Article - Service vs Hospitality

I found this article in Nation's Restaurant News this morning. I don't have time to really discuss it but it is a good read:

https://www.nrn.com/quick-service/did-s ... 56be9a7c30

Interesting piece. It's hard to predict what the post-covid foodservice world will look like but it's pretty clear that, at least for now, service is much more in demand than hospitality. Could that change? My guess is yes but stay tuned.

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I think that a real question is going to be "what will be left?" if this continues for another year or two. Increasingly, I am less excited about going out to eat, especially in full service restaurants. Increasingly, I am discovering that much of the quality of the food that we are producing at my house and several of my friends are generally as good as or better than what we have been getting at many restaurants. Also, we are seeing large price increases in all restaurants that are outstripping the cost of groceries at the supermarkets.

jlawrence01 wrote:I think that a real question is going to be "what will be left?" if this continues for another year or two. Increasingly, I am less excited about going out to eat, especially in full service restaurants. Increasingly, I am discovering that much of the quality of the food that we are producing at my house and several of my friends are generally as good as or better than what we have been getting at many restaurants. Also, we are seeing large price increases in all restaurants that are outstripping the cost of groceries at the supermarkets.

I think that's a great question. My concern is that we'll see a shift in which it'll become increasingly more difficult for independent operators to exist and easier for deep-pocketed corporate/chain operations to increase their presence. As someone who appreciates quality, individuality and diversity in my food, this would be a dark turn.

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ronnie_suburban wrote:Interesting piece. It's hard to predict what the post-covid foodservice world will look like but it's pretty clear that, at least for now, service is much more in demand than hospitality. Could that change? My guess is yes but stay tuned.

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Personally, I think there's a huge pent-up demand for hospitality. Last year, when outdoor dining opened for the first time and it looked like we'd turned the corner on spread, we really enjoyed being waited on dining al fresco (and tipped well for it). There were a couple of chilly evenings where the comfort of dining out outweighed the chill in the air. We're definitely jonesing for it right now: carryout just doesn't have the luxury feel. The posts above about chains/corporations is spot on: with efficient service being the emphasis today, it's going to be the walmartification of dining. The futures where everything is Taco Bell (Demolition Man) or Carl's Jr. (Idiocracy) is all too real a possibility, with Outback and Fred Globster following close behind.

ronnie_suburban wrote:My concern is that we'll see a shift in which it'll become increasingly more difficult for independent operators to exist and easier for deep-pocketed corporate/chain operations to increase their presence. As someone who appreciates quality, individuality and diversity in my food, this would be a dark turn.

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So agree and equally sad this is our future.

What Is Hospitality? The Current Answer Doesn’t Work.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/13/dini ... ticleShare

Dave148 wrote:What Is Hospitality? The Current Answer Doesn’t Work.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/13/dini ... ticleShare

Wow, a La Crosse restaurant mention in the NYT.