What a difference two hours make! Saving money by eating from the lunch menu
DeAndre' Upshaw on Mar 31, 2009 Last week I had a rare extended lunch break (during Swahili, for inquiring minds) and I decided it would be a great opportunity to get out and have lunch off campus.
Over the past few months I have been staying away from the fast food and checking out some of the local eats my town has to offer. I wanted to go someplace that wasn't a chain that has soaked up all of the local culture and life that my town (Waco, for you other inquiring minds) has to offer.
So, Justin and I went to this fantastic place called Bangkok Royale, a lovely Thai restaurant that I haven't been to since freshman year. I had a delicious lunch of pork fried rice, ginger soup, a fried spring roll, and iced tea for about $6.
It was so glorious that I decided to go back a few nights later with a few other friends. However, this time, my price for all of the same items above (minus the spring roll) was $16!
So what, you may wonder, changed from last week to this? I ate there for dinner instead of lunch. yes, in two hours the price of my meal doubled!
Why was this? Sure, the dinner portions were a bit larger, but not enough to warrant a price increase of 100%!
Restaurants occasionally fall into two different categories; primarily lunch and primarily dinner. For places that serve a menu that is more or less stable through out the day, lunchtime can be an awkward hour, because there are fewer people going to Red Lobster at 3 PM than there are at 7.
To continue to make a profit and to break even in terms of electricity, space and other operational costs, restaurants will offer a cheaper "lunch" menu to get patrons in the door.
Shifting your eating patterns up one or two hours could result in hardcore savings! Is there a restaurant out there that you really want to try, but don't think you can afford? Call and see if they have a lunch menu! Odds are, they probably do!
And save some for me!
DeAndre'
PS - Justin has bronchitis! Lametown. Hopefully he'll recover soon and we can showcase our awesome dancing skills some more. :D
