Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: Ball on March 02, 2007, 01:16:43 PM
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Honest question... when i was in america, i was staggered by the amount of fast food places/restaurants along the roads. It made me wonder how they stay in business with so much competition. Do Americans eat out most nights rather than eat at home or something?
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Originally posted by Ball
Honest question... when i was in america, i was staggered by the amount of fast food places/restaurants along the roads. It made me wonder how they stay in business with so much competition. Do Americans eat out most nights rather than eat at home or something?
We eat 6-7 meals a day.
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We only eat out 2-3 meals a week. I think it's because the population is so dense nowadays. any piece of vacant land is (most of the time) is turned into apartments or 'condos' (squashed houses you can 'own'). makes me glad we live on a nice sized property, there's not many left in our neighborhood.
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Eating out is big. Although you may notice them more because they are at the road side and driven by our car-driven lifestyle. The restaurant service industry is huge in the US.
From http://www.restaurant.org
2007 US Restaurant Industry Overview
* Sales: $537 billion
* Locations: 935,000 — serving more than 70 billion meal and snack occasions
* Employees: 12.8 million — the industry is the largest employer besides government
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Also interesting:
"Nearly half of all adults have worked in the restaurant industry at some time during their lives and 32 percent of adults got their first job experience in a restaurant."
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Originally posted by Seraphim
We only eat out 2-3 meals a week.
only!
it is as i expected then. thanks guys. :)
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Yep, myself I barely cooked at home anymore, after 5 years living there. It's just really convenient.
The food is a lot better at home but it's just easier to spend a few bucks and have it done quicker.
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I felt that while i was over there. Really enjoyed eating out and trying all the different restaurants.
I did find it hard to eat healthily when i wanted to though, about the healthiest thing we could find was Subway at times.
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Think from the perspective of efficiency. We place fast-food joints along our major roadways just like gas stations so it's easy to keep our cars moving and burning fossile fuels in something close to perpetual motion. This is our solution to the upcoming global-cooling disaster identified by experts in the 1970's and we're doing our part to stop another ice age. I think we're doing rather well. :D
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I found healthy eating was pretty expensive, and not that mainstream, at the time.
But it is there, "natural" food markets and the like.
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Originally posted by Ball
only!
it is as i expected then. thanks guys. :)
i must clarify: once or twice a week, we go to a restaurant (local italian place), once we might go to a fast food place, but we usually cook at home.
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Yup, the Juice bars made up for the restaurants (quite funny when i asked for the shot of 'vit-a-mins', almost got the impression i was speaking klingon or something at times, the confused WTF look on the girl serving's face... "OH! you mean 'vita-mins!') very nice they are too.
Originally posted by Seraphim
i must clarify: once or twice a week, we go to a restaurant (local italian place), once we might go to a fast food place, but we usually cook at home.
didn't mean that as any insult to you, just the mindset that you 'only' ate out twice a week in a restaurant. heck, if i lived in america i would probably eat out more than eat in :)
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The numbers of fast food joints are directly proportional to the size of the average fat arse American...
Yes, I think most eat out thinking it is faster and easier as both adults usually work. I prefer to cook/grill most meals for the family and eat out only when someone twists my arm to do so.
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Originally posted by Ball
Yup, the Juice bars made up for the restaurants (quite funny when i asked for the shot of 'vit-a-mins', almost got the impression i was speaking klingon or something at times, the confused WTF look on the girl serving's face... "OH! you mean 'vita-mins!') very nice they are too.
didn't mean that as any insult to you, just the mindset that you 'only' ate out twice a week in a restaurant. heck, if i lived in america i would probably eat out more than eat in :)
If you ate out more in America, by one year you will have gained like 50 pounds, if you didn't exercise. On The Border enchaladas have 2000 calories. Eating home is more healthier than eating at a resturant or fast-food service because at those, they tend to have more cals, and fats, and all that bad stuff. Thats why there food is so good.
In america people tend to eat out about 2-3 times a week. The younger generation like mine, tend to eat out 3-5 times a week because 1) They have daddy's money, or 2) they don't know how, or don't like to cook. The older generations tend to eat out 2-3 times a week and cook the rest. In large cities though you do find alot of healthier resturants and fast-food service. In large cities you can find European, Asian, Middle East, and other region foods which tend to be healthier sometimes. Mexican food is big in the U.S. or in the Southern parts. I do like to go out to buy a quick meal because it is done on the spot, but sometimes they can screw up your order like McDonalds (I hate that place, but there breakfest is great). Thats what I like about America is that you have so many choices to go to. Home, asian, latin, european, or those great home-made resturants in small towns.
OH YEAH ALMOST FORGOT! Another thing we Americans do is cook a lot of microwave or oven products. I'd have to say almost everyday, every American microwaves or ovens a half-done product.
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So where are you at Ball?
Our family eats out a lot more than twice a week... I'm a rotten cook ~ so they all enjoy eating out.
*Fire Alarm blares*
"Mom must be cooking again." son #1
"Dinner's ready!" son #2
"What's that awful smell?" son #3
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We eat out maybe once every 2-3 months. :eek:
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we (wifey and 17yr old still at home) never eat at fast food places, ever. my kids might but very seldomly. we call that plastic food. even if we are travelling we look for mom and pop run establishments to eat at. it's led us to some interesting stuff both good and bad.
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Originally posted by moot
I found healthy eating was pretty expensive, and not that mainstream, at the time.
But it is there, "natural" food markets and the like.
And that's why not many people eat healthy, because "organic" costs 2-3 times as much. I can eat a bowl of oatmeal and an apple for dinner or I can go spend $6 on a burger, drink, and fries. It just depends on my mood, and it's usually oatmeal (and I'm trying to save money).
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Originally posted by Nilsen
We eat out maybe once every 2-3 months. :eek:
I'm not much for eating out either. I prefer to cook my meals and generaly enjoy them more than the bought ones.
I might eat out once or twice every ninty days.
Mark
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Originally posted by Seraphim
We only eat out 2-3 meals a week.
Yeap, delivery is great :noid
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Originally posted by storch
even if we are travelling we look for mom and pop run establishments to eat at. it's led us to some interesting stuff both good and bad.
I'd say, especially if travelling, I'd look for mom and pop restaurants.
I love to travel, so I'm biased, but new restaurants are almost a reason enough all by itself to get me on a long roadtrip.
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Reading this thread made me hungry for fast food.
:mad:
(http://cagle.msnbc.com/news/FastFood/fastfood2gifs/BreenLessFatFries.gif)
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Originally posted by Meatwad
Reading this thread made me hungry for fast food.
Reading Gunslingers *game on* thread making me hungry for riiiibs
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Originally posted by moot
I'd say, especially if travelling, I'd look for mom and pop restaurants.
I love to travel, so I'm biased, but new restaurants are almost a reason enough all by itself to get me on a long roadtrip.
indeed, for us as well
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My wife and I eat out in a restaurant 2 to 4 times a year. As a family we eat in a restaurant maybe 6 times a year. During lent we go to church fish-fries 3 or 4 times as a family; we also attend about 4 German Family Society functions with meals a year. We don’t travel much, but when we do we usually resort to eating out. We order take out (usually pizza) once every 2 or 3 weeks. Well over 95% of our dinners are home cooked with all 7 family members eating together.
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Originally posted by Mark Luper
I'm not much for eating out either. I prefer to cook my meals and generaly enjoy them more than the bought ones.
I might eat out once or twice every ninty days.
Mark
Yeah..
For us its mostly the joy of making dinner together to round off the day and spend abit of quality time. We also like to make fairly healthy food and if you wanna go out to get that its gonna cost a fortune (unlike fastfood) and the portions are not nearly enough for me :D
Tradition also plays a big part of it. I know from other people that its much more customary for americans (and sertainly city dwellers) to eat out more often than in for practical reasons, and its also cheaper than here. For norwegians in general, eating out at a resturant is for special occations or for business purposes. The trendy city dwellers here tend to do it more and more too.
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We eat out on an avg of once a week, but not fast food or junk food *if* we can help it (schedule-driven). During football season, this jumps up to 2 times a week.
If its fast food, we try to do subway, which is still not the best food in the world, but a hella lot better than other fast food places.
Alittle off topic, but I've been on a modified high-protein diet since Jan. 1st (trying to get back into shape when I took 6 months off from weight lifting) and let me tell you, I can clear a room with my gas from this diet. :D
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eatin in mean not designated driver needed:aok :aok :aok :cool: :cool: :cool:
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Originally posted by Debonair
eatin in mean not designated driver needed:aok :aok :aok :cool: :cool: :cool:
Absolutely! As I open up my 2nd bottle of Sam L. Smith Tadcaster organically produced Ale, I thank thee for plenty of food on the table, good spirits, and good company, of whom happen to be children extracted from my loins years before and a forgiving wife (of whom has had to deal with me buying all sorts of stuff for my new FJC) :D
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hehehe made me think of this
Burger King (http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/burgerking.php)
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Originally posted by Ball
Honest question... when i was in america, i was staggered by the amount of fast food places/restaurants along the roads. It made me wonder how they stay in business with so much competition.
Gluttony sheer gluttony
If there is one thing most Americans are guilty of these days. Is in one form or another. Its gluttony
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Originally posted by Mace2004
Think from the perspective of efficiency. We place fast-food joints along our major roadways just like gas stations so it's easy to keep our cars moving and burning fossile fuels in something close to perpetual motion. This is our solution to the upcoming global-cooling disaster identified by experts in the 1970's and we're doing our part to stop another ice age. I think we're doing rather well. :D
:lol :aok
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Let's face it. They don't have restaurants in the UK like we do here. Chicken fried steak? Tex mex? Don't think so. If you ever get a chance to eat some good ole down home USA cookin', it'll make you throw away that haggis or black pudding and make you wana smack your momma. Errr, sorry, mum.
:D
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Originally posted by Mace2004
Think from the perspective of efficiency. We place fast-food joints along our major roadways just like gas stations so it's easy to keep our cars moving and burning fossile fuels in something close to perpetual motion. This is our solution to the upcoming global-cooling disaster identified by experts in the 1970's and we're doing our part to stop another ice age. I think we're doing rather well. :D
What do you mean "just like gas stations?" Seems like half the fast food restaurants going up nowadays are attached to gas stations (or is it the other way around?).
I also haven't yet seen anyone mention lunch. With half-hour lunch hours, you have a choice of McDonalds/BK/Jack-in-the-Box drive through or nuke something from home in the company break room. I can't seem to ever remember to bring anything from home, so its a Jumbo Jack for me for lunch 5 days a week -- purchased at our local Quikstop/Jack-in-the-box (the Phillips 66 / McDonalds down the road looks a little dirty).
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Originally posted by Meatwad
Reading this thread made me hungry for fast food.
:mad:
(http://cagle.msnbc.com/news/FastFood/fastfood2gifs/BreenLessFatFries.gif)
Reminds me of a sight I commonly see at the grocery store.
Bet alot of you have seen it too. If you havent. Pay attention and you will.
Standing in line at the checkout and notice the items the rather large person in front of me is buying.
Usually looks something like this,
3-4 frozen Lean cuisine meals surrounded by twice as much. Potato chips, Ring dings, Devil Dogs, 3-4 packages of cookies, 4containers of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream, Several bags of candy,Cinnamon Buns, eggo Waffles,Totino's Pizza Rolls,Doritos,2 large boxes of Cheez-Its..........
And to top it off.
a 12 pack of Diet coke
Gotta watch them calories I guess :confused:
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I swear that fat guy's hat says "FDB" on it.
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Me thinks your right! :rofl
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Originally posted by E25280
What do you mean "just like gas stations?" Seems like half the fast food restaurants going up nowadays are attached to gas stations (or is it the other way around?).
I also haven't yet seen anyone mention lunch. With half-hour lunch hours, you have a choice of McDonalds/BK/Jack-in-the-Box drive through or nuke something from home in the company break room. I can't seem to ever remember to bring anything from home, so its a Jumbo Jack for me for lunch 5 days a week -- purchased at our local Quikstop/Jack-in-the-box (the Phillips 66 / McDonalds down the road looks a little dirty).
Lunch? WTF is lunch?
Lunch takes time. time is money. at 1/2 hour a day thats 2 1/2 man hours lost every 5 day work week!
Couldnt tell ya the last time I took a lunch break
Wait.. thats not true. I do remember now.
It was 1 year ago January when I worked for a buddy of mine for a week as "whip" (his discription) for some new hires he had that he wanted capable eyes to watch over.
Then only because he made me stop for lunch..and actually eat too
normally I dont eat lunch. If I do I feel groggy and feel like taking a nap.
so I dont
Normally my food intake for a day is like I have done today.
2 cups of coffee before I leave the house. One to gt my motor started. the other to get my arse in gear
I cant eat when I first wake up. the very smell of food when I first wake up is nauseating to me. But I gotta have my coffee
Leave the house, stop and get some sort of breakfast sandwich. today it was Porkroll & cheese on a Bagle. and a 24 oz Orange Monster.
Large Gatoraid to sip on over the course of the day.
Come home. anywhere between 5-8:00 Have dinner.Today I had a Sub Sandwich with hot peppers. Last night it was Pork Chops with corn and Mashed potatoes
Then and this has for some reason only started in the last year, around 11:00 I get hungry again and make myself somethign else.
Last night it was perogies with fried almost to black onions mmmmmm
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Originally posted by DREDIOCK
Gluttony sheer gluttony
If there is one thing most Americans are guilty of these days. Is in one form or another. Its gluttony
You say that like it's a bad thing.
Good thing the church has brainwashed most of you.
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(http://www.fpp.co.uk/online/05/06/cartoons/difference_big.jpg):lol
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Ya but with our thongs we get dessert.
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Originally posted by Nilsen
We eat out maybe once every 2-3 months. :eek:
Takes you that long to find some decent roadkill eh?
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Americans arent the laziest, fattest people in the world for nuthin ya know!
(The tub of lard on the right can often be seen coming out of McDonalds or Hardees with the new 1/2 pound burger, OR at the grocery store with a cart crammed full of cheesy poofs and soft drinks:rolleyes:
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Show me a house with a Viking Range, SubZero fridge, granite countertops with a dozen or so KitchenAid/Cuisinart appliances and I'll show you a family that eats out 6 nights @ week :aok
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I eat out maybe 2 times a month and then only because I have company who want to eat out. My girlfriend is a great cook but food is no big deal to me.
The most I ever ate out was in england... there is a resteraunt on every corner in london it seems and they have nothing but high calorie food. I was with someone who insisted on eating 3 meals a day and we never had any trouble in england or scotland finding a place to eat.
I do have one question seriously...
Is everyone in england a drunk? there were bars everywhere... you couldn't swing a brellly or whatever they are called, without hitting a bar..
And.. they all had people jammed into em.. all drinking... when the brits weren't actually in a bar.. they were talking about going to a bar or the bar they had just been in... the whole culture seems to revolve around bars and drinking.
lazs
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Lazs, there wasnt a hidden agenda behind this post, it was a genuine observation i made and wondered why it was.
Of course a city like London is going to have restaurants on every street corner, London has a massive tourism industry.
Drinking is part of the British culture. Up until recent times the Pub was the focal point of local community and had been for hundreds (if not a thousand +) years, especially in smaller towns/villages.
It is on the decline however, if i remember rightly something like 200 bars close in England every week. Probably due to working patterns, TV etc.
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ball.. I was being serious. It seemed that everyone talked about drinking all the time. The bars were everywhere. Perhaps it is a part of your culture.
Did it occur to you that in a country that is as spread out as ours.. in a country that people think nothing of driving a couple hundred miles away to see something on a weekend.. that we would not be able to eat at home?
That the highway is our culture as much as sitting in bars is yours?
Fast food places and resteraunts close every day in America. What's the difference?
When I was in england I was shocked at how badly stocked and small the grocery stores were. I would want to get some fruit or something to snack on instead of eating a meal and there just wasn't much of a selection compared to here... british flags everywhere... I woulda settled for a few less flags and a few more bananas and decent oranges.
And the breakfast they served at the bed and breakfasts! The most calorie packed fast food breakfast here paled in comparison. Everything swimming in grease.
lazs
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When we are on the road traveling to a new destinatioon we will have lunch at a Subway each day. I feel better about "eating out" with their version of fast food.
When we're parked it's a case of eat in most of the time. We go to a restaraunt about 2 times a month or order in pizza. The pizza gets stretched out over a week or so for lunches.
We've found some great places to eat, unfortunately it's expensive, especially for Japanese food.
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I agree, it is, but it seems to be mostly with the older generation. Younger generation seems to drink only at weekends.
It didn't occur to me, my thought was that Americans must dine out a lot rather than eat at home...
I'm not saying there is a difference. I was answering your question which you asked me.
Our supermarkets here are just as big as the ones i visited there, in fact, many are the same company but under a different name.
I don't know why you are going into an America vs. Britain rant. I was not insinuating anything bad in my original post.
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So, is lazs saying, replace the McDonalds on every corner with an English Pub and Ball would feel right at home?
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Well I eat out alot...but I'm often 'out' until 9pm at night, which doesn't leave much time to get home, cook, clean, shower and be ready for work the next day.
But I also 'never' eat at fast food resturants. (never means maybe twice a year)
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Originally posted by Nilsen
Yeah..
For us its mostly the joy of making dinner together to round off the day and spend abit of quality time. We also like to make fairly healthy food and if you wanna go out to get that its gonna cost a fortune (unlike fastfood) and the portions are not nearly enough for me :D
Tradition also plays a big part of it. I know from other people that its much more customary for americans (and sertainly city dwellers) to eat out more often than in for practical reasons, and its also cheaper than here. For norwegians in general, eating out at a resturant is for special occations or for business purposes. The trendy city dwellers here tend to do it more and more too.
Actually it is more expensive to eat out here than to "roll your own" so to speak. Quite a bit. I can only imagine what it costs there. Now, I am single, only cook for myself, but soon it will include fare for my fiancee. Even then it will be cheaper to eat home cooked meals. We will go out and eat more when we are married and living together just because it makes a nice evening out. There is a good selection of restaurants close by and I am not speaking of fast food resturaunts. I really don't care much for most fast food restaraunts but there are a couple that will do in a pinch.
Mark
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Let me add a slightly different perspective. For my wife and me, the stages of eating look something like this:
youth -- little money. eat good meal at home maybe once a day, skip meals the rest of the day because rather spend what little money you have on something more exciting than food. always on the run keeps you slim and trim.
working adult with family at home -- more money but still have to be frugal. wife fixes food for kids who eat as we did above. light lunch on the run at work. late dinner often with wife alone as she fixed food earlier for kids who got home from school earlier. big city commute means maybe an hour each way in heavy traffic rush hours morning and evening.
working adult with kids grown and away from home -- wife and I both tired from 10- to 12-hour days at work/commute. breakfast at home something like juice, milk, toast, small piece of meat, lunch at work maybe sandwich and/or soup, dinner around 7 p.m., something easy she can fix because I have never liked to cook.
me retired, she working -- still same light breakfasts, light lunch if any, I take her to local restaurant for dinner because not fair she would have to cook while still working, and I don't like to cook.
both retired -- breakfast something like instant oatmeal (great for lowering cholesterol), thin slice of turkey, swig of OJ with vitamin pill and aspirin, then one meal of the day usually between 2 and 3 p.m. gets us out of the home and in social meal setting. favorite restaurants include Olde Country Buffet, Olive Garden, Outback, Macaroni Grill, and several local places.
We usually split portions because they're so large. Always have salad and meat, usually chicken or fish. Try to avoid much if any bread, beer, dessert, candy, or ice cream. Small helpings of rice, pasta, or potato. As many veggies as we want. One glass of red wine a day or equivalent, plus as much cranberry juice and water as we want.
We find it costs about the same or not much more to eat out splitting portions at reasonably priced restaurants as it does to buy groceries and fix similar meals at home for just the two of us. This is mostly at lunch prices, not dinner prices.
Walk at least a mile a day, usually more. Easy to keep that regimen when we occasionally travel out of town.
It's pretty healthy, keeps our weight fairly stable, doctor sanctioned, we feel pretty good with it.
But defnitely a major evolution as we've aged and learned a lot of lessons the hard way. I once thought I exercised enough to eat anything, and did for several years. I'd scarf down a LOT of candy, chips, beer, bread, burgers, and all that tasty stuff.
Wondered why I often had heartburn at night after eating a large bag of chips with dip right before bed! :eek:
Got into some of the bad eating habits with food as reward/compensation syndrome. Work pressure, kid pressure, family pressure, financial pressure, we've all been there sooner or later.
Takes forever to learn some lessons, and I'm still learning. Foraging habits have been an integral part of the journey. Supposedly chimps have 97% of human DNA, but I'm descended more from the omnivorous feeding habits of bears.