Cleveland Eats Report - How is the economy impacting your eating habits?

With money tight and the economy taking a long time to recover, our eating habits are changing. Various reports indicate that people are eating out less often, which makes a lot of sense, but how are you impacted? If you do still eat out at a restaurant, are you noticing any changes in the quality of food served, or in the service provided? Are you eating fast food more, or less often?

I used to quite enjoy Speedway's cheeseburgers. They were inexpensive (2 for $3) and while not exactly nutritional they were a cheap and reasonable alternative to fast food sandwiches. However, about eight or nine months ago, something changed. I bought two one day and was disgusted by the taste and smell and noticed that even the texture of the meat had changed. Clearly, Speedway had decided to provide a cheaper version of their cheesebuger and I've had very few since.

I also suspect that some Subways are doing the same thing, being slightly less generous with their toppings in light of a tighter budget. In their case, I have some sympathy for the individual store owners, as the $5 Footlong promotion must be eating directly into their profits.

Have you seen any evidence of eateries taking short cuts because of the economy?