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Eat Out to Help Out?

(82 Posts)
Riverwalk Sun 09-Aug-20 16:52:15

Has anyone participated in this scheme yet? Seems to be a success so far, from what I've read.

Tomorrow I'm meeting a friend for lunch at Westfield, Shepherds Bush, to give it a go - all hands to the pump! ?

AGAA4 Sun 09-Aug-20 16:54:51

My daughter on holiday has used this on all of the 3 days available.
We need to get people back in the habit of eating out to help the economy.

tanith Sun 09-Aug-20 16:58:18

I had lunch with my daughter, GD and her baby for her birthday at a local pub/restaurant it worked well although there were only 2 other parties there.

GrannyGravy13 Sun 09-Aug-20 16:59:38

Used it last week and intend to use itevery week whilst it is on offer.

PinkCakes Sun 09-Aug-20 17:01:51

I'm going to the Kitty Cafe with a friend on Wednesday.

I'll probably go somewhere with my son and his 2 children on Tuesday.

Abuelamia Sun 09-Aug-20 17:03:24

Yes, I used it to have afternoon tea with friends at a countryside venue. Social distancing and extra measures were all in place and felt very safe and comfortable. No vouchers needed just £10 deducted from the bill for every person Seamless and enjoyable and hopefully helping the venue. A lovely afternoon and extremely good value.

Maggiemaybe Sun 09-Aug-20 17:04:25

We’ve eaten out twice since our local pubs/restaurants opened, but not on the right days for a discount. smile We’re booked in for one under the scheme on Wednesday.

Our experience has been good, and proper safeguards were in place at both the pub and the cafe we went to. It feels good to be choosing food from a menu again.

52bright Sun 09-Aug-20 17:11:54

We are having 4 nights away with daughter and family later this month. She has booked up a different restaurant participating in the scheme for the Mon to Wed of our break. Should make a reasonable difference to the bill when there are 6 of us. Very helpful as the cost of the hire of a house for us all plus two dogs was far more this year than we've paid in the past. Probably because most people who are going away this year are having a UK break.

Ellianne Sun 09-Aug-20 17:14:21

We are having a meal out each week under the August scheme. So far very impressed with the measures in place and how the restaurants have adapted.

Ashcombe Sun 09-Aug-20 17:18:33

Yes, this worked well when we ate at our local pub/restaurant last Wednesday. Although it was busy, our landlady & landlord have all the required precautions well in place.

Ellianne Sun 09-Aug-20 17:20:27

Enjoy your Westfield lunch Riverwalk. Your restaurants over that way are nicer than our Westfield Stratford eateries! grin

MerylStreep Sun 09-Aug-20 17:25:01

We have eaten out twice on the scheme. One of them I felt really guilty as the pub was doing a deal and then there was the government deal so the meal was next to nothing.
We did have several drinks though ?
We will be going out again on Tuesday.

fevertree Sun 09-Aug-20 17:27:45

I didn't realise that the M&S Cafe I popped in to last week (in London) was participating until they explained why my lunch was so cheap!

Jane10 Sun 09-Aug-20 17:33:34

My DS is a restaurant manager. He told me that they were very busy last week. He worked 90 hours himself. However, some of the people using the deal were most unpleasant. One party ordered £100 of food and £100 in drinks then were furious and extremely rude that the whole bill wasn't half price. It was patiently explained to them but they shouted at him and told him he should be grateful for their custom. I suppose it's the nasty customers that stick in the mind and most people would be nice or just OK. Very few people left tips for the staff who were working flat out in awkward new circumstances. sad but angry for my poor son and his staff.

Riverwalk Sun 09-Aug-20 17:35:28

We'll probably go to Bill's Ellianne - nowhere fancy!

MerylStreep don't feel guilty, the pub will be able to claim up to £10 per person back, and they profit from the drinks - so win win!

MiniMoon Sun 09-Aug-20 17:37:27

We are meeting friends for lunch on Tuesday, and are going to a venue participating in the scheme. It is a really good restaurant, and I'm looking forward to going.

fevertree Sun 09-Aug-20 17:38:09

Jane10 how awful! angry

I would certainly tip the staff generously in a restaurant offering this discount.

Riverwalk Sun 09-Aug-20 17:40:37

That's dreadful Jane - it's been made quite clear that the offer is for food and soft drinks.

Some people are so stingy and/or out to make mischief.

Jane10 Sun 09-Aug-20 17:42:40

Looks like this nice party has left a nasty TripAdvisor review saying the place should be closed down. Luckily it's very popular and lots of nice reviews have just been posted. Some people!

GrannyGravy13 Sun 09-Aug-20 17:46:12

Jane10 hopefully the good reviews will outweigh the one bad one......some people are only happy when they are complaining.

Ellianne Sun 09-Aug-20 17:48:38

I enjoy a glass of wine at lunchtime but I purposely stuck to soft drinks. If I understand the rules, (useless at Maths), they must be perfectly clear.
I feel sorry for your son Jane10.

quizqueen Sun 09-Aug-20 18:00:45

Jane10, I don't know what 'up to £10 off each customer' is difficult to understand but there are a lot of stupid people around.

I think it's probably best that staff inform customers exactly how much their final bill will be when they place their order, especially if they have ordered a lot, and then they can chose whether to stay and eat or not.

Riverwalk Mon 10-Aug-20 18:57:30

Well my friend and I had lunch at Bill's and all was well - I was so glad to see that they were very busy! In fact we had to wait a couple of minutes for a table inside - boiling hot and humid outside.

I do hope the hospitality industry can bounce back - judging from today, a Monday, I'm optimistic. smile

As an aside, I'm not an enthusiastic shopper and don't like shopping malls but we did have a mooch around M&S and John Lewis - I bought a bra at the latter.

rubysong Mon 10-Aug-20 22:01:57

We had a sandwich today whilst waiting for new tyres to be put on the car. When we came to pay we found Boris had paid half. We'd forgotten about the scheme.

Callistemon Mon 10-Aug-20 22:07:37

Jane10

Looks like this nice party has left a nasty TripAdvisor review saying the place should be closed down. Luckily it's very popular and lots of nice reviews have just been posted. Some people!

I hope your DS puts a response in reply explaining what happened.

Anyone reading the review will probably realise just how thick unreasonable these people are.