'We are not in an eating recession'
Michelle Trachsel wants to save money by eating out less but finds it almost impossible to do.
Between working full time and getting her two children to their various activities, the timesaving convenience of a restaurant often feels like the Mount Prospect mom's only dining option.
"By the time I get home, the last thing I want to do is cook," she said. "I don't have the time to shop, and go from store to store looking for deals."
Gary Waszkowiak and his wife tried to cut expenses by cooking at home more but found it frustrating to plan, shop and cook every weeknight.
"We ended up eating so late," the South Beloit, Wis., resident said while lunching at Potbelly in Rolling Meadows. "I should be cutting back on restaurants, but I'm not."
The Rosemont-based market research company, The NPD Group, recently surveyed consumers about how they're changing their eating as a result of the recession, and the results showed that people aren't really giving up restaurants.
According to The NPD Group's Eating Patterns in America 2008 report, people are still using restaurants as much as ever. The data shows people ate out 207 meals in 2008 - about four times a week. That number has held pretty steady for the past five years, fluctuating between 205 and 209.
"We are not in an eating recession," said NPD Vice President Harry Balzer. "It's a task to feed yourself three times a day. The truth of the matter is, the bill collector only comes once a month, but 5 o'clock comes around every day."
That must mean the restaurant industry is thriving, right? Wrong. Restaurants are struggling mightily because when people do dine out, they're spending less money and are taking more meals to go, according to NPD. Meanwhile, restaurants' food and energy costs are rising.
Dan Beyer of Mount Prospect had a gift card from Lou Malnati's, but rather than take his family of four there for dinner, he ordered his pizza for carryout and took it home.
"Then I don't have to pay for drinks and we don't have to pay a waitress," he said. "It saves money."
In the past few months, Beyer also has cut back to one restaurant meal per weekend with his family, and when they go, everyone orders water. He and his wife get one appetizer and they split an entree.
That's a trend restaurateurs are seeing - those who dine in are skipping extras like appetizers and dessert, splitting main courses and saving money on drinks by passing on soda and alcohol. People who might have ordered a $60 bottle of wine are now ordering a $30 bottle. That, of course, lowers the amount of the bill - and the tips for the waitstaff.
"People are definitely ordering less. The check average is definitely less," said Larry Huber, owner of the Pete Miller's Seafood and Prime Steak Houses in Wheeling, Schaumburg and Evanston.
Like at many suburban restaurants, business at Pete Miller's slowed down considerably at the end of 2008. Huber said it's finally starting to pick up again. Weeknights can still be slow, but Saturday nights are crowded.
"Eating out has become such a big part of people's lifestyle that cooking at home loses its luster after a while. Everyone gives the cooking at home thing a shot, but then they start going out again," he said.
People are eating at home more, the NPD report says, but they're getting their meals pre-made from grocery stores or restaurants - either carry out or drive-through. That's helping certain segments of the food service industry, such as grocery stores that sell prepared foods, Balzer said.
To spend less, people are also choosing less expensive restaurants. Chains that offer $5 sandwiches, value meals, to-go breakfasts and gourmet or bulk frozen meals have seen business increase, Balzer said. McDonald's, for example, saw business increase by 5 percent last year.
Khurram Ariq of Gurnee goes out to lunch three times a week with his co-workers. While they used to go to full-service restaurants like Gaylord India in Schaumburg, where the lunch tab was about $13 per person, they're now frequenting cheaper, order-at-the-counter restaurants where lunch costs them only $7 or $8 each.
"I've been cooking more, and I'm going to start packing my lunch more," said Ariq's friend, Shahzad Anwer of Elk Grove Village.
Many restaurants are lowering prices and trying new marketing strategies designed to "get butts in seats" as one restaurant marketing person put it.
Denny's, for example, gave out free Grand Slam breakfasts at all of its restaurants recently. The Houlihan's chain, which has several suburban locations, is starting a "Dowwie Wowwie" promotion Monday, Feb. 9. After 4 p.m. on weekdays, customers can receive special deals depending on how the Dow Jones industrial average did that day. If the Dow is up, Italian doughnuts are free. If the Dow is down, customers get a free appetizer gift certificate. The chain is also raffling off a government savings bond.
Pete Miller's started a 20 under 20 promotion, where customers can pick from 20 different bottles of wine for less than $20.
"People are excited about it. They don't want to spend $40 or $50 on a bottle of wine now. But when they see they can get a good quality bottle of wine for $20? They'll say, '20 dollars? Yeah!'" Huber said.
As the recession deepens, Balzer says restaurant use could start to decline. "Cheap, fast and convenient" has trumped everything in recent years, but now the "cheap" aspect of cooking at home might ultimately change behaviors.
That is, until the economy rebounds.
"What the recession is doing is magnifying the structural change we're making in our food. Clearly, the trend in this country today - is to have somebody prepare the meal for you. Not just one item, the whole meal," Balzer said. "Will people quit eating out? For a short burst? Yeah. But long term? Not a chance."