Tangentially related: I like the idea of "volxküche" and other such communal food efforts and even though the food was often bland, I never minded the canteen in university. But I absolutely loath normal restaurants.
Yes sometimes the food is good, but everything around it: the long waiting for food, the isolating table arrangement, the often frustrated waiters etc. is a complete turn-off for me. Even the nicest places both in regards to ambience and food are just ruined by the totally alienating mode of food preparation and delivery (and high price tag in addition).
Yet somehow people claim to love going to restaurants... this has actually put some serious strain on some romantic relationships of mine in the past 😬
And talking to some restaurant owners (I used to work in kitchens as a side job some years ago) always told the same story: The a la carte method is bad for income and forces you to cut all sorts of corners that makes the quality of the food worse, and landlords ask for insane rents at the popular places, which really drives up prices.