Aborted Out to Eat

Shavuot meal planning has dominated my week, supplemented by what I thought was a pot luck dinner for my wife's choral group, for which I spent much of the day making a complex Hungarian Monkey Bread.  At the last minute she disinvited me.  Rather than this being a social post concert gathering, as organizational President she declared it a working Annual Meeting exclusive to members of the Chorale.  

So a Me supper.  I sort of like them on occasion.  My last occurred about four months ago when I treated myself to a few days in the Poconos, something of a bust of an outing, but I got to eat at a wonderful casino buffet one night and a brew pub the next.  Maybe try the new Kid Shelleens, a place for beer with food.  Not much I'd be willing to eat, and the prices more than I want to spend.  Brew pub around the corner.  Same reaction.  Then surfing menus online by "...near me."  One diner, but I really wanted beer.  And I would have expected the search engine to find more places.  Maybe just get a beer.  Two microbrews, one nearby, one just at the limit of what I would be willing to drive.  No food though.

A few observations.  First, since covid, restaurant prices have jumped considerably.  These may be the least secure jobs around other than entertainer or artist, often occupied by otherwise aspiring but not currently employed entertainers or artists.  Turnover must be high.  Wages needed to rise.  Supply chain made product acquisition insecure.  More price rise, but also restriction of menu options.  Chicken dominates, as economical, available and versatile.  Fish less so.  And pasta must have gone out of favor.  While low wage workers earning more reflects justice, consumers like me also have to be willing to pay the price increases, which I am not.

I made two sandwiches, one cheese, one hummus, on discounted hamburger rolls.  Then I drove along the main drag.  I passed many potential restaurants that did not appear on my searches.  Popular Italian, IHOP, two sports bars, two seafood places.  Wonder why the Google algorithm doesn't capture these.  Maybe there's a pay to play component.  Had I just driven around instead of searching for a place online, I would have settled for one and had my supper out.