6 Ways to Save Money While Eating Out

I’m a big foodie and LOVE eating out, but it quickly adds up, so I’m always looking for ways to save money while still supporting local restaurants.

This week I’m back in SoCal, packing up all my belongings into a storage unit and indulging in all the amazing food LA has to offer.  I plan on getting takeout every day, which is not normal for me at all, but I only have 10 days in LA for probably the rest of the year, so I’m going big! I’ll definitely be writing a blog post about all the local restaurants I tried, so stay tuned for that!

Even if you mostly cook at home, here are 6 ways you can save money while eating out! Recommended: The Best 15 Fast-Casual Restaurants in LA

1. Order for takeout, not delivery (if you’re comfortable in COVID-19)
Delivery usually increases your cost by $3-$10 if you tip your delivery person.  Going to the restaurant and picking up your food will definitely end up saving you a lot of money in the long run.

2. Call in your order  
This applies to local restaurants, not chain restaurants like Chipotle that have their own app. I like ordering my takeout online because you get an order confirmation, but I’ve started to call in my order instead for a few reasons.  If you order online, sometimes you have to pay a service charge.  That’s a no from me!!  Also, the platform you’re ordering on (Grubhub, Postmates, Uber Eats, Yelp, etc) takes a cut of the sale, so the restaurant won’t get 100% of the money from your order. If you call in, you cut out the online middleman.  Lastly, I feel like I get a more accurate timeframe for when my order will be ready when I talk to a person who works at the restaurant.

3. Don’t pay for parking when picking up 
You’re already paying for your food, so there’s no reason you should be paying for parking to pick up your meal. In a big city like Los Angeles, there are so many parking rules and permits, so I use spotangels.com and the SpotAngels app to look up the parking situation beforehand. It’s free in the app store, and I used it before the pandemic for dining in as well! It’s especially helpful in places like West Hollywood, Mid-City, and Culver City where there aren’t many parking garages and the neighborhood signs are confusing AF.  Honestly if there isn’t free street parking within a few blocks, I don’t go to that restaurant, especially if I don’t get to have a dine-in experience. There are so many other restaurants to choose from for takeout!!

4. Order lunch instead of dinner
This doesn’t apply at every restaurant, but if they have a lunch menu that’s different from their dinner menu, then order your food for lunch, pick it up, and save it for dinner.  Even though the portion sizes won’t be drastically different, the dinner menu is always more expensive than lunch.  As a society, we have placed a lot of emphasis on having a big dinner, that dinner is “the main” meal of the day, even though a lot of health articles say breakfast is the most important meal of the day.  Save your hard-earned cash and order the lunch items instead!

5. Save half for later
Takeout portions can be pretty large, so if you can, save half for later and make two meals out of it. I find this to be especially true for pasta and salads.  Even if you only have a little bit left, you can always combine leftovers with other leftovers to make another meal!

6. Check the daily specials
If the restaurant has daily specials, order those! They’re often cheaper and probably pretty tasty if they put it on the specials menu.

Some extra tips I feel like y’all know already:

Skip the drinks
I don’t know if restaurants even do takeout alcohol, nor do I drink, but I’m like 99% sure it’s cheaper to make a drink at home.

Share with a friend
Order the combo meal or the family meal and share the cost with a friend or family member!

Hope this helps! Happy eating out:)

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