The Problem With Restaurants

I love eating and I love eating out.  But there are a few huge problems with restaurants.  A couple of them are called tax and tip.  If you order an entree for $6.99, you know it's going to really cost you $10.  That $3.25 lemonade is going to set you back another $5.  It's sad, but tax and tip pain me so much that I try to find loopholes around it.  For example, in California, I've realized that if you order food that isn't hot (like a sandwich), and you tell them that it's to-go, you don't have to pay tax!  There have been many times that I've ordered a sandwich, only to say, "to-go", but just plop right down on a seat to eat.  That little move just saved me 9.5%! 

With tip, I'll order carry-out at my favorite restaurants, so that I can just go in there, pay the exact amount, and eat my food at home.  Obviously I still feel bad that I'm not giving a tip for their take-out services, but it just saved me 15-20%!  (Okay, sometimes I'll tip $1.00 if they're nice...)  The tip on fancy restaurants is even worse.  15-20% on a $100 meal hurts a lot more than 15% on a $7 meal, even if they gave relatively the same service.  Why pay more just because the food costs more?  And why do all expensive restaurants have to be all stuffy and pretentious?  Isn't food about enjoying a meal with your friends and socializing with them?  It seems like the more expensive the restaurant, the less you can be yourself and the less you can enjoy your experience with the snooty patrons sitting right next to you.  

You might think of me as an extreme cheapskate, but we're running a startup!  Every dollar saved is another Del Taco meal, which gives us a greater runway of capital to use while we're building this site.  It's also encouragement for you to use our site, since you never have to pay tip, there's no annoying waiters trying to upsell you appetizers, and you get to meet and eat with great new friends!

 

Posted via email from GrubWithUs blog