The death of the middle-class restaurant

https://archive.li/txzjr

The closest thing to a 90s style affordable but good sit down meal I can reliably find in the US is from Mexican restaurants. The best ones are still locally owned and have lots of work trucks parked in the lot during lunch. These places are absolutely delicious and often cheaper than fast food.

The article and the analyses in it seem to have overlooked a couple of things:

- Decline in quality of food: As far as I know, pan pizza in the 90s at Pizza Hut (that the article talks about) had the dough made in house; modern versions have reheated frozen dough. I feel like this is an important distinction. If I'm just reheating frozen pizza, I can do that at home.

- Decline in quality of service: The article mentions this in passing (server knowing the order of a frequent customer) but doesn't go any deeper. In my experience, a lot of the servers (not just at chains, but everywhere) these days are younger people who seem pretty indifferent to the customer experience. Certainly I don't think that any servers at a Pizza Hut will remember someone's order in 2025.

The factors I mention above are hard to measure, especially over time. But I do feel like they have contributed to the decline of chains to some degree as well as things like orders to go, did delivery apps, etc.

Here in Berlin fast food chains are for the tourists. You pay way too much for crappy food. If you know where to go, you can sit down for a proper meal and pay far less.

There are about 40 Mc Donald's restaurants in Berlin. About 1 per 100K citizens. There are a few other chains operating of course but they are similarly small. There are 4000 kebab restaurants in Berlin. And loads of pizza, pasta, currywurst, sushi, etc. restaurants too. Probably close to 10K restaurants or so. The vast majority of which are not franchises. It's great.

Germany just seems to have a lot of rules that prevent franchising from being very lucrative. Whatever it is, I love it. I'm from the Netherlands. That's more like the US. Restaurants are expensive. Sitting down for a quick, affordable lunch is not much of a thing. It's either cheap fast food or self-catering in the super market/bakery. With all the health consequences as well. Obesity is on the rise and it's a poverty correlated thing. Food poverty means lots of fast food.

One type of restaurant that would be a great import into the U.S: The "comida corrida" places of where I live in Mexico. Basically, they're tiny, family-run sit-down joints with simple setup (sometimes being run right in the lower floor of someone's home or in their garage, repurposed with a kitchen addition) and simple but essentially home cooked and balanced fare. For the equivalent of 3 to 7 dollars, you get a starter, main course and desert for lunch (in some cases they also serve breakfast) The food isn't fancy, but it's freshly made and filling.

Are these types of restaurants actually going away or are crappy chains just going under because better alternatives are a dime a dozen?

I live in a pretty sleepy farm type area, with a growing town in the middle. There are most of the main restaurant attractions. My wife and I are always amazed as we drive by the back to back Chili's, Outback and Texas RoadHouse., that are bustling at the seams, the parking lots are very often overflowing. We are amazed that there still are apparently plenty of people who can frequent these places.

So i can fully imagine that this article has it right, i just don't see it where i live.

One of the benefits of the increase in fast food prices is that local burger places have become the better option.

I wish the concept of a milk bar would spread to America from Central/Eastern Europe. They are essentially a mix of an American diner and a cafeteria, where you can get cheap, good food that is already cooked (with a few exceptions like pierogi.) Think Chipotle but with local specialities and with an 80s communist-era vibe. It is usually fast but is much healthier than typical fast food chains.

Milk bars were started during the communist era and are still popular amongst the older (70+) crowd, but modern versions are a go-to for younger people too. And so you'll usually get a very interesting mix of society sitting side-by-side. Not quite a family dinner restaurant, but is a social restaurant concept nonetheless.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bar_mleczny

> Where Will We Eat When the Middle-Class Restaurant Is Gone?

I currently live in a suburb outside a small city with a family of 5. I gues when the middle-class restaurant is gone I'm going to be eating exactly where I have been eating the last 10, 15 years: at home.

Yes, let's mention the middle class squeeze, but also conveniently not talk about America's tipping culture problem which would increase reluctance to sit down at a restaurant. Yes, let's completely ignore that.

Everyone obviously wants to pay extra so they can be constantly badgered and rushed out the door like cattle, and if you complain about any aspect of this, the white knights come out to drown you as they say it's your fault for not understanding the plight of the woe-is-me restaurant worker and there's absolutely nothing to be done other than shame you into not going out to eat.

I wonder why sit-down restaurants are declining.

I suppose it's because I grew up with it, but I greatly prefer food from these type of restaurants than from fancier more expensive restaurants.