# What dining experience do you miss the most since the pandemic began? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [October 20, 2020, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dining-experience-do-you-miss-the-most-since-the-pandemic-began/923416 "2020-10-20T15:48:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2020, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dining-experience-do-you-miss-the-most-since-the-pandemic-began/923416/21 "2020-10-20T17:53:08Z")
Hanging out at a bar with friends. The local has a potluck during Bears games and I’d go every few weeks. I haven’t been to a bar since March. Fried chicken wings. I’ve grilled them a few times but it doesn’t scratch that same itch. I used to attend a weeknight poker game (which I also miss) and I’d have to hussle after work to get over to the host’s place. Most times, I’d pop into a little (8 stools at a counter) fast food joint for one of their combos. Hot dog, Polish, or fried fish with fries and drink for $7 even. In & out in 15 minutes. Oh, they always had a stack of The Chicago Reader to page through, too. A plate of tacos with beans & rice carryout from a local taqueria. ETA: I haven’t patronized a restaurant since March, either. ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2020, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dining-experience-do-you-miss-the-most-since-the-pandemic-began/923416/22 "2020-10-20T18:07:27Z")
When I’m on my own for a work day treat. I miss really good American Chinese food that is fried in a big hot wok and really crispy. You can’t package crispy fried food. When I think about my wife and I: > [@QuickSilver](#): > > A proper night out. Something with a sense of occasion to dress for. A cozy bar for pre-dinner drinks. Comically large red wine glasses with dinner. Freshly shaved truffles to my wife’s heart’s content. A luxurious hotel nearby so I don’t have to worry about drinking and driving. The next morning, a bed that we can leave unmade. I’ve always been a firm believer that a healthy marriage needs together time. date nights, intimacy, sex, whatever it may be for your relationship. My marriage is doing fine, but I can feel it in my gut that we aren’t getting enough time. ---
**Author:** ![Lance\_Turbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lance_turbo/32/6156_2.png) [@Lance\_Turbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lance_Turbo)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2020, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dining-experience-do-you-miss-the-most-since-the-pandemic-began/923416/23 "2020-10-20T19:11:07Z")
Pub trivia. A burger, a couple beers, and all the regulars. ---
**Author:** ![teelabrown](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teelabrown/32/8412_2.png) [@teelabrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teelabrown)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2020, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dining-experience-do-you-miss-the-most-since-the-pandemic-began/923416/24 "2020-10-20T20:41:39Z")
Sushi, without a doubt. Yes, I can get it to go, but the experience won’t be the same. Ditto for high quality tempura. There’s a Vietnamese restaurant in San Jose that specializes in duck. They really know how to steam it so that it’s juicy and tender. I’d go to it about once a month to get sliced duck on salad or in soup. The people there were super nice, too. I’d have to look into it, but I don’t think their dishes would transport easily. Man, do I miss it. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2020, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dining-experience-do-you-miss-the-most-since-the-pandemic-began/923416/25 "2020-10-20T21:01:43Z")
I miss my roast beef, roast potatoes, carrots, cabbage, Yorkshire puddings, gravy. With extra roast potatoes and extra gravy. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2020, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dining-experience-do-you-miss-the-most-since-the-pandemic-began/923416/26 "2020-10-20T21:18:22Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > A proper night out. Something with a sense of occasion to dress for. A cozy bar for pre-dinner drinks. Comically large red wine glasses with dinner. Freshly shaved truffles to my wife’s heart’s content. A luxurious hotel nearby so I don’t have to worry about drinking and driving. The next morning, a bed that we can leave unmade. Absolutely this. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2020, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dining-experience-do-you-miss-the-most-since-the-pandemic-began/923416/27 "2020-10-20T21:29:54Z")
Just grabbing some tasty food for lunch at the bar at a ski area (summer mtn biking). turns out even the cafeteria is closed, and one can just get a pre-wrapped wrap to take outside. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2020, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dining-experience-do-you-miss-the-most-since-the-pandemic-began/923416/28 "2020-10-20T22:32:21Z")
> [@glee](#): > > I miss my roast beef, roast potatoes, carrots, cabbage, Yorkshire puddings, gravy. > With extra roast potatoes and extra gravy. 😉 That’s our English Christmas dinner. I’m partial to the roast potatoes with gravy too, but most everybody else is crazy about Yorkshire pudding swimming in gravy. And instead of cabbage, mashed rutabaga, which my Grandma used to call “Swedes”. We’re planning to have a small Christmas get together with my sister and brother-in-law, provided we’re all healthy. My sister and I take turns making and hosting the Christmas meal, and this year it’s my turn. ---
**Author:** ![dwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwyr/32/363_2.png) [@dwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwyr)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2020, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dining-experience-do-you-miss-the-most-since-the-pandemic-began/923416/29 "2020-10-20T22:33:09Z")
Really miss meeting up with my siblings for lunch at the tea room once a month. We’ve been going for nearly 20 years and I’ve only missed a handful of months. Just a nice, relaxing break each month. I’m worried they won’t reopen after this. I really miss it. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2020, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dining-experience-do-you-miss-the-most-since-the-pandemic-began/923416/30 "2020-10-20T22:47:49Z")
> [@ekedolphin](#): > > Buffet places. We’d just recently discovered a wonderful Asian buffet place that had a Mongolian grill and sushi before the pandemic hit. I don’t know if they’re still in operation. Same here. I know it’s not fine dining but I enjoy being able to go up and down the lines and have a little bit of everything that looks good. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2020, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dining-experience-do-you-miss-the-most-since-the-pandemic-began/923416/31 "2020-10-20T22:58:39Z")
Yes, I miss sushi deeply. My biggest loss is my friend’s craft burger bar. My writers group is a tight-knit party of eight. For the last five years, we’ve met every other Tuesday night, and since my friend opened his restaurant it was great food and socialization every other week. He has all sorts of delicious creations but for me, I always ordered a simple Kobe beef burger with Bleu cheese. Oh, and the soft pretzels with homemade beer cheese. I miss his food so much, I have dreams about it. We have Zoom meetings now but it is NOT the same. ---
**Author:** ![Fair\_Rarity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fair_rarity/32/153_2.png) [@Fair\_Rarity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fair_Rarity)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2020, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dining-experience-do-you-miss-the-most-since-the-pandemic-began/923416/32 "2020-10-20T23:23:22Z")
I miss just plain old going out at all. I don’t care for what. Just looking at four different walls, no dishes, no cooking, no planning. I miss when my kid would be at school or at my ex’s and I’d just take myself out for take out and sit in my car and be ALONE alone. I do miss a nice smokey burger with a bit of a char. I made a lot of decent burgers, but I don’t have a nice charcoal/woodburning grill for that super smokey char. If I could I’d go to my least favorite place with my least favorite people. Oh well. Maybe 2021. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2020, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dining-experience-do-you-miss-the-most-since-the-pandemic-began/923416/33 "2020-10-21T00:42:29Z")
Not really “dining”, but just going to a coffee shop once a month to meet up with my brother-in-law to catch up the goings-on. He has a vulnerable family member, and has barely left their house since March. He retired in March(simultaneously with a layoff) at the same time, and I bet he’s going crazy. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2020, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dining-experience-do-you-miss-the-most-since-the-pandemic-began/923416/34 "2020-10-21T01:00:23Z")
Breakfast. I don’t want to put the time in the morning into some of the more involved food or coffee items that I like to order. Never mind I can’t poach an egg properly to save my life and I don’t have an espresso maker. But beyond that it is the meal I most like to relax to, reading my paper like the older person I am, enjoying my eggs benedict and sipping my cappuccino without having to think about clean-up. I miss eating out for lunch a little, but a lot less so. I hardly ever eat dinner out anyway and I’m happy with takeout or cooking for either. But man, I miss breakfasts. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2020, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dining-experience-do-you-miss-the-most-since-the-pandemic-began/923416/35 "2020-10-21T02:21:35Z")
Like so many others, I miss sushi. We’ve made it once or twice since the lockdown, but the experience isn’t the same. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2020, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dining-experience-do-you-miss-the-most-since-the-pandemic-began/923416/36 "2020-10-21T11:47:56Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > My biggest loss is my friend’s craft burger bar. My writers group is a tight-knit party of eight. For the last five years, we’ve met every other Tuesday night, and since my friend opened his restaurant it was great food and socialization every other week. He has all sorts of delicious creations but for me, I always ordered a simple Kobe beef burger with Bleu cheese. Oh, and the soft pretzels with homemade beer cheese. I miss his food so much, I have dreams about it. I’m sorry to hear about your friend’s burger place. Is it a loss because he had to close, or because you haven’t been able to socialize there? From the way you put things it sounds like the former, but I hope I’m mistaken and he’s been able to hang on with takeout service. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2020, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dining-experience-do-you-miss-the-most-since-the-pandemic-began/923416/37 "2020-10-21T13:11:24Z")
Oh. He has still, against all odds, kept the place open. They are doing mostly takeout but they have the restaurant open at reduced capacity. It will hopefully be there when it’s finally safe to go to restaurants. Two of our members are stuck in Canada, so we couldn’t all get together even if we wanted to take the risk. ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2020, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dining-experience-do-you-miss-the-most-since-the-pandemic-began/923416/38 "2020-10-21T13:43:03Z")
I really miss getting together with family (sisters, BILs, grandkids, nieces, nephews, moms, aunts). We would get together for all of the kids’ (and some of the adults’) birthdays. We’d have dinner and then cake, cookies, ice cream, etc. We would be together almost once a month. We’d also just get together for impromptu BBQs. All of the girls would get together and go to a craft fair, a movie, state park, etc. and then go out for lunch. We’d always be together for the holidays. I’m not sure what’s going to happen with that. We’re all a little skittish. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2020, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dining-experience-do-you-miss-the-most-since-the-pandemic-began/923416/39 "2020-10-21T13:58:04Z")
While there are foods I miss, what I miss most is sitting in a warm coffee shop surrounded by people reading, writing, and talking. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2020, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dining-experience-do-you-miss-the-most-since-the-pandemic-began/923416/40 "2020-10-21T14:11:20Z")
> [@TRC4941](#): > > I really miss getting together with family (sisters, BILs, grandkids, nieces, nephews, moms, aunts). Yeah, now that the holidays are around the corner, this is going to be really tricky to navigate. I mentioned upthread here that my sister, brother-in-law and our family are tentatively planning on having the traditional Christmas dinner together, depending on our health status. We had a few get-togethers with my sister and her husband this summer that were sensible, outdoor socially distanced BBQs. My wife’s family on the other hand…she comes from a large, close-knit extended family that typically has a lot of get-togethers throughout the year. Unfortunately many members of the family fully believe the rhetoric that Covid is not that bad, and don’t practice mask-wearing or social distancing at all. We went to one outdoor event her family had that was outdoors, so we thought it would be safer, but the handshaking and close-talking were just as before. One is a hugger who started to lean toward my wife, who backed off, and they were like “what? Do I smell or something?” We’ve always done Thanksgiving with them, but a large group of people crowded indoors with absolutely no safe Covid practices is not an appealing thought. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dining-experience-do-you-miss-the-most-since-the-pandemic-began/923416.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dining-experience-do-you-miss-the-most-since-the-pandemic-began/923416.md?page=3)