The lunch rush is dead as Americans live for the weekend, office workers are pinching lunchtime pennies

$15 for a subway sandwich

$25 for a poke bowl

$20 for a burger and fries

No kidding I'll eat my own cooking

I think hybrid work is only a small part of the issue. if it was even remotely affordable id just lunch delivery rather than busting my ass cooking in the middle of the day but then i end up spending $20 + tax + tips + fees just to eat some mid food when it just takes a bit of effort to get some amazing homecooked food for cheap. if people do return to the office id bet people would pack their lunch until prices go down.

Went to Taco Bell yesterday for the first time in a year... $48 dollars for 8 crunchy tacos supreme, two steak chalupas, and a crunch wrap supreme. The meal for the fam was a collosal disappointment.

This is the best summary I could come up with:

The rise of hybrid work has kept many bars’ and restaurants’ lunchtime business from recovering to pre-pandemic levels, according to data the digital payments platform Square released Tuesday.

Fast food chains are launching promotions to lure back diners turned off by price hikes, and alcohol brands are pushing canned cocktails as bar and restaurant menu tabs rise faster than grocery bills.

“That’s been the largest transformation in the last four or five years — the consumer habits of office workers,” said Ara Kharazian, research lead at Square, which provides electronic payment systems used by many bars, restaurants and stores.

Aceituna Grill, a fast-casual Mediterranean restaurant in Boston, has seen lunch crowds shrink at the three locations it has operated since before the pandemic, especially those near offices for Bank of America and PwC, according to CEO AJ Kurban.

The latter move was partly to comply with updated lease terms, and while Kurban said it’s too early to tell how it’ll pay off, he’s “expecting a positive impact.” At the Back Bay outpost, he added, “definitely weekends and nights are a lot busier there than any of our other locations.”

Only one major market bucked the trend Square identified: In heavily residential Brooklyn — less known for its lunch rush than office-packed Manhattan — midday spending was down by a modest 0.3%, but weekend transactions were still 0.5% shy of the borough’s pre-pandemic level, too.

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