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Pastimes : Clown-Free Zone... sorry, no clowns allowed -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: patron_anejo_por_favor who wrote (118300)	8/25/2001 12:43:36 AM
From: Thomas M.	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 436258

Nice post, except for the fact that he has Reagan coming into office in 1975. -g-

To: patron_anejo_por_favor who wrote (118300)	8/25/2001 1:17:51 PM
From: SunSunM	Respond to of 436258

Doggie-bag index shows economic slump By Dave Carpenter, Associated Press, 8/25/2001 CHICAGO - In an economic indicator that Alan Greenspan might want to consider, restaurants are reporting an increase in doggie-bag requests over the past year or two. They say it shows that their customers are feeling the pinch. ''People who wouldn't have thought about it a year ago will say, `You know what, I'm going to take that with me,''' said Izzy Kharasch, a restaurant industry consultant in Chicago. ''They now will take home the smallest of portions.'' The doggie bag upswing was cited in a report this month by the National Restaurant Association, which said that one in five dinner customers is asking to take home uneaten food. Twenty percent of the 450 restaurants the trade group surveyed said their customers were requesting more doggie bags than two years ago. Kharasch says he makes sure that even expensive restaurants that he advises, where the average check is $80 a person, do provide doggie bags these days. ''People used to be too embarrassed to ask for doggie bags,'' said. ''Not any more. They don't want to waste anything.'' Restaurateurs say the increased requests for leftovers are generally a result of the economy, though calorie-counters looking to make today's heftier dinner portions last through tomorrow's lunch are also doggie-bag users. Customers at Elliott Fread's restaurant in New York have started making his sandwiches last for two days. ''They won't say it's because of money,'' said Fread, owner of Bimmy's in Chelsea Market. ''They'll say, `This is really good; can you wrap it up?' But I know it's due to monetary reasons.'' Judy Katz acknowledged feeling the pinch. A book collaborator in New York, she and her husband now dine at a neighborhood bistro, instead of the elegant Le Cirque, and take their leftovers home. ''My portfolio is gone, but I'm not going to give up going out to eat,'' she said. ''Now we share a meal, and we take home a doggie bag.'' Some diners are just staying home. The average number of US restaurant meals per person per year has fallen for the first time since 1990, according to NPD Group, based in Port Washington, N.Y., which conducts industry research. The number was 137 meals purchased per capita over the 12-month period ended in February, down 2.8 percent from the previous year. Still, the data show that the average American still eats out 15 times more each year than a decade ago. ''Maybe people think a little more frugally when there is an economic downturn,'' said Steven Anderson, the National Restaurant Association's president and chief executive. ''But I think we've become such an essential part of people's lives that they're going out to eat regardless.'' This story ran on page A5 of the Boston Globe on 8/25/2001. © Copyright 2001 Globe Newspaper Company. End Quote. Been watching UNO, APPB, OSI and CPKI, looks like about time to short the restaurants. KC.