For not that much more, Americans opting to eat out

The biggest reason for the shift in her lifestyle: grocery store prices. Just the other day she paid $8 for a package of chicken wings, and was shocked that they were so high-priced. "I was raised that everyone came home and ate around the family table, but now we eat out at least three times a week," says Ms. McAllister. "It's easier, and sometimes it's cheaper."

Despite all the money Americans are spending on eating out, restaurants' profit margins are below 5 percent, the NRA says. A dearth of new cooks and waiters has meant the end of many eateries. But cutthroat competition among restaurants has helped them to be able to produce good food at low prices, experts say.

"Restaurants aren't winning on their sophistication of pricing, they're winning on their ability to deliver value," says Mark Bergen, a pricing specialist at the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota. "Simply put, restaurants are more efficient than you are."

Restaurant food costs went up more than 5 percent from the previous year in 2003 and 2004. Yet entrees stayed at much the same prices. Restaurants quietly raised prices for appetizers, alcohol, and desserts. Bundling and hard-selling specials are other tactics that focus on high-margin items. The industry, too, is using automation techniques to keep costs low: Computers keep track of traffic and beep to tell managers when to send staff home.

But restaurants have been tackling their share of problems. Most turn over more than their entire staff each year, a rate that has contributed to a decline in service over the past 10 years, experts say.

Eating out is also considered a major cause of obesity in America, according to a recent report by the Food and Drug Administration. The report helped prompt New York City's health department to announce a plan to ban unhealthy transfats from city kitchens. The plan also makes restaurants with standard menus list calorie counts of items.

Even as restaurants continue to add menu items that are fewer in calories and healthier, bold changes have failed, experts say. Ruby Tuesday restaurant recently reduced portion sizes, which patrons panned.

"Portion size is a huge issue," says Mr. Howard at Café Laura. "Society and research is saying we eat too much, but when you try to come up with [smaller] portions, customers hate it," he says.

The fact that restaurant meals are favored over homemade dinners bothers some. Martin Shehan, from Quail Valley, Calif., is not convinced that eating in is just as expensive as eating at restaurants. The economics of a slab of salmon on the grill disproves that, he says.

"My philosophy is, if it's not in the freezer, you can't eat it," says Mr. Shehan. "That's how I raised my kids, but these days I notice they eat out a lot, too. It's this cellphone generation that's too busy to cook...."

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