[vonmoltke]

> If we didn't care about these other things, we would all be getting delivery, making our own food, or eating out of vending machines and paying 75% less to do so.

My delivery options are very limited, and vending machine food is almost universally terrible. I cook a lot, and like it. However, sometimes I do not have the time or do not want to devote the time to cook, so I go to a restaurant. Plus, there are some things I can't do well at home for lack of equipment. For those cases, I go to a restaurant. I don't care much about design and lighting, hate having what most places call music, don't like much background noise, and really don't care what the food looks like on the plate. It is a predominantly functional experience for me. Some of my favorite restaurants are very Spartan affairs.

Now, I have no idea how typical I am and suspect it varies based on location. I am probably closer to typical here in Dallas than I would be in NYC.