[whathappenedto]

As a solution, I would love to see more food supplies and restaurants selling larger bulk amounts at discount. That could bring in a new set of consumers, and reduce the number of trips/exposure.

A restaurant could sell 10 meals worth for 10 * original_price * 0.5 and make more per order plus use up more ingredients. Farms could sell cheese by 5lb packs, eggs by the dozen dozens, meat by 10lb packs, etc.

It's not worth the whole ordeal of going to a restaurant to get a small portion of food, pay the same price as a sit-down experience, and be hungry again in a few hours.

[bearer_token]

You're onto something. I've been wanting this for years, regardless of current conditions.

A lot of people meal prep for the entire week. Restaurants could fill in for that.

Something like https://www.eatclub.com/ but for home, and delivered in bulk.

[whathappenedto]

Yes, exactly. Like catering, but also with the intention that maybe you're not going to eat it all at once, so something that stores well for a day or two in the fridge would be ideal.

In frugal times, going to a sit-down restaurant is insanely expensive compared to a good at-home meal. A typical sit-down restaurant is like $60 per person including tip/tax with an appetizer and drink. For that, I can eat all 20 meals for a week if I shop sales.

The first link I found on Google [https://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2019/05/16/survey-shows-how-o...] says that almost half of Americans basically never dine out or do take out. Only 10% eat out in any form 4-6 times a week. So there's definitely space for something in between for the home consumer.

[eli_gottlieb]

>A typical sit-down restaurant is like $60 per person including tip/tax with an appetizer and drink.

Where do you live? We typically pay $30-$40 for a particularly nice night out at our favorite restaurant. Cheaper stuff runs more in the $10-$25 range. And we're in Boston!

[flowerbeater]

Seems a bit low. Isn't a drink already $7 a beer, or $12 a cocktail there? That's $10 and $15 with tax+tip respectively, leaving very little for the entree plus appetizer...

[eli_gottlieb]

If you're going to expensive gastropubs, sure, but not if you're in a proper neighborhood hole in the wall.

[trynewideas]

Portland had this before the pandemic, maybe partly due to the size of the restauarant/food service industry here. Some examples include http://www.rinellaproduce.com/products.html and https://www.sheridanfruit.com/. They're wholesalers but have always been open to the public.

Our local restaurants also jumped quickly into selling meal and beverage kits alongside single takeout/delivery meals, and breweries expanded shipping options to serve individual homes. Meat and vegetable farms too, most of which already had the infrastructure through CSAs/farm shares.

[whathappenedto]

Good to hear. Though I find it frustrating when stores don't list prices, like the Rinella Produce website. Prices are one of the most important if not the important factor when shopping! Don't make me call to ask how much 9 mangoes cost.