New to Soma and restaurants are $$$$$$!
CharlesG said:
Hi All!
First time poster! I was told to check out this group after I found the soma Facebook group didn’t seem to like my opinion regarding the over priced restaurants in the area. We like to eat out, my family does but everywhere recommended costs an arm and a leg!
Are there any places in the area that you can take a family of five to eat but isn’t going to put us in the poorhouse? We recently tried the Texas wiener place and it wasn’t bad but we’re hoping for something a little better. Someone else recommended the Park Ridge diner on Springfield Avenue but it was real pricey too.
Please help us hungry folks out!
The problem is that rent for businesses is out of control and, if they have a liquor license, things are even worse. The prices are high but, unless you can change the fundamental laws of economics, that's just the way it is.
I find the Village Trattoria places to be reasonable and Parkwood Diner. But things ain't cheap.
What do you consider a reasonable amount to pay for five people for dinner at a restaurant, including tax and tip? (Exclude alcohol cost as that raises a whole host of other issues.)
Steve said:
What do you consider a reasonable amount to pay for five people for dinner at a restaurant, including tax and tip? (Exclude alcohol cost as that raises a whole host of other issues.)
I think I’m doing this quote thing right. Well anyway, I see burgers running 18-22 dollars! I got 3 kids who like burgers but how are they not 10 bucks?!! It’s crazy. Too much. Pasta dishes at 30? Pizza at the place is south orange above the supermarket was 28!! Pizza should be 15, tops.
I understand your frustration as expressed, but you didn't answer the question. What do you consider a reasonable amount to pay for your family for dinner at a restaurant, including tax and tip?
CharlesG said:
Steve said:
What do you consider a reasonable amount to pay for five people for dinner at a restaurant, including tax and tip? (Exclude alcohol cost as that raises a whole host of other issues.)
I think I’m doing this quote thing right. Well anyway, I see burgers running 18-22 dollars! I got 3 kids who like burgers but how are they not 10 bucks?!! It’s crazy. Too much. Pasta dishes at 30? Pizza at the place is south orange above the supermarket was 28!! Pizza should be 15, tops.
If your kids like hamburgers you might try Five Guys in the Millburn Mall.
https://order.fiveguys.com/location/millburn-mall/menu/burgers
There's also BGR in South Orange but I don't know how their burgers are.
Steve said:
I understand your frustration as expressed, but you didn't answer the question. What do you consider a reasonable amount to pay for your family for dinner at a restaurant, including tax and tip?
it’s not a good question because it all depends but again I would say if I go to a restaurant and I wanna feed my kid a burger and I can’t get one for less than $20 that’s a problem, if I can’t get a pizza for the kids that’s less than $28 that’s a problem. So it’s not so much what the total check is going to be, again it’s how do you take a family of five out to dinner and find food that the kids are going to eat that you can afford with a normal salary.
You could take them to a place like Bunny's where you can hit your price targets (and get a beer for yourself). Fox & Falcon, Lorena's, Luna Stella, etc., all position themselves as higher end to fine dining type establishments that aren't really meant for kids. I also think that, by and large, $10 for a burger and fries is not realistic in this environment (other than at fast food/quick serve restaurants).
Steve said:
You could take them to a place like Bunny's where you can hit your price targets (and get a beer for yourself). Fox & Falcon, Lorena's, Luna Stella, etc., all position themselves as higher end to fine dining type establishments that aren't really meant for kids. I also think that, by and large, $10 for a burger and fries is not realistic in this environment (other than at fast food/quick serve restaurants).
I hear you. It just seems like all these restaurants in the area act as if this is not a suburb and it’s some type of urban environment like Brooklyn. This is a sleepy suburb in New Jersey, how are the restaurants not aware of this?
CharlesG - In your op you said the Park Wood Diner was too pricey. Then you said $10 for a burger would be ok - regular burgers at Park Wood are 6.95.
https://cdn6.site-media.eu/images/document/6066529/Parkwood_Main_06-22.pdf
They are aware and seem to be doing just fine. Thus, it would seem as if they are serving their target market (of which you and I may not be a part). There should be room for all types of restaurants but, as someone pointed out above, margins need to be a bit higher in the main commercial areas of SOMa to cover the rents.
CharlesG said:
Steve said:
You could take them to a place like Bunny's where you can hit your price targets (and get a beer for yourself). Fox & Falcon, Lorena's, Luna Stella, etc., all position themselves as higher end to fine dining type establishments that aren't really meant for kids. I also think that, by and large, $10 for a burger and fries is not realistic in this environment (other than at fast food/quick serve restaurants).
I hear you. It just seems like all these restaurants in the area act as if this is not a suburb and it’s some type of urban environment like Brooklyn. This is a sleepy suburb in New Jersey, how are the restaurants not aware of this?
You're correct that a lot of the restaurants cater to people who are use to NY prices. They have to becuase of the high rents. People pay the prices if the food is good. There are less expensive options. I've linked some of them.
Good luck!
eta - Miti Miti is one our favorites. I see a lot of families when we're there. Try it.
CharlesG said:
Steve said:
You could take them to a place like Bunny's where you can hit your price targets (and get a beer for yourself). Fox & Falcon, Lorena's, Luna Stella, etc., all position themselves as higher end to fine dining type establishments that aren't really meant for kids. I also think that, by and large, $10 for a burger and fries is not realistic in this environment (other than at fast food/quick serve restaurants).
I hear you. It just seems like all these restaurants in the area act as if this is not a suburb and it’s some type of urban environment like Brooklyn. This is a sleepy suburb in New Jersey, how are the restaurants not aware of this?
Dude, I’m telling you it’s the rent. If you pay x for rent, you have to charge x+y to have something to live off of. I don’t think any of these places are price gouging, which is what you seem to be implying.
Taxes aren’t great for local businesses either….
Out of curiosity, where did you move from? It would be useful to know what your comp might be.
Haven't patronized them in a while but the middle eastern place in the Millburn Mall is pretty good.
Charles might enjoy dining at Chutzpah.
As far as I know, Burger King on Springfield avenue has a whopper meal for around $12…. Eating out ain’t cheap anywhere these days. I cook more and eat home. You gonna go bankrupt taking a family of five out to eat more than once a week…. Why did the SOMA group send Charles over here?We have enough problems as it is….
I agree that the prices are very high. But we are kinda used to it here...
The idea that this is a sleepy suburb is laughable. Half the folks here moved here from Brooklyn and the first thing they look for is an artisanal pickle, craft beer, and gluten free pizza. So the restaurants evolve to serve that. But the places you listed I don't go to, and I eat out plenty. You just have to look around.
I've been spending a lot of time in rural Oregon recently. Two weeks ago, I got a burrito and a Bud in a not fancy place in Albany Oregon and it cost me $17.00 plus tip. Food is pretty expensive all over.
That said, the cost of retail space in MAPSO is insane. To the extent that food is more expensive there, that's why. Labor isn't cheap either.
Food prices in supermarkets, have gone up considerably since the pandemic. Restaurant costs went up too due to increased food costs, increased labor costs, decrease in the number of customers as fewer of us were comfortable eating out during lockdown and many are still mostly eating at home. With some of the least expensive residential single family properties in town being listed at $500,000 or more, you can scarcely call this a sleepy suburb. The cost of eating out reflects all of this.
So you can afford a home in this town, but not the restaurants?
We can afford the restaurants. But if we had to buy our home today, we couldn't afford it.
CharlesG said:
I was told to check out this group after I found the soma Facebook group didn’t seem to like my opinion regarding the over priced restaurants in the area.
Why do I feel like Mikey, handed a bowl of Life cereal?
ml1 said:
So you can afford a home in this town, but not the restaurants?
We can afford the restaurants. But if we had to buy our home today, we couldn't afford it.
I’m not sure what you’re saying. I can’t live here if I can’t eat out? Our home isn’t great but we like it. We also like eating out. We try to do it twice a week as a fam.
jeffl said:
Village Trat. Bunny's. The reservoir. The Spot. Roman Gourmet.
these are more like take out joints I think. We really want to eat out. Had dinner tonight at the Gaslight. I think we found a place we all enjoyed and it was reasonable. Recommended.
Restaurants raised their prices after covid shutdown. In response, I eat at home more frequently. I used to go to a diner/restaurant/ff for lunch and sometimes, supper. At some point, it occurred to me that I was eating out of habit and that I was not really hungry. So I started skipping meals. This happens a couple of time a week, when I usually skip lunch because I don't really feel hungry. Once in a while, I'll skip supper.
Also, when preparing meals at home, I am not making myself a 1/2 pound hamburger or other diner/restaurant sized portions of food. 1/2 pound burgers -- That is what diners are now selling. And I also prepare human sized portions of whatever else I am serving.
And guess what? Since covid, I have lost 27 pounds.
Oh. My cooking. My spice cabinet has the the usual things you find in a supermarket. but I prepare food with cumin, turmeric, bere-bere, coriander, saffron, Maharajah Curry, piquin chili and about 15 other spices that I experiment with. So, while eating out is fun, try experimenting with spices and menus and your kids may not want their $15.00 hamburgers.
By some unusual spices and experiment with them.
Anyway, welcome to M/So.
I don’t recall the burgers being that cheap. Maybe that’s not what we ordered? I do recall being surprised at how expensive the salads were.
cramer said:
CharlesG - In your op you said the Park Wood Diner was too pricey. Then you said $10 for a burger would be ok - regular burgers at Park Wood are 6.95.
https://cdn6.site-media.eu/images/document/6066529/Parkwood_Main_06-22.pdf
Went from Dublin to Charlotte to Albany and now New Jersey
GoSlugs said:
Out of curiosity, where did you move from? It would be useful to know what your comp might be.
Hi All!
First time poster! I was told to check out this group after I found the soma Facebook group didn’t seem to like my opinion regarding the over priced restaurants in the area. We like to eat out, my family does but everywhere recommended costs an arm and a leg!
Are there any places in the area that you can take a family of five to eat but isn’t going to put us in the poorhouse? We recently tried the Texas wiener place and it wasn’t bad but we’re hoping for something a little better. Someone else recommended the Park Ridge diner on Springfield Avenue but it was real pricey too.
Please help us hungry folks out!