Eating outside is something you do to treat yourself or spend time with others. Everyone’s experience with it is different, depending on the type of restaurant and the people you’re with.
The likelihood of you eating at a restaurant is unlikely but common for some. Because of how many people are eating there in groups, you will probably feel a bit left out. Despite this, eating at a restaurant alone is something you should experience once. There’s something about being served all alone that you can’t get with a group. When you get your food, you can eat right away without waiting for others. You can even end your meal whenever you want without waiting for others to finish. Eating at fast food places or food courts alone is a lot more common than eating at restaurants alone. I usually eat at the food court in Metrotown alone after finishing a big checkpoint such as a school term. I just get myself something simple such as the boneless combo from KFC. It’s an easy meal to finish by myself and fits the food court vibe. I always get food court food from KFC because when my mom would bring me to the mall as a child, that’s what she would get me.
(Mike Mozart / Flickr)
Eating outside with family can be quite an adventure. Your parents always want you to dress nice (or at least decent), and you just end up talking about things everyone already knows about. The number of people that want to take pictures of food before eating is insane. We came to a restaurant to eat, not take pictures. Speaking of taking pictures, for some reason they always want to have a group photo at the restaurant. Someone, most likely your dad or aunt, will ask someone working there if they can take a photo. Everyone has to lean in just so then they can be seen. In my case, the only thing I end up doing is looking in the camera’s direction with only my eyes. I end up not turning my head which makes the photo look ridiculous. If it’s at a buffet, be prepared to stay there for a lot longer than you should have. We once went to a buffet and everyone was done eating after thirty minutes. We didn’t leave until two hours after we arrived all because my parents and my relatives were talking non-stop.
When you’re with friends, it’s a different story. You’re with people that you chose to hang out with. If you left your school during lunch, you were most likely to get fast food since that’s all you had time for. We once went out to Popeye’s with thirty minutes to eat lunch before we had to get to the school a jazz festival was taking place at. We ran to Popeye’s, got our orders, ate, and then dashed back to the venue. I made sure to get chicken strips instead of whole pieces of chicken due to the amount of time we had. I didn’t want to race against the clock too much otherwise I wouldn’t enjoy the food. If you ate out with more time on your hands, it was a more enjoyable experience. My friends and I once went to a restaurant at Pike Place Market in Seattle and we had a great time. One of my friends ordered $60 worth of food for herself while the rest of us got pretty affordable stuff. I got myself breakfast food because the breakfast at the hotel was pretty disappointing.
(Zach Petersen / Flickr)
The place you eat at can make a huge difference. Fast food places are somewhat chaotic, especially if you try to eat during the lunch rush. You’re standing in line while waiting for your turn to order. The person ahead of you is taking a long time to decide what they want. It’s almost like they don’t even know the menu despite the fact that it’s right in front of them, and they’re not dyslexic in the slightest. This is the last place you want someone to take their time ordering. The people eating there range from families, friend groups, and people that want to eat alone. The service can be pretty hit or miss. I was once waiting to order at the Costco food court (not really a fast food place but it can count) and the person taking these people’s orders was unnecessarily rude. To be fair, the people ahead of me weren’t any better but it was still an awkward interaction. It turned out it was really on her when I ordered because she was pretty rude. She didn’t even say thank you and looked pretty mad when I asked where the lids were (since it was my first time at this location in a while).
(Kenming Wang / Flickr)
Traditional restaurants usually have you sit down, choose something you want to eat, and eat it like usual. The social aspect of the restaurant is dependent on your relationship with the group. If you’re already pretty close, you’ll be alright. If you’re not that close, it might be harder to have a conversation. Service can also be hit or miss depending on the place. My family once went to a brunch place and our server was pretty rude. When she poured our water, most of it spilt because she didn’t use the spout. Typically, people will get their separate dishes, but there are restaurants out there (mostly Asian restaurants) where you choose dishes for the entire table. I love this style because you don’t have to choose a specific dish and if you’re with friends, it’s easier to justify paying for the entire table. Buffets are a whole other beast. You can choose your own meal from the variety they provide. However, the food quality can be hit or miss. Some food just wasn’t built to stay under a light.
Eating outside will continue to exist as long as people want food. You have to make a good decision about what to eat.