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Are people in cities really as into eating out casually/fast as this article implies? It wasn’t that way when I lived in the burbs 10 years ago...

The only chain restaurant within 20 miles here is a DQ-but a 25 mile drive down the FM and the highway to the nearest real town-6000 people-has a (gag!) McDonalds and a Jack in the Box-and a Chili’s next to Home Depot. I don’t eat processed stuff, and so I have eaten at none of the above.

The butcher shop and small market 16 miles away has local grass fed, free range meats and fresh-today veggies and fruit from Texas and northern Mexico to cook and serve at home-you save money and eat what you want. I don’t trust a chain restaurant’s idea of “fresh” or “organic”...

But if you want to go out to eat, there are locally owned restaurants as close as 7 miles-they are sit down, with good, fresh menu items and personalized service. They cost a good deal less than Chili’s, etc even with a tip-and the food is fresh.

Yes...it generally happens that way... A new trend might start in a larger city and slowly spread out from there.

'People' with 'money', often drive the demand and taste of certain things. From there it spreads.

I only got McD's for coffee. Places like that are dinosaurs in terms of service and quality. They are trying to change their methods with their new 'chicken' and other products.

Where I am is very close to a very large concentration of office jobs just south of Cleveland. A lot of the restaurant fare is workers getting lunch, ranging from fast food to a franchised sit down lunch. The only individuality isn't real impressive or homestyle.

I miss central MA with all the excellent restaurants with some flair. <^..^>

Are people in cities really as into eating out casually/fast as this article implies? It wasn’t that way when I lived in the burbs 10 years ago...

Unequivocally yes.

I'm old enough to remember when dining out was a comparatively rare occasion and then only on rare occasions. Unless you were out on a date, celebrating an anniversary or other event, you pretty much ate and entertained at home.

At least here in the Northeast, on a typical Friday or Saturday night, the lines are out the door and waits for tables can be up to two hours long. On Friday night, my wife and I waited 90 minutes for a table at Texas Roadhouse. I probably had about a pound of peanuts while waiting! Even during the week, the restaurant business is brisk.

For better or worse, it has now become a rarity to cook at home for city and suburban people and even then, it's usually throwing frozen pizzas or pot pies in the oven, heating up soups or throwing together a quick pasta dish.

My grown sons, Gen-Xers, pretty much live at places like Chipotles, Starbucks, and the various chicken and pizza places that surround their apartments. They fire up the mobile Yelp app to find a place and then they text their friends and show up together.

During the recent snowstorms, their major complaint was that they were stuck at home with "nothing to eat."

Such is the culture of young people today.

Have eaten at a Chilis once and the comparable Buffalo Wild Wings several times in the panhandle. Can say BWW has decent burgers but I tried their California grilled chicken on flatbread. They had never served it there and I was the first. Not too bad, pricey with tea as the drink. A few weeks later in a different town went into Chilis and ordered what looked be the same off their menu. Chilis was twice the size as BWW and much tastier to me. Served with a tall Sam Adams came in about a buck50 less than BWW also. Both in walking distance from where I found room to park a 73 foot rig. YMMV

Both casual but had better conversation at Chilis also. That could have been the Sam Adams...