Tag Archives: dining out

Restaurant Resolutions Part II

1 Feb

New health conscious restaurant chains like Elevation Burger boast organic menu items.

So the first month of the year has come and gone and I was curious to know how everyone’s doing on their New Year’s resolutions. I’m still being good, eating right, getting to the gym, and working on those little projects that tend to get away from you as the year rolls on.

As a trend for 2012, restaurants have pledged to include a healthier range of options on their menus. And so far they seem to be keeping their promise! Which is great because it makes eating right that much easier for me.

According to Healthy Dining Finder, even established comfort food chains like Olive Garden, Red Lobster, and Boston Market all have menu items that are identified as healthy. Also listed are menu items that are “sodium savy” and part of the Kids Live Well program which was initiated by none other than our fabulous First Lady, Michelle Obama.

Also new health conscious restaurant franchises are emerging like Zpizza and Elevation Burger. Both chains use 100% USDA certified organic ingredients and buy locally to ensure freshness. Totally stepping up the game on two American favorite comfort foods, pizza and burgers. I’ve had a burger from Elevation Burger and I must say it was quite delicious! The price wasn’t too bad either as long as you don’t add on too many condiments, which is hard because the options are plenty and tempting.

So it looks as though the restaurant industry is on point to keep their resolutions. How about you?

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Is Eating Out Cheaper Than Dining In?

26 Jan
family dining out

Dining out may cost you less than groceries!

Going out to eat to me has always been a special treat, no cooking, no cleaning, but of course at a price. However, with the rising costs of food and groceries, restaurants have made themselves competitive by keeping their costs relatively the same if not lower!

According to a consumer report released late last year by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, consumers have been spending more (almost 4.5%) on dining out. I don’t mean the 5 stars, but family restaurants are promoting more deals and with the added convenience of no prep time and left-overs for lunch the next day, sometimes it works out for the better.  Shopping and cooking takes time so it’s definitely more convenient for a family to eat out. The time saved on meal prep is then able to be spent on a second income or a part-time job which is the case with a lot of families these days.

Part of what makes this recession so challenging is that as salaries have been coming down the cost of living has been going up. Supermarket food prices have increased approximately 6% a year, about 2.5 times as fast as the cost of restaurant meals, according to the same report. Effectively making dining out more cost-effective. Restaurants have been struggling in this difficult economy as well so they are passing down the savings from their ability to buy at whole sale to diners like you and me!

Keep in mind though that restaurants have been providing themselves additional savings by cutting back on staff and decreasing hourly wages. Restaurant staff tend to be hard workers with a mindset that their money comes from tips, so restaurants have been able to get away with lowering hourly pay without too much fuss. Most restaurants also do not offer benefits so don’t forget to tip your servers people!

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