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DEL.ICIO.USAre Gas Prices Keeping You at Home?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
AT RIGHT: GOING, GOING, GONE — Is the price of a gallon cutting into how often you eat out?
Photo: Hugh E. Gentry/AP
It’s the question everyone’s asking: Is the price of gas keeping you at home these days? Is filling your tank cutting into your disposable income for dining?
Frankly, I eat out several nights a week, and I haven’t noticed a drop in clientele at local restaurants at all (of course, how packed a place is depends on the place.) Last week the scene at the new W Hotel in Midtown (where I had a nice first taste at Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s Spice Market) was more mob than ever. And it’s not just high-end; neighborhood spots like Stella in Cabbagetown/Grant Park are packed, too. These are both new, and curiosity might be a factor in the flocks of folks coming through the door. Still, an old favorite like Taqueria del Sol on the West Side was doing steady mid-week business last week.
But are you staying home more, rather than dining out? If not, have you changed your habits because of higher gas prices? Do you go to cheaper spots to make up the difference? If so, where?
Permalink | Comments (18) | Post your comment | Categories: Dining
Comments
By KJ
April 14, 2008 2:25 PM | Link to this
Nope. 35 MPG Honda Civic FTW.
By Cheap
April 14, 2008 2:36 PM | Link to this
Nope. 100mpg Plug-in Hybrid that I’ve been driving for a year now. I use Clean Domestic Wind Energy to offset the amount of Dirty Foreign Oil I need to buy. On the weekends I can stay within my all electric range and I do have gas free weekends while taking my family out.
By Cheap
April 14, 2008 2:38 PM | Link to this
Nope. 100mpg Plug-in Hybrid that I’ve been driving for a year now. I use Clean Domestic Wind Energy to offset the amount of Dirty Foreign Oil I need to buy. On the weekends I can stay within my all electric range and I do have gas free weekends while taking my family out.
By Good goo
April 14, 2008 2:52 PM | Link to this
Heck yeah, because my church is so far I started attending on the internet. NO JOKE. I cut down my weekend driving and I try not to drive one day out of the weekend if possible. I combine all my trips into one and I now bring my lunch.
By Sagegirl
April 14, 2008 2:53 PM | Link to this
Nope. Heading to Outer Banks, NC next week. But once there, we will bicycle or walk. The island is just 17 miles long. The cost of the gas to get there is well worth the privacy, quiet and seclusion. Yep, worth every penny.
By Slim
April 14, 2008 3:03 PM | Link to this
We don’t run errands on weekends anymore, except the Sunday trip to Publix for groceries. I try to do most errands on my way home from work, or on my lunch hour.
By Rodney
April 14, 2008 3:28 PM | Link to this
No - the Hyundai gets me there nearly as cheaply as before. :)
PLUS I get the satisfaction of knowing that the friends I have who’ve kidded me about my Hyundai in the past (while driving their guzzlers) are SO hating that weekly gas bill!
By EC
April 14, 2008 3:43 PM | Link to this
I’ve been doing these things for over three years now…it’s interesting that things have to get this bad for people to actually do something about it. Wake up, everyone!
By aaa
April 14, 2008 3:59 PM | Link to this
yep…no need to drive far anymore.
By Patrice
April 14, 2008 4:02 PM | Link to this
Not really my 1996 Honda Accord v6 has great gas mileage and I work downtown atlanta and live near the airport which is cool, but the prices are a shame. Hurry up and get George Bush out of office!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
By L.
April 14, 2008 4:26 PM | Link to this
With McCain in office, gas will cost $10 per gallon, by Summer 2009. Enjoy your discount, while it lasts U.S. citizens, next thing you know you will be working just to pump gas for a living and don’t expect Obama or Clinton to run things out of American poverty, like how the original Clinton did….bwhahahahahaha
By What the...?
April 14, 2008 4:30 PM | Link to this
Patrice - This is W’s fault? Uh, 15 months ago the Dems took over Congress gas was $2.17 on the average nationwide. Now it’s $3.50.
Why don’t you knock Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reed?
Besides, oil companies make about 8.5 cents per gallon on gasoline. Thats true wether it’s 2 buck or three buck per gallon. But the government taxes us at arate of about 55 cents per gallon after state/federal and excise taxes.
Ever wonder why they don’t break down how much you pay in taxes when you buy gas like you do when you buy anything else??? It’s so they can continue to rape us at the pump.
But, yeah…it’s all W’s fault!
Has NOTHING to do with the fact that we increase the demand for it year in and year out…China and India have increased their demand…refineries are old and out dated but the hyper-radical enviro-nazis continue to block the building of newer, cleaner running refineries. Oh, and those newer refineries could convert the heavier crude into gas which is $14 buck cheaper per barrel than the light-sweet crude we ship in that the old refineries are only able to convert.
But, yeah…it’s all W’s fault!
God-Almighty!
By Jeff
April 14, 2008 4:31 PM | Link to this
I drive 24 miles round trip for work, about 15 minutes of drive time. But $5.00 worth of gas to power my tools for the yard is a bit much. We certainly go out alot less, eat alot of left overs, never go out to lunch. But what i see, is ALOT of complaining about it, yet nobody does anything about it. Except blame GWB. There are sooo many issues on the table that it’s nearly impossible for anyone to get a collected group effort to change the ways. Maybe that is the intent of our Bush/Clinton era.
By Glenis
April 14, 2008 4:46 PM | Link to this
its not the government - Bush- its not the fault of the oil companies, so who is going to step up and claim responsiility for the rise in prices. IF this was a terrorist act some sector or faction would have a video on Youtube claiming responsibility by now.
By Glenis
April 14, 2008 4:48 PM | Link to this
its not the government - Bush- its not the fault of the oil companies, so who is going to step up and claim responsiility for the rise in prices. IF this was a terrorist act some sector or faction would have a video on Youtube claiming responsibility by now.
By Mike
April 14, 2008 5:04 PM | Link to this
Enough of this nonsense. Let’s say your favorite restaurant is 10 miles from home. The fleet average mileage standard for new U.S. cars has been 27.5 mpg for years. Gas prices rose above $2 for good in March 2005 at $2.023. They’re $3.358 now, according to the Energy Information Administration. Based on these numbers, you would use 0.72 gallons of gas driving to dinner. What’s the price difference of that trip between 2005 and today? A whopping 96 cents.
The idea that rising fuel prices are exerting a significant economic impact is fallacy, not fact.
By Kiki
April 14, 2008 5:32 PM | Link to this
The rising cost of gas and the inflation of food prices are keeping us from eating out. The price of food and other goods is rising in part due to the rising cost of gas. It’s like a vicious cycle. But it can’t be blamed on gasoline prices alone. The subprime market collapse is taking a much larger toll than many may think, and not just in America. A global economy comes at a price.
By ken
April 14, 2008 5:46 PM | Link to this
2.17, did you fall and bump your head?