Poll: Eating Out Habits

[TikiGoddess]

To go along with the "how much do you spend on groceries" thread...

For DINNER TIME only, how often do you go out to eat, or order food?

And if you're feeling like it, tell us what your favorite restaurant is. And how much you generally spend on eating out in a week/month.

Mangia!
TikiG

[BelleLovesTheBeast]

We eat out maybe once every 2 weeks. Where we changes sometimes it's Taco Bell - where else can you buy food for 99 cents? Sometime we go to Old Spaghetti Factory before a hockey game. In the summer we eat at La Hacienda with friends. We try to eat out at restaurants with entrees under $10.

[Beast_fanatic]

We tend to eat out on the weekends. Our current favorite restaurant is Abuelo's. We also really like Texas Roadhouse.

[PirateLover]

John and I tend to eat out on weekends (fri and sat). We don't have much money though so it's either a local pizza and sandwich place (Gaetano's of Brooklawn) , fast food place (McD's, BK, Arby's), or chain. Some of our favorite chains are Applebee's, Bennigan's, and Longhorn Steakhouse. I imagine that when we eventually get our own place we probably won't go out quite as much, but both of us still live with our parents and it's not very romantic to have to eat food on the computer table in his bedroom so we can have some privacy :blush:

[jennbunn]

ds and i go out to lunch every friday after school. just to mc d's or subway. as a family we go out about once a month to the chain places: applebees,perkins,etc...

[SBETigg]

There's a local Italian place called Rinaldi's that knows us and we feel like family there. We eat there once or twice a week. The teens like to shake it up and do the chain restaurants, like Red Robin, now and then instead of Rinaldi's twice.

And about once a month, the DH and I get out for a very nice meal, usually without the kids. Our recent favorite is called Del Raye in Northampton, MA but we also like l'uVa in Springfield. Let me add that we spend too much eating out and we're working on adjusting our habits, but mostly for health reasons. I'm turnng forty later this year and it has me rethinking a lot of those lifestyle choices. It's easier to watch what I eat and stick with low fat, whole grains and veggies if I cook at home.

[Kidsmom]

We go out as a family usually 2x/week and as a couple with our friends 1x/week. This is during the winter. (We go to a local Italian restaurant and spend around $100/dinner with the family and about that or more with the couples)

In the summer, the question is how often do we eat at home: rarely. We eat at our club or restaurants most lunches and dinners. We plant ourseleves at the pool all day as I am truly on vacation come summer! (No homework, schedules, sports committments outside of the club -meaning no taxi service!) I Love Summer.

[January-2007]

I voted never because it's so very rare. Closer to never than every two months. Okay, sure, we went out to dinner on our wedding anniversary, but that's special. We don't go out on a regular basis. Sometimes we are taken out for our birthdays and of course on vacation, but in terms of everyday life? We eat at home.

[c&d]

We eat out usually 2 nights a week. Once at JJ's our local neighborhood restaurant and then usually on Saturday night we go out to one of the restaurants in town, Turner's, Portobello's.

[ncscgirl2005]

We usually eat out for dinner twice a week. Almost always pizza but we only spend about $10 because most of time we get Lil Ceasars
($5 per pizza). The other time is usually either Chinese food or something else. We probably spend about $50-$60 a week on both meals.

[prprincess]

We usually do something twice a week, and not necessarily always a sit down place. We'll do fast food or pizza joint. But one of my new year's resolutions was to seriously stick to a budget, so we're trying to do once a week.

Besides the local pizza places, we like to order from Baja Fresh or Papa John's. My husband loves Popeye's chicken and my son loves McDonald's. We also like to pick up the prepared dishes at Wegman's. I would estimate we spend about $35 on both meals.

[MissStyles]

We have in our budget to go out a few times a month to good quality restaurants. We don't have to think about prices when we order and it's really nice to enjoy. I love to cook but sometimes it's nice to go out and explore new places since our city is so huge. I love all sorts of cuisines. :tasty:

[tinkerbell04]

We eat out on the weekend, usually local or chain type sit down restaurants. For the three of us, we usually have a bill around 40 dollars, per meal. Every Sunday, we eat at my in-laws for dinner with the entire family. I count that as eating out since it is out of my house :)

[Jessie]

I voted once a week and I wish we didn't. The main reason is that most of the time I just don't have the energy to cook. Taking care of a 2.5 year old and managing a rough pregnancy really just wipes me out. DH sometimes will make dinner, but he works all day and is tired too. Then we end up ordering out. We average about 30 dollars when we do. Our weekly shopping budget is between 120-150.

[BouncingTigger]

My boyfriend and I eat out about three times a week, almost always at places that are less than $10 a plate. Usually we both order water to drink, so no cost there (occasionally I will get a soda or alcoholic drink, but not very often). It's just the two of us, so it stays pretty inexpensive.

We eat at restaurants that are either vegetarian or have a good amount of veg options: Sipz, Pokez, Jyoti Bihanga, Sombreros, Kim's, Olive Garden, Buca di Beppo, Arriverderci, Islands...there's a lot of places to eat around here!

[AvonleaCF]

Hard to say. I go out once a week with my parents to a restaurant (like Cheesecake Factory, the Outback, Chili's, Friday's), but then I do a lot of take out (I live alone and hate cooking). So I'm big on prepared meals from the store and Chinese take out and the like. I also keep Lean Cuisine in business. ;)

[Mackflava99]

Twice a week, but usually on the weekend.

It used to be more often , but we couldnt afford it. My wife is a good cook, i am ok, but we worked alot of hours. Now with twins, she isn't working full time so she cooks.

[AbeeNormal]

Thanks for the fun question......

My Dh & I eat out once or twice a week while our boys are in school.

Right now I am loving Logan's Roadhouse - It just opened and it's really fun and the food is great - They serve tons of peanuts and the shells go on the floor when your done, my boys love that. They have great steaks and there side dishes are awesome - fried mushrooms - onion petals - Buffalo chicken finger's - baked sweet potatoes - Tasty.

I also really like a place called Pei Wei it's a Thai place and they have really great food.

I would say 10.00 - 15.00 per plate at each place.

Great now I'm hungry.........:eat:

[RAIDER]

I would probably say once a month it used to be alot more but were behaving ( weight wise ) ;)

[RedSoxFan]

DH & I usually go out to dinner every Saturday (unless one of the kids have a sporting event). DD11 usually comes with us; but the boys very rarely want to come with us. We go to Applebees, Chili's and other local restaurants.

[princessgirls]

We usually go out or do take-out Friday/Saturday nights.

Anything from Outback, Chili's, Cheesecake Factory to Burger King, McDonalds, pizza. My DH and I's personal favorite is Jose Tejas. $30 for my family of 4 (2a,2c) with a tip for a sit-down tex-mex meal. It's a winner!
I need a break every now and then, from the cooking and clean-up routine!

I spend $120 per week at the Food Store and about $200 a month at BJ's on meats, etc.
I brown bag to work 4 days a week and treat myself to lunch one day. DH works the night shift and his hospital subsidizes meals, so he eats for $2.00 a night. Not worth brown bagging for that.

That's my story and I'm sticking too it.

Julie:mickey:

[Ian]

I picked 3 times a week, but it's probably more like 3.5 times really.

We eat at a variety of different places, but mostly spots like Outback, Red Lobster, Bennigan's, etc. There's also a couple local places we like a lot ... a pizza place and a little more upscale place called Inn Flight.

We probably spend maybe .... $35? ... a meal, so what's that like $100 a week maybe?

[disneydrmr]

We eat out a bit too much I fear. I know we spend about $200 to $300 a month sometimes eating out. We have cut back, and we have declared Feb as a NO eating out month. We almost always go out on Sundays after church. Then usually on Friday before we go to the grocery. Then usually on Saturday as we are out running around.. yep. we eat out way too much! Our favorites are Olive Garden, Jersey Mike's, Cracker Barrel, a local place called Dad's, Donatos and many more.

[TheMartellFamily]

for us it is once a week. We go to Buffalo Wild Wings on Wednesday evening. The kids meals are 99cents and there are two chicken legs for a dollar. For the four of us we will spend about 20 dollars because we each will get a beer to wash it down and the drinks for the kids come with the meal. It is a cheap meal night when we go out.

[TikiGoddess]

My DH and I like to eat out --- sushi is our favorite by far. In a typical month we will go out for sushi once or twice (especially if DH's brother is around to babysit). Sushi is usually around $50-60 (with wine). We also might go out to Friendly's with the kids if we're both too tired to cook ($35). That happens about once a month.

Rainforest Cafe visits (lunches) come about once every two months. And I love to go to Atlanta Bread Co. or Panera for lunch if I'm out shopping by myself!

I was interested to see what results this poll would bring... when I was a kid we almost NEVER went out to eat. A big night out would be going to Pizza Hut and that happened maybe once or twice a year. Now that I am grown I find that I really enjoy going out to dinner and trying new foods. It's also quality time with my hubby, especially if the kids are home.

TikiG

[SAHDad]

Aside from a recent trip to WDW, I'd be hard pressed to remember the last time we went out. The DW and I went out to dinner (just the two of us) sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I think. (With two kids, 4 and 1, going to a nice restaurant is pretty much out of the question, and even McDs is kind of iffy - especially since the son didn't have fries until he was 2, and I want to keep that streak going with the daughter - so about a year to go there.)

It's not really a question of budget though - just the logistics of two kids. I think she might get lunch out at work from time to time, and every couple of weeks, I pick up fast food on my way to gaming, but we rarely eat out as a family.

[IloveDisney71]

Since my DD's are getting older and work different nights of the week, we eat out 3 or 4 times a week. I hate to cook for just 2 people. (I really hate to cook at all!) We try to avoid fast food places. We do go to Panera for their soups about every other week. We hit our local mexican rest. just about every week. My family of four can eat there for about $40 including the tip and a margarita! That's one of the reasons we eat there so often.
Our cost varies depending on where we decide to eat and how many of us are going.

[Dracula766]

umm...ya, I eat out alot. :eat:

Usually once or twice over the weekend. and sometimes almost every night when I'm at work. I actually love to cook and I wish I had more time do so.

I'm getting kinda burned out by the restaraunt selection near my office too. :confused: