What happened to cheap eats?

We thought we’d beat the crowds by going to our favorite taco joint early for Taco Tuesday. 

But instead of finding the usual cheap eats, the menu had a fixed price all-you-can-eat for $27. We don’t have endless appetites, so we ordered our usual fish and chicken taco platters and a $7 margarita. The bill came to more than $50 with one drink and no dessert. So much for Taco Tuesday. 

Friday is pizza night in our house, and we usually order in from a pizza delivery service. We love pizza and we’ll definitely continue this tradition.

I get that our favorite restaurants are just passing on rising prices to customers to help pay their help and suppliers. But they’re doing it at the expense of diners like us who like to take an inexpensive break from cooking. 

We’re not big drinkers, so happy hour with discount booze and free appetizers is not our style. I’ve seen bars at local restaurants filled with people predinner, so that must already be routine.
We’re glad Chinese takeout is still doable. And sometimes prepared, not steam-tabled foods are the way to go. Fast food burgers and fries not an option for us. At least so far. 

But with $100 routine for dinners, and since we eat early now anyway, we’ve decided to change our lifelong habit. 

We’ll start going out for lunch.  

For feedback, email marci@bocaratontribune.com