Americans Drinking Less Is Affecting Restaurant Sales In Texas

Gen Z doesn’t drink and normal people are broke. The double whammy of Pandemic inflation then Trump tariff inflation is showing.

This thread discussing the decline of Vegas has a lot of info: https://bbs.clutchfans.net/threads/the-decline-of-vegas.326999/

 

It took half a century for Americans to fully understand how bad cigarettes were for you.

Gen Z has adopted mar1juana (Reinforcement Stacking is a serious issue for Gen Z), Millennials have jumped off alcohol at an earlier age and the last of Gen X is reaching the age where reducing alcohol intake is important for their health.

Gen Z is much less active than previous generations; screen addiction (aka self-diagnosed ADHD), bad eating habits/poorly processed food (fast food addiction), instant gratification (door-dash) allows mar1juana to be a reinforcement agent to keep that generation sedated and useless.

The sad reality is this phenomenon has become so common that its deemed normal. Much like smoking in malls during the 70's and early 80's was normal. The reality its just bad and lazy parenting.

 

Going out to eat is so $$ these days, personally I have cut down on drinking at the restaurant, I used to have 2-3 drinks with my meal and now it's one.......I can get one Tito`s and Cran for $15.00 at dinner or buy a bottle for $25 and drink at home before and or after the dinner

 

I think @Space Ghost is talking about the increase in phone addiction, junk food and weed use. In a nutshell, stoner lifestyle. Arguably better than alcohol abuse unless the weed is a daily habit. Smoking anything is still terrible for your health.

 

I have a hunch that the first couple of years post-pandemic were just people desperate for social interaction and entertainment, but that it drove the level of debt up to sustain. I remember looking at the first Deftones show in 2022 and I couldn't even justify the aftermarket pricing, $400 in nosebleeds. It's since gone down but you get the idea.

 

I think so too. May not be any more complicated than that.

Wife and I have a 'date night' once a week when we'll go out for dinner and drinks. Last time, we decided not to drink because we had been at a brewery the previous day. I got the check and I seriously thought there was something wrong. It was like 50-something bucks and that included an appetizer. .

Maybe with this news, more restaurants will have happy hours that aren't at some random time when no one drinks like 11 to 1 every other Wednesday.

 

Alcohol can quickly double the cost of your meal
4 Drinks can be an easy 60$ - If your meal if 50$

Plus who can afford to get drunk . . .not monetarily but socially
People know they cannot be a drunken ass in public like the good ole days
You might GO VIRAL and lose your jobs, respected and in some cases your freedom

I think the kids smoke more than drink

Rocket River

 

Technically booze tax is a sin tax, like with cigarettes. Although in the u.s., one is much more accepted than the other. A decrease helps curb secondary effects like drinking & driving and long term liver damage.

From an economist view, the tax is a subsidy for a positive externality. *raises glass for that, *

 

We actually look for places that have half price appetizers or some kind of drink special......................hell, even at our Fav Mexican place, fajitas are over $20 each so we end up sharing and getting an appetizer, it's like you can't go out to eat and get what you want for less than $50 for 2

When we met in college, we used to go for dollar beer night, and we would just eat the stale gross popcorn at the bar for dinner Times have changed my friend

 

That's funny. When we travel, we always make sure to stay at a place with a complimentary happy hour - usually Embassy Suites. We get our 2 drinks and load up on the snacks. Boom - free dinner and drinks.

 

One thing that's sneaking up on this country is the use of THC vape pens in young adults. We have so many people that lie about their usage when they come in for dizzy and vomiting.

This is probably replacing alcohol.

 

Reminds me of dime-time on Tuesday nights at Hooters in the early 90's. My buddies and I would go and order so many they just put them on a serving tray. The beer was $5/pitcher too.

 

As an Irish-American attorney, you can count on me to do my part. Somebody's got to keep this country running.

 

I remember nickel beer night at the Astrodome when I was a kid.

My dad once got so drunk we had to wait for the parking lot to empty to find the car. Good times.

 

Agreed. But also everything is expensive af. A salad for lunch is $15. I go to HH but that doesn't help the restaurant as much because I'm tired of paying $100 - $150 for a 2 person meal, with drinks. This is with us as customers subsidizing waitstaff pay with tipping...

 

Right.

People are drinking less and eating out less because it's almost become a "luxury spending" item.

16$ cocktails ...
20$ salads..

fk that.

 

My buddies and I had Astros season tickets back in 99. Last year of the Astrodome. We made friends with the beer lady by our seats and she used to charge us full price for our first one and tell us to keep our cups. She would fill them up the rest of the game for $1 and just pocket it. I guess they used to do inventory by cups only so no one was ever the wiser.