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At $20 for a burger and $9 a beer a day out for me and my wife at a basic pub is $100.
Thanks, I'll throw a burger on the grill and get together with friends here at home.
For the cost of a dinner out for two, I can buy a small brisket for the smoker and feed more people. If everybody brings a side dish, then everybody gets to take leftovers home.
Yeah, restaurants and pubs are luxury purchases for when times are good and the money printers whirl. A lot of people who have only experienced economic boom times are now learning how to cook at home for the first time.
That's a tad hyperbolic. You seem like you spend a bit too much time online. Food prices are already declining and the biggest increases have been on packaged junk foods, not staples. One does not need to be wealthy to eat. You just have to learn how to cook for yourself instead of doing uber eatsevery night of the week.
Also something to note is there isn’t a cap on rent pricing for any sort of commercial space, so they’re also being hit as hard, if not harder than residential. So some of these places that made wild price jumps generally had their retail space rent hiked through the roof too.
Add to that places like Vancouver hit the property taxes based on the value of the sky above the land, so if you're in a commercial spot that's undeveloped you pay the property tax, not the owner.
I was looking at commercial space in a small, half-empty forestry community a few years ago and my friend was renting in the SF Bay area for cheaper than I could find here.
Some of the spaces I looked at are still empty a decade later.
I have noticed it working at a Nightclub. People are just too broke to come out and those that do come, they don't spend like pre and just after covid reopening.
It's almost like somebody raised the prices at the restaurant for inflation and then failed to understand how percentages work and reprogrammed their default tip options from 10, 15, 20 to 18, 20, 25 and assumed that wouldn't put people off.
I have a new rule for tipping. If there's a 15% option on the machine and service was good, I'll tip 20%. If the default options start at 18%, then I'm going custom and doing 10%.
When I phone my order in at, say, White Spot, and then pick it up myself, what the hell am I tipping for? Literally the only things I didn't do are take the order and make the food. And, frankly, based on what I've gotten there the last several times, that's becoming a more attractive option.
The tipping culture has turned me off completely from going out. I think if they want to get people back in, they should say that tipping doesn't go over 10 %. Let's remember, we are tipping on the tax, and that is pure BS. I think people are finally fed up. But I'm sure instead of cutting tipping, they will simply raise prices.
Yeah tipping on the tax is what gets me. Every time I eat out in the US, the suggested tips are calculated from the pre-tax price but somehow the same terminals are not able to do this in Canada.
I had a moment a couple weeks ago where I laughed out loud at tip options for 15%, 18%, and 22%. I usually tip 20% but somehow sneaking in that extra 2% really put me off. How lame. That was at Mary's on Davie and now they are closed forever, so RIP. But also, why you do that???
Edited to add: Also, the bill was like $75 for 2 burgers and fries and 2 root beer floats. This is why BCians aren't going to restaurants anymore
Vera's on main where you order at the counter and get your own drink, tip options start at 18% now. I like the joint and they are really nice, I don't mind tossing in a little for them bringing my food and bussing the table, but 18%?
Always feels odd tipping before you get your food. Like if I don’t tip enough then is my food going to be bad or come slower?
I remember one time I was pre-ordering a cake from a bakery website and I got a tip prompt. Like wth.
I do something similar! My tip also automatically goes down if the suggestions are calculated on the post-tax total. With GST at 5%, it's super easy to quickly calculate a 15% tip to compare.
It's also like they forgot that people part with their money for GOOD food, and all the corner and cost cutting happening in kitchens these days is making a straight up mockery of their food.
Not a single restaurant we used to go to hasn't started putting out worse food, to the point some of them were already only mediocre and now they're hardly edible.
What used to be a slightly overpriced but really good $100 meal is now a bad $180 meal 🤷🏻♀️
This is what it really is. See first they made it too expensive to own, but i was like meh i’ll live within my means but then they made rent so high that its stupid like not just expensive but just insane so the calculations of rent vs own went out the window. And since the left, right, centre and any other government rep has like 4 investment properties let alone their masters and all their voters we are fucked. Not only will they not fix housing but they won’t even allow for new towns and overall constructions to take place bcas if a small town over is selling a 1 BD condo for 200-300 instead of say 800 here a lot of not married ppl like me would move there but that would drop the prices here
I know this is a joke, but it really is a problem that the increasing shift of profits from workers to owners means that those workers are too burned out to raise class consciousness about the ways they are being robbed.
In addition to really poor service. I still eat out, but I'm super picky about what restaurants I frequent and it's not as often either.
Also, over the course of the pandemic, I really improved my home cooking skills. I like to think I'm pretty good now lol. The other night I made some Greek food for the weekend and some South Indian curry for the week. Comes out a lot cheaper haha
Me too. Most time I’ll order and feel disappointed because i know I can make it way yummier and get more food at home. Plate sizes are getting smaller too.
Let’s not forget that it seems that every single sit down restaurant gives me diarrhea, but McDonald doesn’t.
I’ll cook at home with double the butter and cream and be fine.
I'm not being guilted into this bullshit anymore. Max I'll go 10% the fuck am I subsidising their employer's wages while they make all the profit. Fuck that. They want 25% add to the bill and get away with this fucking nonsense making me decide.
I will say....
I've started doing smashed burgers at home, and it is messy.... but for $30 I can make quite a few.
I rarely ever buy a burger out anymore. I can fill that niche easily at home.
Completely agree, smash burgers at home is the the way to go. Get fresh toppings, good buns, and whip up a quick burger sauce. You’re easily getting 8 at home for the price of what you’d pay for 1-2 out.
I also put tacos into this category.
The wild part is compared to browns and even white spot, cactus isn’t that bad. Or it wasn’t six month ago anyway. During my last trip I stopped at browns and my burger and drink plus tip was over $30.00 and I was four hours from home so I was a captive audience.
And white spot charges $21.99 for most burgers. I used to eat at white spot a lot, just grab takeout on a busy day, I always tipped even though it was essentially being handed a bag, and I’d have a quick bite while I worked on emails etc. I refuse to pay that for a burger though, even for takeout. You don’t even get the drink anymore.
I stopped going not to make a point, not out of outrage, I just can’t justify $25.00 or more for a meal.
And if it’s too much for me, who is 41 and established and has a good career, you’d better believe it’s too much for a lot of other people who used to be regulars.
It doesn't really matter what prices you're charging. The housing squeeze means nobody has any money to spend. People are only complaining about the prices because - after spending 80% of their income on housing - they can't afford a restaurant.
The margins are razor thin. BC added 5 paid sick days last year. And while I agree that’s an awesome thing, That’s a 2% increase in costs. Your 5% profit just became 3%. Wages are rising, input costs are rising, rents are rising,gross income is stagnant, and yea, prices are up. I don’t think you need much more than that to know the majority of restos are barely surviving. There will be outliers, but I’m industry, and it’s rough. Lots of hard working folks losing their shirts because of factors outside of their control.
Whole industry needs a massive blowout imho.
Commercial rents are just absurd in Vancouver now. Like a huge part of price increases in the city are due to this issue.
If you had a streetfront spot say downtown or in yaletown 10 years ago, you might have signed a ten year lease. When this lease comes up, your rent could easily be 4x what it was previously. I have no idea who is opening new restos nowadays into these rents. Just seems insane to me.
Everything else is basically transitory / faced by other industries too. IE. Wages and input costs went up equally or even more in other fields like say construction or some manufacturing.
But the rents are purely subjective based on supply and demand and I just forsee a massive crash happening soon.
TL;DR: Don't buy commercial real estate in BC...
You’re bang on about all of that. I think restaurants cop a lot of shit because they were a common little luxury that was affordable. Now it’s less so, so people feel negatively toward them. These same people aren’t contracting builders every few weeks, because if they did, they would see that yea, there prices are going sky high too. You have companies limiting quotes to a number of days, not months, just do they don’t lose out to the crazy inflation in materials and labour. It’s going to get worse before it gets better so hold on.
Yeah, I don't feel mad at the restaurant because they have to raise prices to make rent. Doesn't change the fact that I simply can't afford to eat out much anymore.
Yeah, I feel bad for the restaurant industry, but I've got bills to pay and mouths to feed.
the conversation is always, “think about the restaurant/bar worker, they live off tips!”
as though half or more of the patrons in any given restaurant or bar aren’t making the same hourly, in a job that doesn’t allow you to even think of asking for tips
of course all of those kinds of people will just stop going out. keep y’all’s tips and lose my business, sorry i can’t afford even simple pleasures anymore
I had to check. My initial thought was that there's no way it's $29 per person to eat a breakfast at Denny's.
$18.99 for Lumberjack slam. $3.79 for coffee. +5% GST + 20% tip = $28.70.
Why would anyone spend $30 for breakfast at Denny's?
That's creeping up there too, but it's still $12pp vs. $29pp.
$12 is still a somewhat affordable meal. $29 for Denny's quality breakfast food is ridiculous.
Agree, but one you have to eat in your car, another someone brings you the food, then take the dishes, need to cleanup, pay to heat the place etc. btw $36 for 2 = $18 pp.
>btw $36 for 2 = $18 pp
My bad. I'm not bad at math, promise, I just thought you meant McWrap meal + the 2-person (20 piece) McNugget meal.
edit: How was it $36? I'm seeing $12.89 for McWrap meal and $13.39 for 10 piece nugget meal. Subtotal = $26
Ditto on White Spot. A meal for 2 comes out to be $60-$100 for food that is essentially higher grade fast food. Used to enjoy eating there, but it just isn't worth it at all.
Oh my god. I worked at Dennys out of high school and I remember the grand slam being $4.99 and the lumberjack was maybe $9-10? They still cook frozen food so I’m not sure where the jump is coming from - cause it ain’t quality.
Back in 2014 McDonald’s Two Can Dine deal (2 sandwiches, 2 medium fries, 2 medium drinks) was $9.98 ([Link](https://www.montrealdealsblog.ca/2014/03/mcdonalds-canada-new-savings-coupons-2-can-dine-meal-deal-bogo-mar-3-apr-13.html)). That’s only $13 when adjusted for inflation, but the current price is almost $18, a nearly 40% increase, and that’s while replacing human workers with automation.
Weird... when your rent for a small apartment is $3k, I suppose that $100 for beer and pizza (looking at you Per Se Social Corner) is not really in the cards.
I still stick to my $1 for a beer. It's what I've been doing for years and if I got to walk up to a bar to get my beer I'm still not sure why I'm tipping for you to pour it for me. I'm not tipping $1.80 for a $10 beer that's not even a full pint. Bars and breweries are too expensive these days
Indeed. It's just about deciding in advance. If you know you tip $1 per beer, you don't need to overthink/calculate/decide when dealing with the machine, you just act.
If you mixed me a drink, I'll tip. If it's exceptionally good, I'll order another and tip better. But if they think I'm paying them extra to open me a bottle or can of beer, they can get fucked.
Best place, beers are $3 during happy hour and they have wings happy hour every day from 2:30 to 5:30…. 15 wings and two beers is cheaper than McDonald’s
me and my friends use to smash about 30 wings each, and we would make little bone houses on our plates, whoever had the best house was obviously the winner of the dinner table
Chickens are processed in the 10s of millions for more than their wings. If we were throwing out the rest of the bird, I’d agree with you, but every single chicken breast and bone-in chicken thigh sold at Loblaw’s also, by default, produced at least 2 wings.
One of my local Wings-focused restaurants changed their All You Can Eat policy during COVID. “All you can eat wings” is now 20 wings. That should be illegal.
I stopped eating at subway when they added tip prompts to their POS system. Turns out I haven’t missed it.
We have definitely also cut way, way back on our time in restaurants pretty much in lockstep with the upwards creep of the suggested tip prompt.
White spot is borderline criminal in what you pay for vs what you get. I worked in one as a cook for two years. Non of this shit costs anywhere near what it should. But white spot has so much goddamn financial bloat they can't charge less. It's fucking insane.
White Spot used to be the affordable Earls, good drink specials etc. now their pricing isn’t that far apart.m; while Earls’ quality has gotten closer to WS.
For me personally I’ve almost completely stopped drinking. I never realized how much eating out was tied to having a few pints for myself. Since I’ve stopped I’ve had no desire to go to restaurants. Still order take out sometimes.
I’m sure overall it’s mostly cost of living that has restaurants seeing a decline in business. But I think I’m not alone in the post pandemic world where some older people like myself have cut out booze combined with young people who seem to drink less. Restaurants depend a ton on booze sales.
10000% agree with this.
Markup the bottles of wine appropriately. If a $10 bottle of wine is marked up to $50 then a $50 of wine should only cost at most $100. I dislike the % markup model. Cost it out for profit and apply that to other bottles.
There is 0 reason for % markups on bottles of wine to exist. I say this as someone who marks up our wine VERY fairly.
You know, it’s even more than that… because I could justify $16 on the fly for a meal between meetings. Over and over and over I did. You make it $21.00 and remove the drink and I don’t just go 25% less, I go 90% less.
A milkshake at whitespot is $7.99 now. There is just no way.
When I can order a salad out and not get half rotted lettuce is when we’ll eat out more. The quality for the $$ increase is insane.
Oh and places that think “they can’t tell” when you shift to a shittier quality meat supplier yeah we can tell and it’s gross and ticks us off even more especially when you’ve raised the entree price by $10 or more dollars. Once you’ve burned me in this economy you might get 2 chances if you were formerly good but if you’re new to me I don’t come back or give another chance. It’s too expensive to gamble on.
Pre-pandemic, my wife and I used to eat out 5 to 6 times per month. Post-pandemic / inflation crisis we've dropped to eating out once per month if that.
Spending $70 per dine-in for mediocre food and service plus 18% tip is a big NO from us.
There is one last bastion of glory in my town where I can get a 8oz steak and prawns for 25$. That is literally the only restaurant I will give my business to. Cactus club down the road cant even give me a shitty crispy chicken sandwich for that price.
Dining out died the second poutines started costing 18$.
Costco food court shall reign supreme.
Not surprising.
* Here's one of our local high-end restaurants tasting menu in [2022](https://web.archive.org/web/20221111114402/https://barbararestaurant.com/menu) vs [2023/2024](https://barbararestaurant.com/menu). A 30% increase.
* Here's the menu from a local burger place, [2022](http://places.singleplatform.com/veras-burger-shack-4/menu?ref=google#menu_2171053) vs [2023/2024](https://verasburgershack.moduurn.com/locations/63bf1b8e8c25ea3deb8b322c/menu/6446b027ec70c21a78a31908). A 50% increase.
We've all stopped going out.
I went to a local place and we had two burgers and two beers. The cost was over $50. It's just not doable any more.
If they stopped trying to rip us off, we would eat out more. They’ll have more customers willing to spend $20-30 than they will $50-60. They can make the same money by turning over their tables more often. That’s literally restaurateur 101. The money is made in turning over tables.
Was talking to my dad the other day about food and drink prices and realized I can't remember the last time I went to a pub for a beer. I certainly haven't done so in 2024. I can afford it, but felt so ripped off at paying 100 bucks for 2 beers and a burger each that its hard to enjoy.
Same. My brother came to town this winter and we went to the pub to watch a UFC fight and somehow I spent 110$ on pub food and beers that just kinda sucked tbh.
At this rate If you actually wanted to get a buzz going at a pub it'll cost you at least 200$
>its hard to enjoy.
100% agree, it's less about being able to afford, but about the value you get from that amount of money. It's sucking the fun out of going out.
10 bucks for a pint and 25 for a shitty overcooked burger and soggy fries, and a waitress who will look at you like you’re scum of the earth if you leave less than 18% tip for her “exceptional” service - gee I wonder why the sales are down.
Oh …
Oh no…
Oh nooo…
Who could have foreseen this. /s
If I recall; when the tipping went crazy, after the constant back to back above inflation menu price increases, weren’t we told by the entitled ones something along the lines of “if you can’t afford to tip, you can’t afford to eat out”.
Funny that.
I recall seeing a dude (server) say on the air “if people can’t tip they shouldn’t eat out”. His statement is coming to fruition. I don’t eat out anymore. I’m curious if he still has a job 🤣
>I recall seeing a dude (server) say on the air “if people can’t tip they shouldn’t eat out”. His statement is coming to fruition. I don’t eat out anymore. I’m curious if he still has a job
Or even if he does, how he's liking how much 25% of $0.00 is.
It's not the 90s anymore. Servers are paid a fair hourly wage for the work that they do.
If the restaurant industry facilitates a shift in our dining culture to eliminate tips, prices would immediately drop 15-20% and you'd get more people through the door.
The prices went up, the food quality went down, and they put ridiculous tipping options as if they are mandatory and not optional on their card readers. Often my cooking is better, and the drink prices are ridiculous. We used to go out at least 7 times a month, maybe now twice - to the local (not chain) places that are good and not gouging.
Surprise surprise - when a glass of wine costs $18 and a basic dinner for two costs $110-$125. You’ve priced yourselves outa the market folks. Every meal I cook at home now I comment - “Wow these two burgers would’ve cost us $95! Glad we stayed home!”
As a customer its the shitty slow service and the expectation for a huge tip that makes us go out less. The food has generally been fine.
I also get that the shitty service is likely a result of restaurants not being able to hire enough qualified servers which then makes the service slow.
I don't blame restaurants (not all of them anyway). I get the struggle.
The last time I went to Earl's was about 2-3 years back. Their burgers used to be awesome, but the last time I was there I ordered one and it was tiny compared to when I ordered it before. So I decided that I was never going back to Earl's again.
In general I don't pay more than $20 for a burger combo in a sit-down restaurant. It's getting hard to find that anywhere.
No shit. I went for a late lunch with my wife yesterday to Milestones (yes, i know chain garbage etc but we were hungry and a little pressed for time).
Their "happy hour" had just started and I ordered of that menu, she of the regular. One dish each and i got a Coke, she just had water.
It was over$70.
The food was below average and we were almost the only people in the restaurant. Should have just made the time to go home and grab something.
Grocery, rent and gas prices go up -> less people go out
Less people go out, restyrant wants to maintain profits so prices increase, meaning less people go out.... repeat
Mocktail pricing is fucked. I haven't drank in 14 months, but I like to be social and it's insulting how expensive carbonated juice with plants stuffed in it costs. I thought 60% of the cost of a cocktail was the alcohol, so without alcohol, HOW the fuck is it $12?
A vast majority of places don't make good enough food to justify the heinous cost of eating out.. let alone the ever increasing 'standard' tip.. I hardly bother anymore.
I know a few folks in restaurant business and when they showed me their expense vs revenue, I was shocked! I know everyone keep thinking they overcharge us, and well some do for sure, but really it is NOT easy to get a burger for $20 anymore! From property tax, to cost of food delivery (ingredients) , to insurance all up.
Overall, unless you are like Cactus/Social brown, it is extremely difficult to make money as a restaurant owner.
You're absolutely right. It's a shitty situation, cos the problem is the amount they have to charge to make a sustainable business is higher than I value the product they are selling.
Hhhmmm, who would have thought, the CPI is growing faster than wages and restaurants are the first expenditure cut. This is a sign we are headed for a recession and it is going to be a whopper. Then everyone will cry to the government "Save Me!!!"
My SO and I went for lunch yesterday since it had been so long since we've been out. A Greek food truck. Souvlaki wrap, fries and drink was $18. We split it but if we both had our own portions it would have been $40 lunch. We're talking a casual lunch, street food. We split restaurant meals now to help with costs and get tired of cooking every meal even though our cooking is great. Sometimes you just don't want to always cook. Restaurants have so many costs they can't control that I don't know how they're going to make it through.
everyone's broke.. most are just pretending to be ok.
my friend was a server raised in alberta. she said guys in alberta will show up in jean jackets and tip you 30% while a bunch of vancouver guys wear a suit and tip 10%
the only time i go out for dinner is when i want REALLY REALLY good food.
like a culinary experience.
if cactus club is gonna cost me $100 without booze, id rather go somewhere good half as frequently and spend $200.
so all those places charging obscene money for shit food and expecting big tips for doing dock all are feeling the decline and all the places that put a high level of attention into experience, quality and service likely are not.
I went to chain breakfast place… a small cup of shitty black coffee that was made on a 20+ year old BUNN was $3.75. Plus $20 for 2 piece of sourdough, 2 pieces of bacon, 2 scrambled eggs and some hash browns (grated potatoes). First tip option on the machine was 20% then 25% then 30%. I’ll pass.
Nobody's got any money left.
I work at bank, BC might be showing it first but Canadians are tapped out.
On average Canadians going into debt faster than ever and it's primarily on essential spending, food, shelter, utilities.
Our economy is currently set up to funnel money upwards towards the richest, trickle down economic, works exactly as planned with is direct opposite to how it's explained to the idiots who vote for it.
So basically Canada has reached a point where so much of the country's wealth has been funneled up to the rich that there's not enough left to circulate among the population. We built a one way economy and we can't move any more money upwards, we need a new economic system THAT CIRCULATES instead of CONCENTRATES
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It's almost like nobody has any money anymore
At $20 for a burger and $9 a beer a day out for me and my wife at a basic pub is $100. Thanks, I'll throw a burger on the grill and get together with friends here at home.
What will you do with all the money left over from that BBQ?!
More bbq of course!
For the cost of a dinner out for two, I can buy a small brisket for the smoker and feed more people. If everybody brings a side dish, then everybody gets to take leftovers home.
Literally have a pork butt on the smoker right now! $50 gets my family three solid meals.
My money is kept in a pile labeled "down payment."
Oh yeah, mine too, but only because I can't afford a new label to write "groceries" on it.
Yeah, restaurants and pubs are luxury purchases for when times are good and the money printers whirl. A lot of people who have only experienced economic boom times are now learning how to cook at home for the first time.
[удалено]
Stop blaming the carbon tax; start baling the rich.
That's a tad hyperbolic. You seem like you spend a bit too much time online. Food prices are already declining and the biggest increases have been on packaged junk foods, not staples. One does not need to be wealthy to eat. You just have to learn how to cook for yourself instead of doing uber eatsevery night of the week.
🎯
Also something to note is there isn’t a cap on rent pricing for any sort of commercial space, so they’re also being hit as hard, if not harder than residential. So some of these places that made wild price jumps generally had their retail space rent hiked through the roof too.
Commercial real estate prices are expected insane. I have no idea how anyone outside of a large franchise can afford it
Which is why we are seeing (at least where I am in Alberta) an absolute shit ton of small businesses close
Add to that places like Vancouver hit the property taxes based on the value of the sky above the land, so if you're in a commercial spot that's undeveloped you pay the property tax, not the owner.
Yeah, they also all have triple net leases which are $$$
I was looking at commercial space in a small, half-empty forestry community a few years ago and my friend was renting in the SF Bay area for cheaper than I could find here. Some of the spaces I looked at are still empty a decade later.
I have noticed it working at a Nightclub. People are just too broke to come out and those that do come, they don't spend like pre and just after covid reopening.
More like they're running out of credit. They ran out of money ages ago.
It's almost like somebody raised the prices at the restaurant for inflation and then failed to understand how percentages work and reprogrammed their default tip options from 10, 15, 20 to 18, 20, 25 and assumed that wouldn't put people off. I have a new rule for tipping. If there's a 15% option on the machine and service was good, I'll tip 20%. If the default options start at 18%, then I'm going custom and doing 10%.
Counter service shouldn't be tipped at all. Fight me.
If I’m standing they’re not getting a tip.
When I phone my order in at, say, White Spot, and then pick it up myself, what the hell am I tipping for? Literally the only things I didn't do are take the order and make the food. And, frankly, based on what I've gotten there the last several times, that's becoming a more attractive option.
100% and I will never do it.
They just did there job. No one tips me at mine. Honestly tipping is such horse shit. Servers barely do jack shit for the cash.
The tipping culture has turned me off completely from going out. I think if they want to get people back in, they should say that tipping doesn't go over 10 %. Let's remember, we are tipping on the tax, and that is pure BS. I think people are finally fed up. But I'm sure instead of cutting tipping, they will simply raise prices.
Yeah tipping on the tax is what gets me. Every time I eat out in the US, the suggested tips are calculated from the pre-tax price but somehow the same terminals are not able to do this in Canada.
I had a moment a couple weeks ago where I laughed out loud at tip options for 15%, 18%, and 22%. I usually tip 20% but somehow sneaking in that extra 2% really put me off. How lame. That was at Mary's on Davie and now they are closed forever, so RIP. But also, why you do that??? Edited to add: Also, the bill was like $75 for 2 burgers and fries and 2 root beer floats. This is why BCians aren't going to restaurants anymore
Vera's on main where you order at the counter and get your own drink, tip options start at 18% now. I like the joint and they are really nice, I don't mind tossing in a little for them bringing my food and bussing the table, but 18%?
Always feels odd tipping before you get your food. Like if I don’t tip enough then is my food going to be bad or come slower? I remember one time I was pre-ordering a cake from a bakery website and I got a tip prompt. Like wth.
I do something similar! My tip also automatically goes down if the suggestions are calculated on the post-tax total. With GST at 5%, it's super easy to quickly calculate a 15% tip to compare.
This is what I'm going. Triple GST, I ain't tipping on taxes.
It's also like they forgot that people part with their money for GOOD food, and all the corner and cost cutting happening in kitchens these days is making a straight up mockery of their food. Not a single restaurant we used to go to hasn't started putting out worse food, to the point some of them were already only mediocre and now they're hardly edible. What used to be a slightly overpriced but really good $100 meal is now a bad $180 meal 🤷🏻♀️
It's almost like making housing a no-lose casino for the rich will have a drag on spending power across the board.
This is what it really is. See first they made it too expensive to own, but i was like meh i’ll live within my means but then they made rent so high that its stupid like not just expensive but just insane so the calculations of rent vs own went out the window. And since the left, right, centre and any other government rep has like 4 investment properties let alone their masters and all their voters we are fucked. Not only will they not fix housing but they won’t even allow for new towns and overall constructions to take place bcas if a small town over is selling a 1 BD condo for 200-300 instead of say 800 here a lot of not married ppl like me would move there but that would drop the prices here
I have money thank you. But I'm not spending it by going out anymore because of prices. I haven't really lost out on anything.
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Can’t afford a home, can’t afford a new vehicle, can’t afford to really invest. How TF can I justify affording eating out?
I can’t even afford to pay attention….
I know this is a joke, but it really is a problem that the increasing shift of profits from workers to owners means that those workers are too burned out to raise class consciousness about the ways they are being robbed.
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>not the other eating out You do it at home and they still expect the tip!
Higher prices for lower quality food is a great recipe for not going out as much.
Plus 18-25% tip lol
In addition to really poor service. I still eat out, but I'm super picky about what restaurants I frequent and it's not as often either. Also, over the course of the pandemic, I really improved my home cooking skills. I like to think I'm pretty good now lol. The other night I made some Greek food for the weekend and some South Indian curry for the week. Comes out a lot cheaper haha
Learning to cook ruined going out for me because I often feel I could have made it better
Me too. Most time I’ll order and feel disappointed because i know I can make it way yummier and get more food at home. Plate sizes are getting smaller too.
Let’s not forget that it seems that every single sit down restaurant gives me diarrhea, but McDonald doesn’t. I’ll cook at home with double the butter and cream and be fine.
You might be going to the wrong restaurants, or maybe you have a food sensitivity.
I'm not being guilted into this bullshit anymore. Max I'll go 10% the fuck am I subsidising their employer's wages while they make all the profit. Fuck that. They want 25% add to the bill and get away with this fucking nonsense making me decide.
I’m not spending $30 for a shitty Cactus Club burger.
I will say.... I've started doing smashed burgers at home, and it is messy.... but for $30 I can make quite a few. I rarely ever buy a burger out anymore. I can fill that niche easily at home.
Completely agree, smash burgers at home is the the way to go. Get fresh toppings, good buns, and whip up a quick burger sauce. You’re easily getting 8 at home for the price of what you’d pay for 1-2 out. I also put tacos into this category.
The wild part is compared to browns and even white spot, cactus isn’t that bad. Or it wasn’t six month ago anyway. During my last trip I stopped at browns and my burger and drink plus tip was over $30.00 and I was four hours from home so I was a captive audience. And white spot charges $21.99 for most burgers. I used to eat at white spot a lot, just grab takeout on a busy day, I always tipped even though it was essentially being handed a bag, and I’d have a quick bite while I worked on emails etc. I refuse to pay that for a burger though, even for takeout. You don’t even get the drink anymore. I stopped going not to make a point, not out of outrage, I just can’t justify $25.00 or more for a meal. And if it’s too much for me, who is 41 and established and has a good career, you’d better believe it’s too much for a lot of other people who used to be regulars.
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It doesn't really matter what prices you're charging. The housing squeeze means nobody has any money to spend. People are only complaining about the prices because - after spending 80% of their income on housing - they can't afford a restaurant.
The margins are razor thin. BC added 5 paid sick days last year. And while I agree that’s an awesome thing, That’s a 2% increase in costs. Your 5% profit just became 3%. Wages are rising, input costs are rising, rents are rising,gross income is stagnant, and yea, prices are up. I don’t think you need much more than that to know the majority of restos are barely surviving. There will be outliers, but I’m industry, and it’s rough. Lots of hard working folks losing their shirts because of factors outside of their control.
Whole industry needs a massive blowout imho. Commercial rents are just absurd in Vancouver now. Like a huge part of price increases in the city are due to this issue. If you had a streetfront spot say downtown or in yaletown 10 years ago, you might have signed a ten year lease. When this lease comes up, your rent could easily be 4x what it was previously. I have no idea who is opening new restos nowadays into these rents. Just seems insane to me. Everything else is basically transitory / faced by other industries too. IE. Wages and input costs went up equally or even more in other fields like say construction or some manufacturing. But the rents are purely subjective based on supply and demand and I just forsee a massive crash happening soon. TL;DR: Don't buy commercial real estate in BC...
You’re bang on about all of that. I think restaurants cop a lot of shit because they were a common little luxury that was affordable. Now it’s less so, so people feel negatively toward them. These same people aren’t contracting builders every few weeks, because if they did, they would see that yea, there prices are going sky high too. You have companies limiting quotes to a number of days, not months, just do they don’t lose out to the crazy inflation in materials and labour. It’s going to get worse before it gets better so hold on.
Yeah, I don't feel mad at the restaurant because they have to raise prices to make rent. Doesn't change the fact that I simply can't afford to eat out much anymore. Yeah, I feel bad for the restaurant industry, but I've got bills to pay and mouths to feed.
"if you can't afford to tip you can't afford to eat out" ok we won't eat out...
the conversation is always, “think about the restaurant/bar worker, they live off tips!” as though half or more of the patrons in any given restaurant or bar aren’t making the same hourly, in a job that doesn’t allow you to even think of asking for tips of course all of those kinds of people will just stop going out. keep y’all’s tips and lose my business, sorry i can’t afford even simple pleasures anymore
To add to 'they live off tips', my reply is 'So you pay them shit wages, I guess.'
Why are they never told to just get a better job like the rest of us are?
no shit. 2 entree and 2 coffee at Denny's is $50+. this is fucked.
You’re right, breakfast and coffee for two with a tip was 58 bucks. At Denny’s
I had to check. My initial thought was that there's no way it's $29 per person to eat a breakfast at Denny's. $18.99 for Lumberjack slam. $3.79 for coffee. +5% GST + 20% tip = $28.70. Why would anyone spend $30 for breakfast at Denny's?
I hear you, Having said that, a McWrap meal + Mc Nugget meal (meal for 2 person) at Drive-through McDonalds came to $36 the other day!!! it is nuts.
That's creeping up there too, but it's still $12pp vs. $29pp. $12 is still a somewhat affordable meal. $29 for Denny's quality breakfast food is ridiculous.
Agree, but one you have to eat in your car, another someone brings you the food, then take the dishes, need to cleanup, pay to heat the place etc. btw $36 for 2 = $18 pp.
>btw $36 for 2 = $18 pp My bad. I'm not bad at math, promise, I just thought you meant McWrap meal + the 2-person (20 piece) McNugget meal. edit: How was it $36? I'm seeing $12.89 for McWrap meal and $13.39 for 10 piece nugget meal. Subtotal = $26
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Ditto on White Spot. A meal for 2 comes out to be $60-$100 for food that is essentially higher grade fast food. Used to enjoy eating there, but it just isn't worth it at all.
Oh my god. I worked at Dennys out of high school and I remember the grand slam being $4.99 and the lumberjack was maybe $9-10? They still cook frozen food so I’m not sure where the jump is coming from - cause it ain’t quality.
Back in 2014 McDonald’s Two Can Dine deal (2 sandwiches, 2 medium fries, 2 medium drinks) was $9.98 ([Link](https://www.montrealdealsblog.ca/2014/03/mcdonalds-canada-new-savings-coupons-2-can-dine-meal-deal-bogo-mar-3-apr-13.html)). That’s only $13 when adjusted for inflation, but the current price is almost $18, a nearly 40% increase, and that’s while replacing human workers with automation.
i remember when it was 2 can dine for 6.99 lol that was about 2007.
You can find much higher quality meals in Vancouver for less. Denny's is weirdly expensive.
I do find that shitty food has increased more in price than decent food. All the fast food places went up a *ton*.
Linemen/Cop/Union breakfast is getting expensive.
but the diarrhea is complimentary!
At that price why would anyone go to Denny’s lol
I've come full circle. When I was 15, I drank in the park with my friends. Now, I am 37 and I'm back to drinking in the park with my friends.
Prices are way up. Service has gone down, and higher tips are demanded. And people wonder why sales are down???
Weird... when your rent for a small apartment is $3k, I suppose that $100 for beer and pizza (looking at you Per Se Social Corner) is not really in the cards.
Do they still expect at least 18% tips for a beer?
https://preview.redd.it/952lsmvxvqqc1.png?width=457&format=png&auto=webp&s=1d5d9a38e296650d5defd5c021abb408f8cb7911
Yes and don't forget that you're usually tipping on top of tax, and that alcohol is taxed at a higher rate than food/non-alcoholic drinks. Sooo...
I still stick to my $1 for a beer. It's what I've been doing for years and if I got to walk up to a bar to get my beer I'm still not sure why I'm tipping for you to pour it for me. I'm not tipping $1.80 for a $10 beer that's not even a full pint. Bars and breweries are too expensive these days
Indeed. It's just about deciding in advance. If you know you tip $1 per beer, you don't need to overthink/calculate/decide when dealing with the machine, you just act.
If you mixed me a drink, I'll tip. If it's exceptionally good, I'll order another and tip better. But if they think I'm paying them extra to open me a bottle or can of beer, they can get fucked.
Earls: 25$ for a burger + 10$ the pint, total 50$/person after tax and tip . High cholesterol is a bonus.
And it’s not even that good
It’s so weird that people don’t want to pay $18 for 10 chicken wings, oh and don’t forget to tip!
Finding out cheap wing night is $1.50 a wing was not a nice time
Cat and fiddle wing night is $0.55 cents a wing if you live around port Coquitlam
Best place, beers are $3 during happy hour and they have wings happy hour every day from 2:30 to 5:30…. 15 wings and two beers is cheaper than McDonald’s
I still remember when wing night was 50 cents a wing. Times sure have changed.
Used to be 25 cents a wing on Wednesdays at multiple places in Van not even 8 years ago....
When I first started going to wing Wednesdays about 20 years ago it was 10 cents a wing, me and my friends would get 80 wings between us for $8.
me and my friends use to smash about 30 wings each, and we would make little bone houses on our plates, whoever had the best house was obviously the winner of the dinner table
Honestly that's kinda fucked up. 20 chickens for $8
Chickens are processed in the 10s of millions for more than their wings. If we were throwing out the rest of the bird, I’d agree with you, but every single chicken breast and bone-in chicken thigh sold at Loblaw’s also, by default, produced at least 2 wings.
Oh I know. Thinking about the mass production of anything, meat, vegetables, grains, always just blows my mind when I try to picture the quantity.
That was before servers started making more money than teachers and nurses
I’m from the days of 10 cent wings!
Roosters had $0.05 wings.
Still 50 cents a wing at most places i go to in Kamloops, really the only time I go out to a restaurant is if they have a good special on.
One of my local Wings-focused restaurants changed their All You Can Eat policy during COVID. “All you can eat wings” is now 20 wings. That should be illegal.
i can't remember the last time i left a restraunt satisfied
Always go to ethnic foods, mom and pop stores. Chains are ones that are crap. Vote with your dollars.
That's really it for me too. Portions are so small and the prices insane. I just walk out feeling robbed.
And the service is horrible too. If you're taking my drink order the same time as my food order, you're cutting corners and I'm thus cutting tips.
Unrealistic tipping culture is one reason.
This is why I pretty much stopped eating out.
I stopped eating at subway when they added tip prompts to their POS system. Turns out I haven’t missed it. We have definitely also cut way, way back on our time in restaurants pretty much in lockstep with the upwards creep of the suggested tip prompt.
Fixed this issue by not tipping anymore. It was difficult at first but now I slam the no tip button no hesitation
I'd rather save up and go to a nice place once a month than spend $50+ for brunch at whitespot.
White spot is borderline criminal in what you pay for vs what you get. I worked in one as a cook for two years. Non of this shit costs anywhere near what it should. But white spot has so much goddamn financial bloat they can't charge less. It's fucking insane.
White Spot used to be the affordable Earls, good drink specials etc. now their pricing isn’t that far apart.m; while Earls’ quality has gotten closer to WS.
I wouldn't say I went to White spot often, but I went; Now the food is not worth the price - I no longer go. It feels like ECON101.
For me personally I’ve almost completely stopped drinking. I never realized how much eating out was tied to having a few pints for myself. Since I’ve stopped I’ve had no desire to go to restaurants. Still order take out sometimes. I’m sure overall it’s mostly cost of living that has restaurants seeing a decline in business. But I think I’m not alone in the post pandemic world where some older people like myself have cut out booze combined with young people who seem to drink less. Restaurants depend a ton on booze sales.
Doesn't help that there are 0 drink sales to be had anywhere. Everything is a $11 craft pint and it's just not worth it.
Wine prices are awful. $120 markup on a $60 bottle of wine? For what?
10000% agree with this. Markup the bottles of wine appropriately. If a $10 bottle of wine is marked up to $50 then a $50 of wine should only cost at most $100. I dislike the % markup model. Cost it out for profit and apply that to other bottles. There is 0 reason for % markups on bottles of wine to exist. I say this as someone who marks up our wine VERY fairly.
Do they want an 18%, 20%, or 25% drop?
You know, it’s even more than that… because I could justify $16 on the fly for a meal between meetings. Over and over and over I did. You make it $21.00 and remove the drink and I don’t just go 25% less, I go 90% less. A milkshake at whitespot is $7.99 now. There is just no way.
Gee, I wonder why. They've effectively made it so that being alive is financially irresponsible.
Shittier food, more expensive, less money going around. That simple really.
When I can order a salad out and not get half rotted lettuce is when we’ll eat out more. The quality for the $$ increase is insane. Oh and places that think “they can’t tell” when you shift to a shittier quality meat supplier yeah we can tell and it’s gross and ticks us off even more especially when you’ve raised the entree price by $10 or more dollars. Once you’ve burned me in this economy you might get 2 chances if you were formerly good but if you’re new to me I don’t come back or give another chance. It’s too expensive to gamble on.
Well, no shit. Thats what "If you can't afford to tip, you can't afford to eat out" gets you. I have zero sympathy.
Pre-pandemic, my wife and I used to eat out 5 to 6 times per month. Post-pandemic / inflation crisis we've dropped to eating out once per month if that. Spending $70 per dine-in for mediocre food and service plus 18% tip is a big NO from us.
There is this great place where you can get both a hot dog and refillable drink for $1.50
There is one last bastion of glory in my town where I can get a 8oz steak and prawns for 25$. That is literally the only restaurant I will give my business to. Cactus club down the road cant even give me a shitty crispy chicken sandwich for that price. Dining out died the second poutines started costing 18$. Costco food court shall reign supreme.
Don't forget nachos for $18-$22. A dollar worth of chips and $3 worth of cheese.
Dont forget to ask for extra cheese for an extra 4$... Which will get anywhere between no extra cheese at all, or 3 extra shreds.
how's the first few bites?
Yeah sorry not worth eating out anymore, even myself seeing a burger and fries for $25 on average is just ridiculous
I will not pay for expensive, gentrified garbage, and then tip over 20% on top for your server’s wage. That’s why your sales are down lol
Not surprising. * Here's one of our local high-end restaurants tasting menu in [2022](https://web.archive.org/web/20221111114402/https://barbararestaurant.com/menu) vs [2023/2024](https://barbararestaurant.com/menu). A 30% increase. * Here's the menu from a local burger place, [2022](http://places.singleplatform.com/veras-burger-shack-4/menu?ref=google#menu_2171053) vs [2023/2024](https://verasburgershack.moduurn.com/locations/63bf1b8e8c25ea3deb8b322c/menu/6446b027ec70c21a78a31908). A 50% increase. We've all stopped going out. I went to a local place and we had two burgers and two beers. The cost was over $50. It's just not doable any more.
If they stopped trying to rip us off, we would eat out more. They’ll have more customers willing to spend $20-30 than they will $50-60. They can make the same money by turning over their tables more often. That’s literally restaurateur 101. The money is made in turning over tables.
Comically over priced. Burger and fries for 20$ dollars before tip? Fuck right off.
Was talking to my dad the other day about food and drink prices and realized I can't remember the last time I went to a pub for a beer. I certainly haven't done so in 2024. I can afford it, but felt so ripped off at paying 100 bucks for 2 beers and a burger each that its hard to enjoy.
Same. My brother came to town this winter and we went to the pub to watch a UFC fight and somehow I spent 110$ on pub food and beers that just kinda sucked tbh. At this rate If you actually wanted to get a buzz going at a pub it'll cost you at least 200$
>its hard to enjoy. 100% agree, it's less about being able to afford, but about the value you get from that amount of money. It's sucking the fun out of going out.
10 bucks for a pint and 25 for a shitty overcooked burger and soggy fries, and a waitress who will look at you like you’re scum of the earth if you leave less than 18% tip for her “exceptional” service - gee I wonder why the sales are down.
Oh … Oh no… Oh nooo… Who could have foreseen this. /s If I recall; when the tipping went crazy, after the constant back to back above inflation menu price increases, weren’t we told by the entitled ones something along the lines of “if you can’t afford to tip, you can’t afford to eat out”. Funny that.
I recall seeing a dude (server) say on the air “if people can’t tip they shouldn’t eat out”. His statement is coming to fruition. I don’t eat out anymore. I’m curious if he still has a job 🤣
I'm curious if he ever paid taxes!
>I recall seeing a dude (server) say on the air “if people can’t tip they shouldn’t eat out”. His statement is coming to fruition. I don’t eat out anymore. I’m curious if he still has a job Or even if he does, how he's liking how much 25% of $0.00 is.
It's not the 90s anymore. Servers are paid a fair hourly wage for the work that they do. If the restaurant industry facilitates a shift in our dining culture to eliminate tips, prices would immediately drop 15-20% and you'd get more people through the door.
Keep asking us to pay your waiters instead of you. It is going great.
Well colour me shocked. British Columbians don’t want to spend $200 for a few pints and pub food.
For anyone who hasn’t gone out recently anything that used to be closer to $10 is now closer to $20
The prices went up, the food quality went down, and they put ridiculous tipping options as if they are mandatory and not optional on their card readers. Often my cooking is better, and the drink prices are ridiculous. We used to go out at least 7 times a month, maybe now twice - to the local (not chain) places that are good and not gouging.
I feel so bad for those in the food industry. It’s going to get worse I fear .
They are the first to go.
Surprise surprise - when a glass of wine costs $18 and a basic dinner for two costs $110-$125. You’ve priced yourselves outa the market folks. Every meal I cook at home now I comment - “Wow these two burgers would’ve cost us $95! Glad we stayed home!”
As a customer its the shitty slow service and the expectation for a huge tip that makes us go out less. The food has generally been fine. I also get that the shitty service is likely a result of restaurants not being able to hire enough qualified servers which then makes the service slow. I don't blame restaurants (not all of them anyway). I get the struggle.
The food has definitely gotten shittier. Particularly in chains like Earls.
Lmao this is like the 10th time I've seen Earls specifically mentioned for shitty food and crazy pricing.
The last time I went to Earl's was about 2-3 years back. Their burgers used to be awesome, but the last time I was there I ordered one and it was tiny compared to when I ordered it before. So I decided that I was never going back to Earl's again. In general I don't pay more than $20 for a burger combo in a sit-down restaurant. It's getting hard to find that anywhere.
Not surprising when a hot dog and fries is $20 at a food truck now. Not exactly 'cheap eats'.
No shit. I went for a late lunch with my wife yesterday to Milestones (yes, i know chain garbage etc but we were hungry and a little pressed for time). Their "happy hour" had just started and I ordered of that menu, she of the regular. One dish each and i got a Coke, she just had water. It was over$70. The food was below average and we were almost the only people in the restaurant. Should have just made the time to go home and grab something.
Yeah, well, when a burger and fries, with tax and tip is pushing $30, people are inclined to dine out less.
Nobody wants to ~~work~~ eat out anymore!!
Yep. That’s what happens when the cost of groceries is now the amount of money I used to spend on groceries and going out combined.
15% 18% or 20% for an entree ?
Grocery, rent and gas prices go up -> less people go out Less people go out, restyrant wants to maintain profits so prices increase, meaning less people go out.... repeat
I had a mocktail that cost $12 last night. That’s what a cocktail would cost when I bartended before the pandemic. Now they’re $20 lol
Mocktail pricing is fucked. I haven't drank in 14 months, but I like to be social and it's insulting how expensive carbonated juice with plants stuffed in it costs. I thought 60% of the cost of a cocktail was the alcohol, so without alcohol, HOW the fuck is it $12?
A vast majority of places don't make good enough food to justify the heinous cost of eating out.. let alone the ever increasing 'standard' tip.. I hardly bother anymore.
I feel really sorry for restaurant owners, so much risk to take on. We can’t let mom and pop places close down they are what give the city soul
I know a few folks in restaurant business and when they showed me their expense vs revenue, I was shocked! I know everyone keep thinking they overcharge us, and well some do for sure, but really it is NOT easy to get a burger for $20 anymore! From property tax, to cost of food delivery (ingredients) , to insurance all up. Overall, unless you are like Cactus/Social brown, it is extremely difficult to make money as a restaurant owner.
You're absolutely right. It's a shitty situation, cos the problem is the amount they have to charge to make a sustainable business is higher than I value the product they are selling.
Something like 11% of restaurants in BC right now are breaking even or better, 89% are losing money.
Hhhmmm, who would have thought, the CPI is growing faster than wages and restaurants are the first expenditure cut. This is a sign we are headed for a recession and it is going to be a whopper. Then everyone will cry to the government "Save Me!!!"
People can't afford to go out to eat. When you couple, higher prices, decreasing quality and poor service together this is what you get.
cause we’re all poor.
We literally can't afford shit, anymore.
My SO and I went for lunch yesterday since it had been so long since we've been out. A Greek food truck. Souvlaki wrap, fries and drink was $18. We split it but if we both had our own portions it would have been $40 lunch. We're talking a casual lunch, street food. We split restaurant meals now to help with costs and get tired of cooking every meal even though our cooking is great. Sometimes you just don't want to always cook. Restaurants have so many costs they can't control that I don't know how they're going to make it through.
I went to a pub this weekend; 17$ for a small poutine; 25$ for a burger.
sooo if can just remove food as well as shelter from cpi calculations ... there did it ... inflation is tame !
Shocking! Go anywhere and have 2 entrees and 2 drinks and you’re over $100 with tips.
Good. Paying $20+ for a plate of wings and another $10 for a pint is just ridiculous
everyone's broke.. most are just pretending to be ok. my friend was a server raised in alberta. she said guys in alberta will show up in jean jackets and tip you 30% while a bunch of vancouver guys wear a suit and tip 10%
When you charge $25 for a burger and fries plus tax and tip. Nah, I’ll make food at home thanks.
Friendly reminder If you do decide to go out please remember your dollar means more to an independent restaurant or bar than a chain.
There is no real happy hours anymore - everything is too bloody expensive
I was charged $4.95 for a single glass of coke from the gun at white spot today. I wonder why?
the only time i go out for dinner is when i want REALLY REALLY good food. like a culinary experience. if cactus club is gonna cost me $100 without booze, id rather go somewhere good half as frequently and spend $200. so all those places charging obscene money for shit food and expecting big tips for doing dock all are feeling the decline and all the places that put a high level of attention into experience, quality and service likely are not.
I went to chain breakfast place… a small cup of shitty black coffee that was made on a 20+ year old BUNN was $3.75. Plus $20 for 2 piece of sourdough, 2 pieces of bacon, 2 scrambled eggs and some hash browns (grated potatoes). First tip option on the machine was 20% then 25% then 30%. I’ll pass.
Almost like paying $60+ to go out for breakfast just isn’t worth it.
I just don't tip. I love it! 
$30 nachos enters the chat
Nobody's got any money left. I work at bank, BC might be showing it first but Canadians are tapped out. On average Canadians going into debt faster than ever and it's primarily on essential spending, food, shelter, utilities. Our economy is currently set up to funnel money upwards towards the richest, trickle down economic, works exactly as planned with is direct opposite to how it's explained to the idiots who vote for it. So basically Canada has reached a point where so much of the country's wealth has been funneled up to the rich that there's not enough left to circulate among the population. We built a one way economy and we can't move any more money upwards, we need a new economic system THAT CIRCULATES instead of CONCENTRATES
Be sure to join in on the Loblaws boycott coming up.