Coronavirus and Empty Restaurants

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cjd
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Re: Coronavirus and Empty Restaurants

Post by cjd »

I rarely took advantage of the all day breakfast at McDonald's. My favorite thing on their breakfast menu was the platter, which was not available all day, at least at the ones here. I used to get it on the weekends once in a while, but of course it was quite unhealthy and it had been a couple of years since I got it.

Sometimes I would get the breakfast sandwiches for a quick dinner, but they took a lot longer than just getting a burger.

The breakfast sandwiches, platters and hash browns are the things I like most about McDonald's though. Their burgers are at the bottom of the list for me for fast food burgers.

Arby's Happy Hour was great. I would order a couple of the sliders and make a meal. Again, not the healthiest option so I had cut that out for the last year or so.
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Re: Coronavirus and Empty Restaurants

Post by SamSpade »

storewanderer wrote: March 26th, 2020, 7:09 pm I thought the all day breakfast was selling pretty well but I guess it must not have been. The grilled chicken and salads were clearly very slow sellers (was anyone buying them? I know I did buy the grilled chicken a number of times with the $1 any sandwich offer on the app over the years.. but the salads...?).
Sometimes I would order a side salad because I'd tired of the french fries at McDonalds (I know I know). The main entree salads used to have more variety but in recent years I think they were only offering one and it was kind of "ehhhhh."

I do like the occasional grilled chicken from a fast food establishment, but I can see that McDonalds would have been discarding more than necessary, even in normal times. The lettuce for the sandwich was also the salad lettuce I believe.
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Re: Coronavirus and Empty Restaurants

Post by Bagels »

storewanderer wrote: March 26th, 2020, 7:21 pmArby's is actually quite promotional, it is just many franchisees do not follow their promotions. But if you find a corporate Arby's or one run by one of the larger franchisees, you will see a few salty promotions. For instance, 2 for $5 or 2 for $6 various sandwiches. $1 2 PM to 5 PM "Happy Hour" with small fries, soda, shake, potato cakes, any slider, or any cookie.

I think Farmer Boys, despite my finding their product to be awfully bland yet at the same time too heavy on the stomach, and overpriced for what it is, may pick up business from the full service restaurants that go under given its heavy breakfast offering. Also they cook to order which significantly reduces food waste.
I wonder how many Arby's participate in Happy Hour. I can only think of one location near me, but items were priced at $1.50. I haven't been to that location (or any other Arby's, really) for a couple years, though.

If I want a burger or salad, I usually go to Farmer Boys. The location I frequent charges $9 for the "Big Cheese" combo or a Cobb salad and soft drink. For the portion sizes, the price isn't too bad. Considering it's "farm to table," grass-fed organic beef, it's somewhat of a bargain. I really don't care about that, though. Some locations are pretty pricey -- I was in one that wanted $12 + an extra buck for half onion rings/half fries. Of course, discounts, coupons and promotions are frequent (that same combo was $5 in January) and they have a rewards program.
SamSpade wrote: March 26th, 2020, 9:06 pm I do like the occasional grilled chicken from a fast food establishment, but I can see that McDonalds would have been discarding more than necessary, even in normal times. The lettuce for the sandwich was also the salad lettuce I believe.
I haven't dined at a McDonald's in years (I have occasionally ordered a beverage, though), but their grilled chicken was disgusting! So, so, slimy, and the don't trim the fat.
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Re: Coronavirus and Empty Restaurants

Post by veteran+ »

Ummmmmmmm, this is a time to improve our immune systems, et al, and I don't think fast food does that very well.

Just sayin with much affection.

;)
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Re: Coronavirus and Empty Restaurants

Post by Super S »

cjd wrote: March 26th, 2020, 7:36 pm
The breakfast sandwiches, platters and hash browns are the things I like most about McDonald's though. Their burgers are at the bottom of the list for me for fast food burgers.

I will say that I did order breakfast often at McDonald's for the simple reason that I don't like their burgers. If it wasn't for the fact that they offered all-day breakfast, there were many times I would not have stopped there.
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Re: Coronavirus and Empty Restaurants

Post by storewanderer »

veteran+ wrote: March 27th, 2020, 8:33 am Ummmmmmmm, this is a time to improve our immune systems, et al, and I don't think fast food does that very well.

Just sayin with much affection.

;)
I am expecting even after this blows over, fast food and restaurants will take time to get their business back.

With that said I drove around tonight and fast foods were packed with customers at the drive throughs. Wendys, Raising Canes, Chickfila, Sonic, 15-20+cars stacked in line. Most nights they have been dead so it is possible they were understaffed tonight and cars piled up as a result. Even saw a McDonalds that had a dozen cars lined up, the other McDonalds I passed only had a couple cars.

Raising Canes and Sonic both deactivated their exterior seating (caution taped it).

I read Cheesecake Factory has advised all of its landlords it will not pay its rent in April at any of its locations. I think Cheesecake Factory is a fairly profitable enterprise and I am a little surprised by this move.
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Re: Coronavirus and Empty Restaurants

Post by cjd »

storewanderer wrote: March 28th, 2020, 12:06 am
veteran+ wrote: March 27th, 2020, 8:33 am Ummmmmmmm, this is a time to improve our immune systems, et al, and I don't think fast food does that very well.

Just sayin with much affection.

;)
I am expecting even after this blows over, fast food and restaurants will take time to get their business back.

With that said I drove around tonight and fast foods were packed with customers at the drive throughs. Wendys, Raising Canes, Chickfila, Sonic, 15-20+cars stacked in line. Most nights they have been dead so it is possible they were understaffed tonight and cars piled up as a result. Even saw a McDonalds that had a dozen cars lined up, the other McDonalds I passed only had a couple cars.

Raising Canes and Sonic both deactivated their exterior seating (caution taped it).

I read Cheesecake Factory has advised all of its landlords it will not pay its rent in April at any of its locations. I think Cheesecake Factory is a fairly profitable enterprise and I am a little surprised by this move.
I read that about Cheesecake Factory.

Last night I drove through Wendy's to get something to take home, and there were only a couple of cars. However it was only about 5:30 or so. I noticed Sonic had a few cars in the drive in spaces and a few in the drive through. This was the first time I've been to any restaurants since the dine-in ban. Typically I'll eat out once a week or so just to get out of the office, or out of the house, but here in Florida it's been in the mid to high 80s and I'm not going to sit with my car running for an hour or shut off with the windows down to "eat out" in this heat.

As far as this Corona crap blowing over, I don't think it's going to be a clear cut ending to this thing. Some are saying things like the restrictions could let up this summer for a bit as cases go down, but most likely the virus will come back in the fall with a vengeance, let up a bit in late fall and then come back yet again in the winter. So likely if businesses open back up it will only be for a short time, and frankly I don't think there will be enough time in that short window for things to pick up much, with the public still spooked about going out.

It sounds to me like life will basically be on hold for the next year for the most part, and if this thing comes back again next year it could likely be the same for 2021. Hopefully, perhaps they can get a better handle on things once they have more testing and more people possibly get immune to it, and we won't have to do such a shut down on society if the virus strikes again.

They're already talking about NFL and college sports possibly being cancelled this year and of course the Olympics. That says to me there likely won't be much reprieve from this during the summer/fall.
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Re: Coronavirus and Empty Restaurants

Post by klkla »

Keep in mind that the scientific community is approaching this on an unprecedented level. It’s not at all unlikely there will a treatment and/or vaccination by the end of this year.
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Re: Coronavirus and Empty Restaurants

Post by BillyGr »

klkla wrote: March 28th, 2020, 10:05 am Keep in mind that the scientific community is approaching this on an unprecedented level. It’s not at all unlikely there will a treatment and/or vaccination by the end of this year.
After all, they are already using treatments in some areas. Though not fully tested as of yet, since they are using drugs that already exist for other ailments, at least the basics about those drugs are known from their past uses, unlike when they are creating a totally new drug/vaccine or similar.
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Re: Coronavirus and Empty Restaurants

Post by storewanderer »

klkla wrote: March 28th, 2020, 10:05 am Keep in mind that the scientific community is approaching this on an unprecedented level. It’s not at all unlikely there will a treatment and/or vaccination by the end of this year.
I thought it would be by Easter and everything would be back to normal.

What a load of.......

Meanwhile every day more and more cases are reported... who knows when the case growth will peak. The more testing that is done, the more cases that will be reported. I would like to see a chart of flu cases this year because I am wondering if normal flu is down this year and these Coronavirus cases are filling in that gap. I am not seeing any people sick when I go out to stores the past 4 days, but I have been to few stores and I have been going during times when there are few customers.

I am very nervous about "reopening the economy" in the coming weeks when case growth is continuing. I hope it does not happen. Given the cost already incurred to "close things" may as well keep things closed and let the quarantines slow the virus spread.

I read last week China reopened its movie theaters in a sign that things were getting better there. Then I read a new article yesterday that China re-ordered its movie theaters be closed again due to concerns over spread. So obviously when you pull the trigger too quickly to "go back to normal" it is not a good idea.
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