Eating out: No more a novelty

Eating out has become quite a norm these days. It impossible to believe just how many big and small eateries the metro cities have these days. The busier people’s life is becoming, more people have started eating out. These days, since most couples have nuclear families and are busy working, it becomes pretty difficult for them to cook three meals a day. Also, there is so much variety in food available to people these days that eating out at least once a week has become a custom.

The flood of multi national food chains has made eating out a fashion statement and a status symbol. Nowadays, if you don’t give a birthday party of your toddler in one of these outlets, a question mark is put on your status in the society. When school going children discuss these birthday parties, it becomes a matter of pride for them to inform their friends that they are going to one of these MNC food chains for a birthday treat. When asked about their choice of place for celebrating their birthday, they choose one of these eating joints over home. They do not consider home cooked food as delicious. Home cooked food is an everyday fare, so they want to treat their friends to their choice of junk food and have fun.

A proof that this industry is a booming one is that every mall in the city has a number of eating joints. Some offering sizzlers, some North Indian fares, some South Indian delicacies, some multi-cuisine fast foods, some MNCs offering junk foods like pizzas, pastas, burgers and other food stuff, and some serving only Chinese, Mongolian or Italian specialities. There is no end to this list. Every restaurant tries to offer something that differentiates it from the rest. Each mall also has a food court that helps people in selecting different kinds of food from more than one outlet and enjoy it while sitting in one place.

Lives in cities have also become so hectic and stressful that a change of environment is welcome every weekend. So people tend to flock to these malls and eating joints every weekend to enjoy the ambience and the food being offered. Even if people don’t have proper meals here, snacks and other tit bits offered sell like hot cakes on weekdays and weekends. Vicinity to office complexes is another advantage to these malls. People step in at lunch time or come over for little celebrations with colleagues.