Modern Food?

Lessor quality cuts. Order "PRIME RIB" and get Choice or less, not prime. Most meals are commissary and boiled in plastic bags then plopped on plate.

Just about every time we go to a chain restaurant my wife says “isn’t as good as it used to be”. Could be lower grade ingredients, could be the “Chef” is inexperienced, could be a number of things. Could also be the wife’s taste buds have changed. I eat anything and just about anyway it’s prepared. ( but I refuse to eat beets or Brussel sprouts! ) You think prices are high now for mediocre food? Just wait till everybody at the restaurant gets $15 an hour minimum. Of course I assume they will remain in business.

If you consider Steak 'n Shake, and Texas Roadhouse places to get quality food, that could explain part of the problem. One has decent, not great, but decent burgers, the other one is barely adequate. I've eaten at Texas Roadhouse twice, two different places, and it was mediocre both times. Franchise food is rarely top drawer. But stay away from the Outback restaurants and you'll likely survive.

Sauces add flavor, sometimes meat is merely something that adds flavor, not the main part of the dish. That's something that a lot of people can't get around. I used to love Oriental food when I was overseas, because they used meat as seasoning, not a lot of meat with a little other stuff like you find at a lot of Oriental restaurants in the US. So maybe people just like stuff that you don't, that doesn't make it not good, maybe you need to expand your palate.

Those darn kids. I'm 37 so I probably qualify. Trust me, we young people like good food too. But unfortunately, a lot of people aren't willing to pay what it costs to get good food, and food costs are higher than they used to be, so restaurants have to find ways to cut costs... that usually includes buying lesser quality meat and doing exactly what you describe, or buying pre-made frozen stuff since it's hard to keep staff around to cook food. Just watch the show Restaurant Impossible on Food Network and you'll see this happen over and over again.

Also, I'm a pretty good cook, so why would I go out to eat to get something like roast beef? I can make a good roast beef at home pretty easily. When I go out to eat, I want to eat something I either can't make at home, or would be a big pain to make at home (like good BBQ).

I've found that we can't eat out for a good quality meal for less than $50 including drinks anymore. Often it's closer to $75. So many people still expect a good meal for $10/plate or less. These days, even fast food can get near the $10/meal mark.