute nightmare, w doctors and nurses getting sick and sometimes dying.

Two of the biggest and most common logical fallacies, (seen constantly in these CV threads), are moving from the specific to the general and the general to the specific. I'll skip the Latin names because it's been a while since college. ;)

Your personal experience in a small city in Kansas that apparently no one ever travels to from other places is irrelevant to what's going on in the country and the world right now. It is reflective of nothing and should be disregarded in terms of national Public Health policy. There is a pandemic killing people and we are in the 2nd inning of it, not out in the parking lot trying to find our car after the game. It is extremely contagious and it will make it to your small town if it hasn't yet.

I am in rural Northern WI., which makes Witchita, KS. look like NYC and I am concerned because the meatheads here are acting like nothing is happening. They must believe some POS on the AM radio telling them that it's a liberal conspiracy because no precautions are being taken from the majority of people I see. It is NOT a matter of each person deciding for themselves how much risk to assume because other people's lives are at stake. One ass hole who is asymptotic and refuses to wear a mask in public can infect dozens of other people and kill a few.

I know that it's too much to ask for you and many others to make any sacrifice for the common good, you act as if forgoing a beer w friends at a bar is the equivalent of storming the beach at Normandy. I was under lockdown in L.A. since early March and it was not tough at all, a minor annoyance. Boring. A small sacrifice for what we're trying to accomplish. Everyone I know feels the same way, other than the random conspiracy theory, Breitbart reading weirdos.

I hope that your luck stays good and you don't get sick but I hope much more that you don't spread it and make someone else sick. This is a weird period in history and is very revealing of Americans.

now im bummed. i am not a big drinker, but i do love hanging with friends and coworkers for a beer. super fun, and a great way to work vent.

we have a regular bar. the bartender has this hot Tina Fey vibe going. glasses, ripping body, and an awesome attitude. we call her the "Librarian"..so we have a code. "meet you at the Library" funny thing, my boss ALWAYS beats me there.

i hope she is still there when they throw the Library doors open.

jealous Matt

Denis you already helped get the other positive thread about eating out get locked, go be pretentious somewhere else. You can have your choice about threads on which to argue this topic. I’ll withhold my response on your post until I feel motivated to beat my head against the wall in one of those other threads.

Everyone misses going out but it's been 2 months, not 7 years in a POW camp, for chrissakes. I want to go to Mpls. and hug my aunt and 2 cousins who have survived Covid after being deathly ill for weeks or fly to Italy and be w my sister who is battling it now. But I can't. Boo-hoo. My heart just bleeds for people being denied going to sports bars in order to save some lives right now. :rolleyes:

Grow TF up Denis

I miss sports more than sports bars.

Always loved eating out with friends and fam - not having to worry about the next course or the dishes...

No growing things for me. I tried to create a habanero and yellow pepper hybrid to have all of the habanero flavor but less heat. All of my plants died before I could cross-pollinate them.

I do make a great caesar dressing playing off the anchovy and lemon more than anything. Same with Portuguese sardine sandwiches: dijon, lot of lemon, sardines and red onion. Perfect.

I thought the OP was about being waited on. That's something I don't find terribly exciting and I don't miss it either. If anything it makes me feel bad hiring out something that simple, like having a cleaning service or a guy mow my lawn. :) I know there are people that specifically like the "being waited on". It can make sense if you have one person in the household that takes the brunt of cooking and cleaning and they can get a break for once!

We do miss the family restaurant we hit up every couple months. Going for curbside pick up is not an option - but not for the lack of service rather than missing the rest of the ambiance and having to eat lukewarm food out of boxes.

G

Nuthin' pisses me off like a server tryin' to increase their tip :D

I’m also not a fan of curbside pickup, but think of it as helping the restaurants you love stay alive. Also a way of helping support an entire industry full of people who are struggling like hell right now. I typically leave 50-100% tips when doing pickup, I’m still employed and feel that giving a little extra is the right thing to do.

I tipped more at a drive through than my meal cost the other day....ditto on the take-outs....they think I suck at maf sometimes :)

For us, takeout means a 15 to 20 minute drive home with the food. Some can be reheated OK, others not so much. We do have a bar and grill 1/2 mile away that has good prime rib sandwiches. The fries are meh.

I typically tip at least 110% SmileWavy

you should've withheld your original post...

did it not occur to you that others would respond?

BTW, my response is that your governor messed up - assuming arguendo that your post was correct but it may well not beSmileWavy

I agree with the social interaction posts above.

I don't see steaks as particularly difficult to cook at home - or to procure high end meat (aged, Waygu, etc.) but maybe you guys lack good butcher shops?

Reasons to eat out other than social include:
- too lazy to cook
- very difficult foods to cook at home or in small amts.
- want a 5 course French meal, etc.

When I go to them hoity-toity, fancy-schmancy places....I tip at least 300%...

I like H2O in a nice glass :D

^^^ Hey...the rules are you can't raise over 10% :D

Sometimes you just don't have enough time in a day to prep, cook and cleanup. That said, nobody does steak on a grill better than what a person can do at home. I would rather eat a local grocery store steak cooked at home than waste money at some place like Ruth's Chris. Even better is having friends that raise good beef cows.

there’s a lot more reasons to eat out than what you mention. for me, during the work week for lunch it was a stress reliever. i enjoyed sitting down at a different place every day. the one part of my work day i enjoyed. i also got to eat food out that my wife does not like to go out for or make, like sushi. also, it’s not practical or enjoyable for me to either bring lunch or go home for lunch

being able to go to my indian buffet or wherever is something i am really missing

as for the social aspect, see the introvert thread from a month ago. i couldn’t care less about being around people or socializing. i love good FOOD being served to me and i’m more than willing to pay a high price for it

I miss the social aspect. I also have a need to have a change of scenery during the day.

I miss going out to dinner. Even without Corona, I cook most nights and several breakfasts a week. I enjoy going to dinner, sitting down and letting someone else worry about the food. Then my hubby and I can put our attention on each other.

MEAT!!!

Just don't call me Darling :)

Before all of this, the family ate out often, mostly out of convenience. Wife and I headed in opposite directions running the kids to activities or one of us stuck at work past dinner time.

I don’t miss that but I do miss going out with another couple for dinner and drinks.

To those who criticizing people in unaffected regions, coming from someone in the hardest hit town in my county in North Jersey, who’s kids have been isolated from their friends and activities, I look at it this way.

When a tornado hits the southeast or a wildfire rages in the west, we don’t shut ourselves in, in solidarity. There’s no reason for people in very low risk areas to do the same out of empathy for us.

We’re over 100 days in. The time for blunt tools has passed. Yes, more will die but the harsh reality is that life goes on. The economic impacts are real and will be felt for decades.

I still feel the pain from Black Monday in the 80’s. It cost my parents their marriage. The blow to his ego, cost me a relationship with my father. Those are real personal pains that come with economic downturns.

So if you genuinely feel safe living your life and have enough sense to guard against endangering someone else’s, go out and live your life.

Have a drink for me. I prefer an Old Fashioned, Bourbon-rocks or a Modelo Negra.

Not surprising in the least. You've been spouting your identity politics on the COVID thread from day one. I'm sure you've been doing the same on social meedia. Posting up a storm on social media with your flat earth vaxxer JFK 9/11 moonlander conspiracy Covidiot nonsense. The stupid, naive and gullible are always looking to mix it up and piss fight with their politics.

Shocked at how many people here waste their time and money eating out so often. Can't stand overpaid waiters who get paid to carry a plate of food. I don't like paying $75 for $10 worth of food. Don't like wasting 2 hours when I can actually eat in 10 minutes. Must be a bored retired boomer thing, as my peer group is far to busy to waste time and money sitting around waiting for food. The only thing I miss is getting food delivery, which I do about twice a week, where I tip heavily for actual real service.

Well, if you are paying $75 for $10 worth of food and it takes 2 hours, I can see the issue. That does not jibe w my experience eating out in L.A. at all. It's a hyper-competitive restaurant industry where even the slightest disappointment will have diners heading elsewhere w their precious dollars.

I probably eat out more than anyone here, (way too much, really), because I don't cook and like great food. I live in restaurant Meca and have about a half dozen regular places where I either sit down or get food to go, plus dozens of other occasional places. I'm always hanging out w friends and the biggest problem is deciding where to go because there are just so many great spots within a stone's throw.

So I definitely miss eating out but I've adapted pretty well. Cooked pork chops and a sweet potato on the gas grill last night and a NY steak the night before. Beef is surprisingly more expensive in the market up here in rural WI. than in Los Angeles and slightly lower quality, (choice vs. prime). I thought it would be the other way around.

Yeah, I miss going to a sit-down restaurant. I used to make it a point to go with friends and family a few times per week. A lot of business meetings are now over telephone rather than at lunch or dinner. That is reality for now.

But that is not the issue.

I think the greater issue is that there are entire segments of the economy that are destroyed. A lot of people, to the tune of 3 M additionally per month, are not making a living. That simply can not be ignored by sensible people. Furthermore, employers and business owners are losing their entire life's work. Their fortunes are being destroyed. You social-shamers will try to change the subject, sweep it under the rug as if it's "no big deal". Well it IS A BIG DEAL. A very very big deal with very real consequences for everyone, whether you acknowledge it or not. And very soon, it will look unnecessary to a lot more people. What will your answer be then?

Me and my bride definitely miss going out.
We always sit at the bar and have a few favorite local places -- we get food at the bar many times.
Never sit at a table.

Miss the social interaction. be awhile til the PRI (Peoples Republic of Illinois) allows our previous wanton activities.
No Flo

Frankly, anywhere for that matter. I have worked in a lot of high end restaurants in SF and other cities and "hyper-competitive" is exactly right.

We don't dine out that much, maybe once a month because my wife genuinely loves to cook and frankly, there are only two or three restaurants within 30 miles worth the effort...I live in a "Restaurant Desert":cool:

You must be in the wrong part of WI, or don't have the right friends there. There is some really good beef raised 5 miles from our house by some family friends. That said, it has been a while since I have been in LA and I have no faith in my brother in law's opinion. This is a guy that dropped out of college to join the Navy because he was tired of people telling him what to do.

We used to go to Somerset, WI for family style walleye with all of the sides, 2 or 3 houses would all go together and eat. Good times.

That’s hilarious. There is definitely good food in WI. but I’m outside of a town of 500 and there is only one market in town. It’s really not bad, just not really good either. Being a modern American in a large city really spoils someone wrt food. The meat they sell is perfectly OK, just not what I’m used to.

I’m driving down to the Twin Cities today and I will stock up on the good stuff. :)

Once summer really arrives, it will be fish heaven around here.

Some of the best years of my life were living in Stillwater and at least 2-3 weekends a month we and 2 to 4 other families on the street would hit the St. Croix, go north, set up camp on a secluded beach, men go fishing, women stayed and drank wine, fish for dinner, stayed overnight, head down, water ski a little and go home.

If you’re going to pretend like you either know me or anything about me, how about not starting out by getting it totally wrong. Tends to make you look pretty dumb considering I have basically zero social media presence beyond Pelican. At least try to make your personal attacks intelligent, ok?

Okay this whole post is confusing. First of all the only food you're going to get for ten bucks that you can eat in 10 minutes is going to be McDonald's. And who are you to judge how much people are paid, or how people spend their money or time or what they eat? And lastly, how do you miss getting your Uber eats McDonald's when you eat twice a week? And I guess it doesn't matter to me, but tipping someone who makes sure that your meal and experience is good, is a lot more logical than tipping heavily to someone who just drops your "to go" food off in a bag.

Yeah, 500 people is small for trying to get better than meh. We were up in Chippewa Falls a few years ago and even in the big (for WI) town it wasn't easy finding good stuff. One restaurant had asked if we wanted our sandwich dipped and when it came, well, it was like it was baptized by a sprinkle and not a dunk. You would think they would get it when EVERY patron complained that wasn't dipped.

Good luck on stocking up in the Twins.