I think cutting down or out when it comes to food and beverages is one of the easiest ways to save some money, especially if those things are not all that good for the health. Of course, this is subjective. 

Your point about smaller businesses not being able to compete wit the nationals and multi-nationals is the same here, they just don't have the buying power of those bigger groups...and so the smaller businesses go under and consumers loose as there's a lack of valid competition to keep pricing down. And you also mention service...it's declining rapidly here, so much so that we'd often prefer not to go out to eat...but it's not just with restaurants...it's *everywhere.* 

> I think the costs of goods and services maybe drop some in a couple years, but service itself just gets worse.

I'd like to think so too, but I think there's a lot of pain coming before then and hoping it will change could very well be false hope. And yep, service will continue to get worse...but then, with all the automated shops now...no one will be in them...or have jobs...a whole other issue.