Sub Inflation

[mr_boring]

I tried a Greenies treat once. Wanted to know if it really was the cat's meow. Meh.

My cat loves them. He loves all treats though. Those Temptations drive him crazy. I ain't chomped on one yet.

I think cat food is unseasoned, which is why it tastes the way it does.

salt is cheap. Great value tuna is sometimes cheaper than canned cat food. My cat is a pig and doesn't care if it's got salt.

yikes

I had a horrid craving for fried catfish about 6 weeks ago. I spent 10$ on oil (wasn't happy about that) and 15 on catfish. I think the cornmeal was $2

I chose the sides and a pack of hushpuppy mix added another $5-6

Up to $35 - I probably used 75 cents worth of seasoning, we'll call it a buck. $36

Cooked up 2 lbs of fish, enough hushpuppies to kill Mama Cass, and turned a cup of mayo into tarter sauce. Add another $3 for the mayo and relish. $39

Then I ate it all over a 3 day span....... And thought I wanted more. So another $15 for catfish...... I couldn't finish it. I was sick of catfish.

Pour out the grease (I just dumped it in that weeks cat litter) and put it in the trash can and put everything in the dishwasher. A quarter for a dishwasher pod, maybe another quarter in hot water and electricity, and I'm still out less than 4 days visits to Cracker Barrel (remember, I tossed 10$ worth of catfish, but the cat did get plenty). Had I had the stomach for more catfish I could have eaten for a week on $40 - but my guts and brain told me when to say when.

 

[ripcord]

I eat subs. I inflate.

Uh, I think we're talking about the wallet kind of inflation on this thread, not the belt notches kind

 

[Pablo]

Uh, I think we're talking about the wallet kind of inflation on this thread, not the belt notches kind

Oh. Right. Sorry. Do carry on.

 

[Cropduster172]

We're outside of Philly. A few pizza places have cropped up in the last 10 years that I call hipster pizza. The pies look and likely are good. But they have no phone, internet or app orders only. Cash only....which is fine. But a pie starts at $23 and they usually have only plain or pepperoni and the pepperoni is $26. The guys working there always have neck beards and attitudes like you're lucky they decided to sell you an overpriced pie...kind of like the Soup Nazi on Seinfeld.
I'll never go back. Plenty of decent, regular joints with great pies, phone orders and the Coke or Pepsi coolers still around.

 

[MrQuackers]

Never liked subway and they left my area completely but thanks.

I recently got 2 subs on the app, buy 1 get 1, about 13.xx...Picked them up, skimpy as I've ever seen. I'm done, never again.

 

[GON]

Up here the Arabic and Lebanese restaurants had the best steak and cheese. I would get them as a large flatbread rollup with hummus on the side. Now my mouth is watering. Shawarma also a good choice.
Most Greek joints in the sticks don't do an authentic Gyro, since there is not enough floor traffic. I bet near Boston they do - but I haven't sought one out.

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Most Greek joints are no longer owned or run by Greeks. Find a Greek joint ran by a Greek, you most likely will get authentic Greek food. find a Greek restaurant that offers Mediterranean foods, the place more likely than not is run by someone that is not Greek, and can't duplicate the Greek food.

 

[Cropduster172]

Most Greek joints are no longer owned or run by Greeks. Find a Greek joint ran by a Greek, you most likely will get authentic Greek food. find a Greek restaurant that offers Mediterranean foods, the place more likely than not is run by someone that is not Greek, and can't duplicate the Greek food.

They certainly still run diners in NJ and NY.

 

[GON]

I don't know if it's the same in USA, but at least up here, they revamped the menu about six months ago. The meats are better quality, subs come standard with double cheese... Before that I would have agreed with you but they really stepped up their game.

About a year ago Subway was purchased by the same holding company that owns Jimmy John's, Arby's, Buffalo Wild Wings, and others.

Some improvement may be implemented by the new owner of Subway, but I speculate it is not feasible for Subway to reinvent itself into a quality product. The new owners need a return on their investment, and the franchise model is based on bare bottom products that can be purchased at rock bottom prices.

 

[GON]

They certainly still run diners in NJ and NY.

Less and less every day. The Greeks forbid their Sons and Daughters from being in the restaurant business, and their sons and daughters are often physicians, lawyers, and CPAs.

I friend of mine buys used oil from restaurants for living. 30 years ago almost all the restaurants he bought the used cooking oil from was from Greek own and ran restaurants.

He states very few of his restaurants are Greek owned and ran today. I asked him who is now running these diners, he said yogoslavian and Bulgarian immigrants.

 

[JHZR2]

We're outside of Philly. A few pizza places have cropped up in the last 10 years that I call hipster pizza. The pies look and likely are good. But they have no phone, internet or app orders only. Cash only....which is fine. But a pie starts at $23 and they usually have only plain or pepperoni and the pepperoni is $26. The guys working there always have neck beards and attitudes like you're lucky they decided to sell you an overpriced pie...kind of like the Soup Nazi on Seinfeld.
I'll never go back. Plenty of decent, regular joints with great pies, phone orders and the Coke or Pepsi coolers still around.

Hipster pizza isn’t new. Peace a pizza for example, was all over in the early 2000s. Tacconellis was old school but not a pizza joint really. More unique. Holy Tomato in Blackwood is excellent and family run.

And then all the traditional places…

 

[JHZR2]

Less and less every day. The Greeks forbid their Sons and Daughters from being in the restaurant business, and their sons and daughters are often physicians, lawyers, and CPAs.

I friend of mine buys used oil from restaurants for living. 30 years ago almost all the restaurants he bought the used cooking oil from was from Greek own and ran restaurants.

He states very few of his restaurants are Greek owned and ran today. I asked him who is now running these diners, he said yogoslavian and Bulgarian immigrants.

I don’t know that this is always the case. I know of a number of diners that are run multi-generationally.

I’ve seen a number that were taken over by Turks, which is interesting in its own right. But they don’t offer Turkish food.

 

[Pablo]

About a year ago Subway was purchased by the same holding company that owns Jimmy John's, Arby's, Buffalo Wild Wings, and others.

Some improvement may be implemented by the new owner of Subway, but I speculate it is not feasible for Subway to reinvent itself into a quality product. The new owners need a return on their investment, and the franchise model is based on bare bottom products that can be purchased at rock bottom prices.

I drive by a subway and think of Jered. Eat there? Yeah, no. Fake food.

 

[GON]

I don’t know that this is always the case. I know of a number of diners that are run multi-generationally.

I’ve seen a number that were taken over by Turks, which is interesting in its own right. But they don’t offer Turkish food.

You are right, it is not absolute. But a very strong trend. The days of Greek owned and run diners are likely coming to be an exception, instead of the norm.

Another like trend in the U.S., Thai restaurants are becoming less owned and run by Thais, and are now often owned and run by immigrants from Cambodia, and Laos.

Like trend also for Chinese restaurants in the U.S.

 

[eljefino]

Fast food jobs use to be a stepping stone for high school or college kid to make some money. With all the manufacturing jobs shipped overseas they're the only jobs available. Certain states are raising the minimum wage to cover this which raises prices all around. By me a medium Dunkin coffee costs $3 with tax and half the time the $15+ worker makes it wrong.

... and they were jobs for people who couldn't find better jobs into their 20s and 30s and beyond. Well, it turns out people who didn't want to work food service actually DID find better jobs, at least in my area, and there's a giant shortage of fast food workers.

My 16 y/o kid pulls in $17 working at Starbucks in a Target, and he's a jerk. Imagine "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" levels of narcissism.

 

[Kira]

I tossed 10$ worth of catfish, but the cat did get plenty

So that's why it's called catfish?

We had a HUGE black cat. One evening I made catfish, Mrs. Kira asked what kind of fish it was.
I pointed to the big cat sitting on a hassock and my wife said, "blackfish?"
I said, "Try again". She got it right.

 

[Hermann]

McD,s currently in my area has 2 fish fillet sandwiches for $6. They were good back in the day, now not so much!

They are still good these days if they don't overcook them. Had that experience lately. It's lent you know

 

[Cropduster172]

Hipster pizza isn’t new. Peace a pizza for example, was all over in the early 2000s. Tacconellis was old school but not a pizza joint really. More unique. Holy Tomato in Blackwood is excellent and family run.

And then all the traditional places…

Peace o Pizza...that was hippy pizza not hipster! They had one in Stone Harbor...gone now.
Ate at a place called Illiano's in Medford. It was excellent pizza. Not too familiar with South Jersey pizza places except for a few in Cape May County.
Meet up with my old surfing buddies at Vic's in Bradley Beach a few times a year. One of the best pizzas on this planet.

 

[captainbeandip]

You are right, it is not absolute. But a very strong trend. The days of Greek owned and run diners are likely coming to be an exception, instead of the norm.

Another like trend in the U.S., Thai restaurants are becoming less owned and run by Thais, and are now often owned and run by immigrants from Cambodia, and Laos.

Like trend also for Chinese restaurants in the U.S.

A few years ago my father in law took us out to one of those Japanese steak houses where they have the guy chopping up things on the grill and doing tricks in front of you.

Many years ago he lived in Japan for about a year and picked up some of the language. He tried speaking Japanese to some of the employees as they came up to us. They would laugh a little bit and then walk away. Then finally one of them said "Sir, we are actually all Chinese, not Japanese, we don't know what you're saying". My father in law put his head down and just said "Oh".

 

[Kira]

Then finally one of them said "Sir, we are actually all Chinese, not Japanese, we don't know what you're saying"

Now that's funny!

 

[JHZR2]

Peace o Pizza...that was hippy pizza not hipster! They had one in Stone Harbor...gone now.
Ate at a place called Illiano's in Medford. It was excellent pizza. Not too familiar with South Jersey pizza places except for a few in Cape May County.
Meet up with my old surfing buddies at Vic's in Bradley Beach a few times a year. One of the best pizzas on this planet.

Meh. My exposure was in a college town with not quite hippie folks.

Lots of good pizza around.

The best sandwich in the world, the pork loaded from DiNics at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, is $13 with tax.

It has gone up maybe $/yr over the last few years.

speaking of…

Absolutely delicious. Pork was so good. Moist, wet with spices. Sharp provolone, roasted peppers, horseradish, banana peppers. Could eat that every day…

$13. You can see how the prices have been edited.