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posted by n1 on Tuesday May 30 2017, @10:45PM   Printer-friendly
from the instant-noodles dept.

The U.S. restaurant industry is in a funk. Blame it on lunch.

Americans made 433 million fewer trips to restaurants at lunchtime last year, resulting in roughly $3.2 billion in lost business for restaurants, according to market-research firm NPD Group Inc. It was the lowest level of lunch traffic in at least four decades.

While that loss in traffic is a 2% decline from 2015, it is a significant one-year drop for an industry that has traditionally relied on lunch and has had little or no growth for a decade.

"I put [restaurant] lunch right up there with fax machines and pay phones," said Jim Parks, a 55-year-old sales director who used to dine out for lunch nearly every day but found in recent years that he no longer had room for it in his schedule.

Like Mr. Parks, many U.S. workers now see stealing away for an hour at the neighborhood diner in the middle of the day as a luxury. Even the classic "power lunch" is falling out of favor among power brokers.

Re-heating leftovers in the break room microwave takes two minutes and is guaranteed to be on your diet?


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 31 2017, @12:32AM (3 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 31 2017, @12:32AM (#518002)

    My go-to is:
    1. Cast-iron pan on high and set oven to 350F.
    2. Put chicken leg quarter in the pan.
    3. Season one side, flip, then season other side.
    4. Place in oven for 35min.

    I usually shower and get ready while the chicken is in the oven. The hands-on time is less than 2 minutes.

    Potatoes usually go in a slow cooker, but I sometimes bake them alongside the chicken. This is when I haven't made bigger batches of food on the weekend or the night before.

    How much time do you "waste" going out to lunch everyday? I typically "waste" more time going out to eat than when I prepare it myself.

  • (Score: 2) by art guerrilla on Wednesday May 31 2017, @01:40PM (1 child)

    by art guerrilla (3082) on Wednesday May 31 2017, @01:40PM (#518270)

    i have weird eating proclivities, due to aspiness, i guess...
    during high school, ate the exact same lunch EVERY DAY (literally, not figuratively): two tuna sandwiches, two cartons milk, a pkg of twinkies...
    when on my own at college, had a peanut butter making machine, and had peanut butter and honey sandwich with some chips and a pickle spear for lunch, EVERY DAY...
    for dinner, would make a one-pot meal where boil some water, throw in a couple frozen chicken thighs (seems like most meat per dollar of chicken meat), then throw in some rice (sometimes do mac and cheese for variety), then throw in a couple frozen broccoli spears about 10 minutes to go...
    EVERY DAY, for over 10-12 years...
    AND, i LOVED IT, i used to look forward to that meal every day...
    now, my wife is some sort of foodie-lite, and i get subjected to crap i can't stand when i'd just as soon have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich...
    give me a plate of chicken, rice, broccoli, and i will be happy...
    EVERY DAY...

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 31 2017, @04:21PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 31 2017, @04:21PM (#518354)

      I'm with you there.

      Many people would consider me a foodie, but simple dishes can be delicious and I don't get tired of eating the same thing. I don't need to use my immersion circulator to make delicious food.

  • (Score: 2) by tibman on Wednesday May 31 2017, @05:06PM

    by tibman (134) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday May 31 2017, @05:06PM (#518380)

    That's cheating. I'm the one who cooks at home so i know how BS your argument is. If you are cooking with the same pan everyday then you also have to clean that same pan every single day. Unless maybe you are doing that in the shower too? You also aren't including the time spent shopping (and driving there). An argument can certainly be made for saving time and money by eating in versus out but yours is bad.

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