I've always ate out frequently. In my 20s/30s/40s I would eat out almost every single day for lunch, usually fast food (obviously not good).

Now retired we eat out somewhat often but obviously it has gotten costly. Often we go to places that have free bread and give good sized portions and then will have leftovers and get 2 meals out of the experience.

I've become somewhat addicted to Chick Fil A's chicken biscuit breakfast. While I like pancakes and waffles, my system has issues with them and I don't do eggs anymore (I ate them a ton as a kid) so my breakfast options are limited and mostly bad health wise.

We try to sign up for all of the apps, clubs, etc. that restaurants have and get freebies, $10 off, etc. which helps with the expense. Obviously if money became tight then eating out would be an easy way to reduce our expenses. Fortunately my tastes are not high end and my drinking days (never high) are now very low and most times we never drink alcohol but stick to water and iced tea.