Has the pandemic altered your appetite for eating/ordering out?

I miss going out for breakfast! We used to do that every Saturday. Restaurants here are still closed except for takeout, so that’s not on the agenda for awhile. The one permanent change Will be my coffee. I used to get my Timmies every day. At the beginning of covid they stopped taking my refillable cup and I didn’t want to touch theirs either 😳. So I started bringing a thermos to work.I have grown to love my own coffee along with the reduction in calories and the $ saved 😆

We used to eat out once a week, usually Saturday lunch. Plus the pretty occasional lunch out with coworkers or friends (maybe 4-8 times a year for each of us). And perhaps 1-2 times a month we would get snacks out (ice cream, Starbucks, etc). Also lots of food out on vacations, of course.

At first last spring, we tried to order once a week for pickup, but that slowly decreased, and now it's about 1-2 times a month.

I think if/when post pandemic happens, we will probably end up doing something in between. Likely a little less inside restaurants because I have really realized how stressful I find ordering in person to be compared to on a website or app.

Nothing really changed for me except ordering in instead of eating out. I still don’t enjoy cooking so I probably order in 2-4 times a week. I actually am really enjoying how many more places deliver now, I hope that keeps up once things open again.

I reallllllllly want fish and chips at the local place.

Haven't had it in over a year and I used to go once a week.


I'll survive. I've come up with all kinds of great seafood dishes, so at least I have that going for me.

Sort of.

We used to eat out a lot more because we used to be out a lot more. The biggest real change though is that we started buying our groceries online and that hugely cut down on the amount of impulse purchases in the grocery store. Which led to a lot fewer snacks.

We're all vaccinated now, which means we could go back to in store shopping but. Not going to do that when I've developed a good 'add to your cart' purchase history that serves my weight goals LOL.

With my husband, he only does take-out, so nothing much as changed since and after pandemic. If I go see my family in San Antonio, we went out a lot, pre-pandemic. Since the pandemic and in San Antonio, if we did go out, we wear masks, social distance, patio only.

My husband and I are vaccinated. I think he's ready to go out to restaurants, so hopefully we'll go out more.

I'm sick of carry-out food, it either cold or not that good.

I miss a nice meal out with OH. Didn’t do it often, but every month or so!
Have continued to have the odd takeaway - couple of Nandos & Pizza Express & the odd curry!
Working from has meant no lunches out from the office, or with mates & that’s what I really miss - the camaraderie, probably not the coffee, lunches & treats.. though I agree I’ve save ££!

I miss restaurants, but don't see myself returning to them anytime soon. I liked them for the social aspect and that seems to be gone for good with eternal masking.

I don't like eating out now. You have to scan a code to see the menu on the phone...and I don't want to read the menu on my phone. I don't want to rush through a meal while wearing a stupid mask where I can't understand a word anyone is saying. The food is more expensive and the portions are smaller. The menus are cut back to bare bones so there isn't much to choose from. Four of my favorite restaurants went out of business. And there's not even any salt and pepper available.

I don't often order delivery; I think only twice during the pandemic. It's gotten so expensive that it isn't worth it to me to spend that much money. About once a month, I pick up takeout from my one remaining favorite restaurant (they don't have in-person dining yet), but I don't enjoy eating the food at home. It's a breakfast place and I wonder why I just spent $25 when I have eggs in the refrigerator and coffee in the cupboard and could easily make the same food myself. I did buy a bunch of gift cards from that one restaurant throughout the pandemic in hope of helping them stay in business, but I don't eat their food often anymore. At least their business seems to be thriving, but it's a niche healthy gluten free with vegan choices-style bakery/cafe.

I was heavily plant based and now full plus vegan ( animals, enviornment and concious) I didn't go out much or enjoy it before and now it's the same for the most part except I am definately interested in a few places that are vegan/ WFPB in Florida where I live. With the new way of life I am discovering so many amazing foods, creative dishes and recipes!

Post pandemic, I ate out about 2-3 times a week, sometimes more, sometimes less. I've been maintaining my week since 2015, so in order for me to be able to eat higher calorie meals when I dined out, I had to reduce calories on the other days in order for my week to balance out.
Since the pandemic, I have rarely eaten out (other than when rules allowed which has been rare), and I have really enjoyed being in more control of my weekly eating, and not having the regular juggling act that was required in order to meet my calorie goals. To be honest, now restrictions are being lifted (UK), I am actually quite anxious about going out to eat more regularly again. I have got VERY comfortable eating at home, eating the foods I like, and I don't really want to let go of that control. However, I know that in order to get back to real life, that anxiety is something I am going to have to overcome and deal with. This week I have 3 meals out planned so it's back to the juggling for me!

Prior to the pandemic, we ate out 2-3 times per week, usually dinners, but sometimes a lunch. I would also meet friends for breakfast about once a month.

Once restaurants closed I decided to try at least 2 new recipes per week to meet some of the cravings for variety. It was also during this period that my husband wanted to try plant based eating, and for those 2 weeks I made something new every day. The only take out my husband likes is pizza or Chinese. So once or twice a week I’ll pickup fast food for my kids and cook for us.

Restaurants have been open here for a long time. I tried it but was really uncomfortable eating inside and refused to go with my family. Now that we are fully vaccinated I am willing to eat inside a restaurant but still prefer not to. I have grown accustomed to cooking and eating at home. It ends up being about once every other week that we dine out.

Much easier to control what and how much I am eating when I cook at home.

Honestly-- not much -- for me things only changed drastically during March-May 2020. Where I live, restaurants reopened (with extra measures of course) during the summer last year.

I have a standing lunch "date" with my senior dad, and we still dine in. I also get takeout with my husband every Saturday for lunch and sometimes pick up dinner too. We've only been out to eat (dine in) maybe once a month or so, but we still get restaurant food with the same frequency.

I don't like having food delivered - seriously have not done that at any time in the past decade.

We were never big on eating out prior, between the $$ and the calories it just wasn't worth it to me. Like many people, we did start ordering takeout to help out local restaurants. We never did that before. For me dining out was going to sit somewhere other than my kitchen and be waited on hand and foot. Eating lukewarm takeout in my kitchen didn't cut it.

We went out to a local coffee shop recently (our first foray to inside seating) and were met with the QR code menu. For us who are chronologically gifted both the scanning and trying to read tiny print on a tiny screen were a challenge. Won't be going back there any time soon.

Just the other night, we had our first not-cooked-at-home meal, Italian take-out, since March 2020. We are all now vaccinated, so this was a milestone for us. We did, however, depackage all the items, and re-heated them in our oven at 170F for 30 minutes per CDC recommendations. We declined all the side items.

It's been a long siege for me. I do 90% of all the cooking, including bread baking. Our at-home daughter has been making occasional pizza meals for us from scratch, and some other dishes as well during this period.

I miss the social and frankly, work relief, of eating out occasionally. On the other hand, we've cut expenses a lot this year as a result.