Eating Out becoming a Luxury?

orangerhyme

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121687452#Comment_121687452

One thing I've noticed is that once prices go up, they don't really come back down again.

Anyway it's survival of the fittest. If they overcharge, they'll go bust.

Drinking's not a necessity anyway, unless your an alcoholic.

Also you can just drink in a house with friends.

My village used to have 4 pubs going until recently. Now only 1 is open. And that's in a place where there's no other social outlet besides the pub. No restaurants, no cafes, no cinema, nothing.

It's a tough business.

El_Duderino 09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121687155#Comment_121687155

Your point is that restaurants are gouging. Then you explain that they're recouping losses. So its what I said about doing what's necessary to stay in business.

Whether they mark up the wine more than you like isn't really relavant. If they make a large part of their profit from drinks then that's it. I don't drink wine so I don't need to worry about it. I presume the mark up on steak is pretty big too. If you pay €25 for a steak, how much do you think the steak cost to buy and prepare? I'd imagine the mark up is not a million miles off the wine.

Tony EH

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121687499#Comment_121687499

One thing I've noticed is that once prices go up, they don't really come back down again.

I know and I've been saying that all through the thread, and in others as well.

We've seen unprecedented price hikes on goods since Covid, some of which are blamed on the rise in the cost of fuel and whatnot. Prices which have come down since. Diageo put an extra cost on their drinks across the board and blamed the price of grain, which actually came down in 2023. This was on top of a price hike at the beginning of the year which they blamed on rising energy costs, which have also come down. None of those reductions have been passed on the consumer though.

Tony EH

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121687505#Comment_121687505

It's entirely relevant. If your mark up is obscene, people won't go back to your restaurant.

We used to like going to Ryan's for a treat. I'd usually get the 8oz fillet. It was always expensive but we frequented the place regularly enough to the point where the staff knew us pretty well. But these days they're asking for 45 quid for a bit of steak. Sure, it's fillet, but sod that. I can get the same thing for much, much, less in the butchers and "prepare" it myself.

The cost for a dinner in there for just the two of us now would probably be well over a hundred Euro and that's before we get the cheapest bottle of wine on the menu.

That's simply just not worth it for what they offer.

orangerhyme

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121687755#Comment_121687755

I don't see why people order steak out all the time.

It's one of the easier things to cook at home.

Tony EH

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121687771#Comment_121687771

Well, we're certainly not doing it any more. That's for sure.

😄

I can get a nice bit of topside, some peas and spuds, cook it myself and all for less than 20 Euro.

BlueSkyDreams

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121687499#Comment_121687499

A village is always subject to change.

Villages will offer less and less of a social outlet in the future because there arent enough people to manage rising costs.

In a rural village you get a bigger house, but you get less engagement and stimulus.

Its a trade off.

orangerhyme

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121687802#Comment_121687802

Watch a Gordon Ramsay video on how to cook steak.

Apparently the Aldi steaks are good value.

Baked potato or chips, fried onions and mushrooms, maybe a peppercorn sauce, side salad.

I drank a beautiful bottle of red wine from Lidl Saturday night. 7.99.

So all in, you could have a beautiful steak dinner and red wine for €20. Not much washing up either.

El_Duderino 09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121687755#Comment_121687755

Yeah agree it's not worth it on my budget and that's why I don't go to restaurants anymore. But that's not the question.

The question was whether they're gouging. We know they have a mark-up - that's how they cover costs and make money. The question is whether the mark-up amounts to gouging. I say it probably isn't gouging because the industry doesn't seem to be flourishing and lots of restaurants are closing. Given, they would surely drop their mark-up if it would make them more money, then I presume they're just doing what they need to do to stay in business.

Same with pubs. If a pub thought it would make more money by selling 4 euro pints, lots of them would be doing it.

It's not gouging if it's just about staying in business. I'm priced out of restaurants and I'm not thick about it. Restaurants are just too expensive for me now, so I don't go. I don't sit around looking for people to blame.

Feisar

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121687771#Comment_121687771

It's easy cooked but to turn it out like you'd get it in a good restaurant requires a bit of knowledge/skill IMHO.

Ezeoul

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121686704#Comment_121686704

The carvery I frequented always cut the meat of your choice right in front of you too, nothing was pre-portioned.

Large joints, and if it was the end of one, they'd get another out of the oven.

Now that I think of it a "turkey & ham" combo wasn't on their menu. Roast turkey was, and a glazed ham (which by itself was delicious) but not together, and not every day.

Now I'm hungry.

Tony EH

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121688476#Comment_121688476

We'll just have to disagree on what constitutes gouging.

Also, it's not just a simple question of whether a pub would make more shillings selling their wares for cheaper. It's also to do with footfall. The Snug in town just off George's St. for example sells Guinness for significantly cheaper than other pubs on that street, yet it simply cannot do the business that others do for whatever reason (partly because it's a kip, I suppose). There's a pub near me that sells Guinness for a straight fiver, yet the one down the way from it does miles better business and they sell it at 5.80 and I know for a fact that the overheads in the 5.80 pub are less than the place selling it for 5.

There will be some in the dining/drinking area that will be just ticking over, sure. But there are plenty who are raking it in as well. I just don't accept this kind of industry poor mouthing and the impression that every pub and restaurant are on their knees. However, when you can get a pint of Guinness for cheaper in Berlin (and many other countries) than you can in Dublin, you know something is amiss somewhere.

BlueSkyDreams

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121690832#Comment_121690832

Salaries are higher in Dublin than in Berlin.

I would expect pubs and restaurants to be cheaper in Berlin.

Tony EH

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121690847#Comment_121690847

You'd expect Gunness to be more expensive the further it travels, wouldn't you?

El_Duderino 09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121691080#Comment_121691080

The Guinness itself probably is. The overheads involved in running the pub and selling it is a much bigger part of the price the customer pays

Honestly, are you pretending to not get this stuff or is it genuine? You'd think someone who understands so little about it wouldn't have strong opinions on it.

BlueSkyDreams

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121691080#Comment_121691080

No. It depends on the market and the affordability of that market.

Guinness is cheaper in Roscommon than it is in Dublin, for example.

Cheaper again in Northern Ireland.

Strumms

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121690847#Comment_121690847

My local is pretty expensive, they put up prices for food on a Sunday, I know one of the lounge girls and just mentioned to her jokingly… “sure I suppose more staff and the Sunday premium” her reply…. “ we get nothing extra for working Sunday “…

so they put up prices on occasion when cost isn’t an issue.

BlueSkyDreams

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121692856#Comment_121692856

There could be other price influences outside of salary though.

A lot of businesses are having to pay covid loans back, which is going to be very tough for some unfortunatley.

waterwelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121692856#Comment_121692856

That's not true though.

You could just as easily say they reduce prices at quieter times.

A lot of hospitality are quiet all week, probably losing money, so when the crowd comes out on the weekend they need to make enough to cover the quiet days.

Dial Hard

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121686990#Comment_121686990

This is the second time this week I've heard this not-at-all-questionable anecdote.

I'm sure coffee kiosk owners the length and breadth of the country are hitting their local discounters late in the evening for cut-price inventory and then painstakingly transferring it into size-matched but bespoke packaging, all within eyeshot of their customers. It's a foolproof business plan...

nachouser

Best ignored. Just a troll.

Padre_Pio

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121692908#Comment_121692908

Probably all made in the same factory.

orangerhyme

I bet the government will drop the VAT rate again before the next election.

NIMAN

Had a meal out on Saturday night, 2A and 3C.

2 courses each, a few sides, dilute for kids, 2 drinks for us, €150.

Tony EH

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121693001#Comment_121693001

Haven't they said that that's not an option?

orangerhyme

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121693003#Comment_121693003

Pricy enough. €30 each.

I know it's not a fair comparison, but it would be less than €100 in Italy or France etc.

Obviously we've higher salaries though.

orangerhyme

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121693063#Comment_121693063

IIRC it would cost the exchequer 500m.

The thing is, there was a labour shortage so a few places closing is probably no harm.

I remember there was a huge shortage of chefs not long ago.

Strumms

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121692886#Comment_121692886

It’s very true and I experience it first hand and it’s even mentioned online in a review I see.

look you are bringing hypotheticals into the discussion to boot, I’ve been a client of this pub for 15+ years… no way are they quiet aside from a Tuesday and the odd other day like most pubs are … and even once a month ON a Tuesday for a good chunk of the year they have their golf society get together and that’s like an average Saturday night in the bar…

So they don’t need to cover anything, in addition they bought the city centre pub recently for millions, 3 million actually in one of the most central and affluent locations….so they are not “quiet all week” or close, nowhere close. :) That’s just my experience, first hand experience not anecdotal.

SharkMX

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121692908#Comment_121692908

Yeah I posted it in another thread last week. Maybe you saw that one. Also its well known around that train station now because ive told everyone I know not to buy the sandwiches there. I hope they've passed it on to everyone they know too. Pity I cant post the name of it here too though.

screamer

takeaways we dont bother with anymore. robbery and bad for us. once a month we go out for a carvery 3 adult and 3 kids meals, deserts and drinks amd its about 120. decent food, nice family time and no washing up.

as for price hikes, food and energy is one thing, but there's also the higher vat rate, higher insurance, hikes in miimum pay and a week of paid sick leave that all have to be accounted for. and we wont nention the warehoused debt that a lot of them are carrying post covid (many more will close as they wont be able to pay revenue) plus every supplier to the restaurant/ take aways have to cover those same hikes and wages themselves, its a viscous circle. I also think that the move away from cash has impacted prices as everything swiped has to be avcounted for and taxed. its not an excuse but the cost of being in business is very high for a lot of discretionary businesses right now and i see a lot more closing.