I went out to a Mexican restaurant this evening because I was out walking and recognized the name as a place someone recommended to try.
I’ve been in Austin now for almost three weeks and before tonight had only eaten out three times, and all three times with other people. I’ve tried to be pretty strict with my budget on food since I’ve been here, so I’ve been making all of my meals at the office.
Tonight though I decided it would be okay to splurge. I tried to not look too carefully at the prices because I wanted to just enjoy what I wanted to enjoy but I couldn’t help myself. One of the first meals I saw was over 20 dollars and I almost got up and left. Especially for one person, I felt silly paying so much when I could go home and eat a meal for 2 dollars.
But I stayed. I got one of the cheaper items on the menu, a quesadilla for 12 dollars.
I ate it, and it was fine. But I honestly couldn’t enjoy it as much as I wanted to because it was just so much more money than I needed to spend. It wasn’t even that I couldn’t afford it but it was that I live right next to 200 people who can’t.
I also have no problem with treating yourself or your family every once in a while. I think it’s important for morale. But this didn’t feel like that. It felt unsatisfying.
The only thing that made it worse was right at the end, two girls, probably about the same age, maybe 5 years older than me came and sat down right next to my table.
After both of them ordering two appetizers (which were 12 dollars each if I remember right), they both ordered a margarita (also in the 10-12 dollar range). They followed that with 20 dollar entres.
I guarantee that by the time those ladies were done they had both spent over 50 dollars on food and drink. And you could tell that this wasn’t a special occasion. This was just your every day go out to dinner meal.
I’m still putting my thoughts together, but I’m starting to lose interest in going to all the “good restaurants” in Austin. Unless I’m going with other people for a special occasion, it seems like such a waste and I really don’t care about it that much. Same with coffee shops. I feel like I should be checking out all the cool local coffee shops because that’s what people do, but I really 100 percent don’t care.
So, if you’re in Austin, look for me hiking by the Springs or admiring tall buildings because you’re probably not going to find me in a coffee shop.