Where to eat? Where should we go? What kind of food does everyone want? When a group decides to go out to eat, it can be quite a trial to get every to agree on where to go. Gourmet food, steaks, chicken wings, fast food, food delivery, carry out; the amount of choices of restaurants and the type of food that is out there makes it so difficult to try and go anywhere. Half the time we end up just ordering a pizza because it’s hard to go wrong there. Of course, then there’s the argument about whether chicken or olives belong on pizza and how Joe hates veggies on his pizzas but Sally won’t eat a pizza without it. Food has got to be one of the main tribulations of life around America. So, here is a list of questions that you can bring before your group in order to help you all choose where to go.
- Healthy or not?
If anyone is on a diet and can only eat certain foods, that should be made known. This will determine whether or not you can eat fast food or a bar/restaurant type place that serves mostly fried food. Allergies play a part in this to. If someone is severely allergic to shellfish, you probably want to stay away from any seafood restaurants. - Expensive or cheap?
While you don’t want to phrase it like that, knowing everyone’s budget is a good idea. Of course, if someone is treating everyone then it should be up to that person to decide. But, if everyone is going to be paying for themselves, you can eliminate a lot of the options of where to eat by determining the price range that you are looking. If someone is not trying to spend a lot of money then looking for more inexpensive restaurants is probably a good idea, otherwise you can widen the search to higher end places. - Eat in or take out?
This changes everything. If you are going to be eating in, then you’ll want to talk about what type of atmosphere everyone is most comfortable in. Some people are more suited to loud and friendly atmospheres while others prefer a quieter, classy type of eating arrangement. If you are going to take out, then you’ll have to make sure that you find a restaurant that even offers a take out option. Some restaurants will not allow you to come to the establishment only to take the food and leave. - A lot of people or a small amount?
Some restaurants have a hard time accommodating a large party without advance notice. If there are a lot of people wanting to eat out with you then you may have to limit your options to restaurants that are willing to put tables together and work with you without previous knowledge of your arrival. - Late at night or earlier in the day?
Opening hours vary by restaurant. If you are looking for a place to eat lunch, you’ll want to make sure that the places you are considering serve lunch at the time you want to go. Some places like buffets and fast food joints only serve breakfast, lunch or dinner at specific times. If you are going to be eating out, late at night and want a place where you can sit down, then this definitely limits your options as most restaurants tend to close around 9 or 10 o’clock at night, sometimes earlier. 24 hour restaurants are usually like diners and bars.
Finding out where to eat can be a complicated process but if you can find somewhere that everyone enjoys and can eat what they want without worrying about price, allergies, health or atmosphere, then you are in for a great time. It’s more important to make sure that all the people there can enjoy themselves and each other rather than seeing that your own needs are met first. Once you see the great time that everyone else is having, you will know that it was all worth it. Try not to be skeptical or to picky and you should answer your ‘where to eat’ question fairly quickly as long as everyone else can be the same.
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