What has happened to the quality of restaurants these days?

[desidoll]

I mostly cook and bake at home but once or twice a week, we eat out/order from Door dash or Uber eat just to try something different. I notice the quality is just not there. For some reasons, I am never really impressed with the taste. Everything seems so bland and lack of flavor.

[Anonymous]

COVID was a major issue definitely the prices of things and labor have gone up and a lot of people have quit either in fear of COVID, being paid to stay home, masking, vaccine, and other COVID related mandates. Although it is now years later we still feel the implications of it.

Service quality has definitely gone down you sometimes get snot nosed servers who think they can treat you like shit and deserve a 20 dollar tip. Not all are like that though. Definitely the quality of food has gone down using cheaper products and like I said hiring less qualified people working in the kitchen. Reusing food that wasn’t used because not as many people eat out.

People eating out has also gone down a lot…. Restaurants are struggling so definitely using cheaper products. They can’t afford to use more expensive stuff when people refuse to pay for it because they don’t have the money to eat out. So it punishes the people who do want to eat out. So they stop eating out because they’re disappointed.

Definitely a lot of reasons.

[ohsheeT]

What happened to the quality of everything everything has gone so far downhill it's unreal people do not care enough to do good jobs anymore to do right things good things they're there just to collect a paycheck

I work for myself and anybody that I have working for me I tell them when they're finished doing a job you better know how to spell my name because it has to have my name and their name written all over it because that's what gets you more business and keep you going..

And then I also tell that person working for other people sucks most of the time so when you write your name on the job people will remember that name and one day you might want to step out on your own and work for yourself too

But the quality that things are made even butchers meat butchers. Don't even know how to cut meat anymore as people we suck
When it comes to doing quality jobs I mean nobody anymore takes the right initiative or the time to do anything right anymore

[AI Opinion]

The dining scene has indeed transformed lately. I believe some restaurants are struggling with maintaining quality due to supply chain challenges and cost constraints. This can lead to inconsistencies in flavor and presentation. However, there are still countless places that maintain high standards and embrace creativity. For a culinary thrill, I recommend seeking out local gems or niche eateries that prioritize authentic, flavorful experiences. Their dedication often shines through even in these trying times. 🍽️

[FreyaRed]

Good ingredients are expensive and cost reduction start with lowering quality of ingredients

[Massageman]

and less of whatever they DO get!

[Finchie40]

I say the same thing , why I barely order out or go to restaurants anymore , because the quality sucks big time , so many restaurants I use to enjoy , I no longer enjoy , because they half ass everything these days, so to me it’s a waste of time and money , unless I want to take the chance of bitching and complaining , which I don’t want to do that either , cuz I was never the type of person to do so , but lately I have been , because the quality and service sucks most the time , and the prices we pay now for food is insane , so I just ask for my money back , even though they tell me they will make me another dish , I don’t want to take the chance of them spitting in my food , so I decline their offer everytime they fail , I use to work in the food industry and I know what happens behind closed doors with employees dealing with pissed off customers , so you are better off taking the money and decline their offer , I don’t care. How hungry you are , leave and go make your own food at home , trust me lol. I actually started prepping meals for the week , just so I can avoid fast food and restaurants as much as possible. Once in in awhile I will spurge to places that I know actually care about their customers and have good quality food , but that list has been getting smaller and smaller lol , I just cook my own meals now and I enjoy cooking , so a majority of my food intake is home cooked meals. If friends want to meet for food and drinks , I will eat at home and just drink when I meet them , that’s how much I hate eating out these days , it’s not worth it

[purplepoppy]

Too many are run by accountants not chefs. They'll cut everything they can bar the price.

[bowenw]

It seems like many places, especially fast food ones, are precooking some items. I also understand many delivery orders using Uber Eats and others are prepared in ghost kitchens and not the actual restaurants.

[desidoll]

What do you mean by ghost kitchens?

[bowenw]

"A ghost kitchen, also known as a virtual kitchen or cloud kitchen, is a food service operation that prepares meals solely for delivery without a traditional dine-in space. These kitchens operate from commercial spaces and focus on fulfilling online orders through food delivery apps like Grubhub, Uber Eats, and DoorDash."

[desidoll]

So this explains why the food tastes “better” when you dine in vs ordering.

[bowenw]

I think that may be part of it. Also that the food is being transported and not served fresh from the kitchen.

[saraupstairs]

A ghost kitchen doesn't change anything. Fancy restaurants have them. A restaurant can have 10 virtual restaurants in them, but it's all the same thing, cooked by the same people.

[paledreams]

And or they're using weird architecture bowenw?

[ProbablyClueless]

Higher costs of labor and production make it difficult for restaurants to source, retain, and produce good quality products at attractive price points.

I don't like making this kind of thing political, so all I will say is that this kind of situation was exactly what people who oppose mandated wage increases were concerned about.

[EzOwlz]

The cost of food has increased over the years due to inflation. It's because of this certain businesses may do budget cuts and buy cheaper ingredients to fulfill the orders on demand. Another reason could reduced number of skilled labour workers which maybe reduce the overall quality of the food. In short inflation is a B

[Friendlybro79]

Inflation is causing restaurants to cut corners and use crappy ingredients. Also you might be a better cook than half the places you're getting take out. I feel the same way. I went out spent 150 bucks on me and a friend with a drink each and the food sucked. I will only go to restaurants now that I know make good food and it's something not in my repertoire.

[Unit1]

I've noticed this drop too but only in the fast food giants like McDonalds and Burger King. It's not the same anymore as it was 15 years ago.

As if that wasn't enough, grocery stores are selling edible junk, that has no business in our bodies, most notably sausages.

The food industry is poisoning us. Like someone mentioned, it appears, that economists and accountants were put in he productions quality control 🤢🤮

[Grond21]

It seems like all restaurants below a certain threshold have had to start paying for much cheaper ingredients because they don't have the ability to pay for more. And then the whole quality of food goes down. I guess this is what it's like in an economic recession

[Nikki1989]

Quality is still out there, but in dwindling numbers. They have become too expensive for the average person.

[Maybe_Maybe_not]

As said in this page, ordering from Utter Sheets or whatever megacorp is exploiting the market means that you're not really receiving food from a restaurant, but from a factory vaguely resembling a restaurant.

[exitseven]

I have noticed this as well. Some places have stayed as good as they were before covid but a few have noticeably suffered.

[love_conquers_lust]

People are more interested in dicking around on their phones than doing a good job. They also aren’t getting paid well regardless of the quality.

There’s too many god damn people in the world.

[Kingofkings1992]

I definitely agree with that statement

[RHK36]

Quality has gone downhill everywhere because pride is gone. Pride is gone because companies stopped caring about their employees. I can't expect the regular people to kill it at their jobs while just getting by. It's rough out here people.

[Anonymous]

cost maybe? food costs have been way up lately. perhaps there cutting back or not buying some of the extras they used to.

a lot of restaurants have also closed down in various places , some smaller local ones but big chains too

[Massageman]

What has happened to the quality? Any of the HIGH quality has been sucked into a black hole, replaced with smaller portions of crap from some strange time/matter portal.

[Massageman]

Seriously though, supply lines are strained, production of pre-preps (think Simplot French Fries for so many places, etc.) is also strained. Makers are looking for ways to stretch every $, & may cut too many corners, & hope it just doesn't kill the downline production, or diners (think of e. coli slipping by so much). Raw materials are up, double in many case.

Restaurants almost universally give portions which are dietetically HUGE, so now- when portions are reduced - this kills plans to bring home "doggie bags". Restaurants (used to) work a 3/1 ratio margin. (At one time in my life, I was on an advisory team for a Benihana of Tokyo project.), so if a dish is targeted to sell for $12, it must be able to be made for $4 or less (with the $8 covering rent, utilities, insurance, back room salaries up to "the pass", or it's back to the drawing board. With everything in a pinch now, restaurants have jacked up prices of beverages, sides and add-ons- plus some "forced tips"- to pull up some of the slack so they can keep (at least some) of the entree costs at a more reasonable level. And don't even get me started on the pay structures of the waitstaff. They need to remember that when a food doubles in price, so does the "tip"- automatically. So the service degrades, too. Waitstaff wants higher and higher pay structures, yet do less and less. They take the order, type into a POS, and that is that. Runners bring the food. You are typically expected to pay on an AI box cluttering up your table. If the waitstaffer stops by once to ask how your food is, that's almost a miracle these days.

[Bricealan]

My experience with my favorite places to eat, has been always great food and service.

[slatyb]

They reduced costs and therefore the quality of not the same.

[ChicoFromThe305]

It's the area I think, each place has their people that cook, I'd say try a different area next time

[Jennz6]

Everything is fast food, stay home and cook

[jamesgoldman]

Downhill race to the bottom for pricing... anything less than £15-20 a head for a main is alarming

[LunarEclipse433]

LMAO!!! Folks think they should start off with CEO benefits and companies trying to save every penny means quality and customer service suffer

[Babygirl_S]

I live in India and the food in almost every normal restaurant is great ! 😻

[Staximus]

Food costs have gone up so food quality has gone down

[KrakenAttackin]

Restaurants are struggling to find and keep good employees.

[RedInnocent69]

I think it starts with lack of quality staff

[Bklynbadboy12]

It's really sad cause it's hard to get good service but every body wants a tip

[Anonymous]

Restaurants tend to have more flavor because chefs use way more salt and butter than people do at home. I have no trouble finding good restaurants.

[Iron_Man]

Things Haven’t been the same since COVID-19 and a lot of the Chinese restaurants have closed down

[Dongie]

Yeah, but as with all things they have been hurt by the leftards.

Trump coming back in things will get better all around.

[Chloe1225]

They can’t find help. Especially since the pandemic.

[Still-alive]

Welcome to america baby lol

[desidoll]

Has it always been that way or it gets worse?

[Still-alive]

anyways one rule of thumb i heard is go after restaraunts that are ranked 3 stars. those tend to be the mom and pop restaurants that are more authentic and tastier than the big corporate ones.

[Still-alive]

yeah anytime major corporations get involved the quality goes down overtime. so just try to look for ones that aren't part of major corporations would be my advice.

[Amur8711]

Lots of people are saying covid, and I would have to agree.

[Lynx122]

I haven't noticed a decline.

[glennos89]

Home cooked meals are the best💪🏼

[jahaims]

You go to low end places.

[Crazzyyworld]

Men hate their own life more these days

[Kingofkings1992]

Lmao

[Pete671]

Prob spiced to western tastes,

[paledreams]

Cultural decline

[paledreams]

For example McDonald's in 2024 doesn't look as fancy and cared for interior or exterior planning as 2007's McDonald's

[Anonymous]

Blame covid