lbo-talk-digest V1 #7223

[ChrisD(RJ)]

Main reason is  that dining out it is way too expensive given their
disposable income.  Average paycheck in Poland is about $400 a month, so
spending $10 per person on a dinner in a good restaurant may sound dirt
cheap here, but most locals cannot simply afford it.  By comparison,
food in supermarkets is very cheap comparing to what you pay in the US -
$10 can get you a weekly supply of food for a family of three.  As a
result, restaurant are populated mainly by tourists and local mafia
types.  Butr if you ask an average Joe Schmoe where to eat, he will most
likely direct you to a cheapo fast food joint.
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My experience in early 2000's Moscow completely contradicts this. People in
Moscow restaurants are not tourists or mafia. They are middle-class people
who work for advertising deportments, human resource departments, computer
programmers. Hell, a waitress in Moscow can pull in $2,000 a month.