It got worse. For more than a year, I estimate, we even avoided take-out for fear of possible contamination (as senior citizens with more than a few health concerns, we're particularly vulnerable to dire consequences of contracting the virus despite being fully vaccinated). Coupled with my distaste of reheated food - to me, it becomes leftovers any time after it leaves the restaurant – I was forced to hone cooking skills I'd previously hoped would remain dormant for the rest of my natural life. Finally, we began to chance take-out once every couple of weeks, limiting ourselves to restaurants not more than 15 minutes from home so the food would still be at least warm enough to be consumed when it got here with no microwave intervention.
Now 2024 is nearing the halfway point, and we've returned to occasional inside dining - but still, almost always at "off" hours when most booths and tables are empty and rarely more often than once a week. Like other once-frequent diners, we've mourned several of our once-favorite restaurants that were lost forever to the financial devastation rooted in the pandemic. As we've made cautious returns to a handful of old favorites, we've also made some observations - most of which, alas, are less than positive. Mind you, there are many reasons for the changes, many of them understandable under the circumstances, but here’s a run-down of what we’ve experienced:
1) Too often, the quality of the food overall isn’t the same. For whatever reason (and there can be many), more than a few of our former favorite dishes just don't taste the way they did pre-COVID. Of course, there are a few happy exceptions, including the above-mentioned Margherita’s, where we have yet to encounter a “bad” meal – just the other day, in fact, we brought our daughter-in-law and her brother here to celebrate Mother’s Day and delicious meals were had by all (hint: don’t miss the blackened Ahi tuna).
2) Menu options have shrunk. Items we used to love are nowhere to be found, and we've been told they're not likely to return.
3) Prices are noticeably higher than before the pandemic across the board. Prime rib or walleye, for instance, blows our dining out budget for an entire month. Getting an appetizer before a meal is a lost art now that they cost as much or more than the entrees.
4) "Shrinkflation" is in full bloom. Some restaurants have kept prices close to pre-pandemic levels by reducing portions, which can be an effective option (on the surface, fine with us since our appetites have diminished with age as well, but at the same time, we no longer have the benefit of bringing home tomorrow's lunch). And a surprising number of eateries have both hiked prices and cut portion sizes.
5) Service is sketchy at best. Go anywhere near a peak time, and waiting in line is the norm. Often, it's not because there's a crowd; rather, patrons are sitting in the lobby looking at one or more sections of the restaurant that are shuttered because there aren't enough servers to handle all the available tables.
6) Schedules - even those posted online - are more limited now. Lunch, for instance, has totally disappeared at several restaurants we used to haunt around the noon hour. Ditto Sundays and Mondays, when many that used to be open on those days now are closed. It's not even unusual to find restaurants closing earlier than expected without warning, or for an entire day - again usually attributed to a lack of help. So if we have our heart set on a particular eatery, we try to remember to call ahead by an hour or so to make sure the doors are open.
The bottom line? Like many other people, we've had to make cutbacks, most notably the number of times we can afford to eat out. Even in the good old days, we tended to opt for a late lunch, when prices tended to be more reasonable; these days, we even have to think twice about that; dinners out are for special occasions only.
Still, while I'm a pretty darned good cook - thanks to growing up on a farm with a mother whose fresh-from-our backyard-coop fried chicken and homemade pies were second to none - I do not enjoy cooking and am more than ready to head out as often as possible. Already, I've made a list of restaurants that opened over the last couple of years as well as several I want to revisit. Doing so, I decided, is a good-enough reason to revive my restaurant-review blog. I can't make promises for frequency, shooting at first for monthly installments.
If you have a favorite or two you'd like to see, let me know and I’ll add it to the list. My requirements are relatively simple; I prefer local, independent restaurants within Trumbull, Mahoning, Columbiana (Ohio) and Mercer (Pennsylvania) counties, but chains are not off the table. Wineries that offer food beyond snacks and appetizers not only are fair game, but welcome. Till then, happy eating!
