Low class and hungry

Both my folks come from very poor backgrounds, so they didn't eat a whole lot as youngsters. To compound the problem, they had many siblings to share food with (dad - 7, mom -6). As Derek once pointed out to me: if faced with a decision to eat at restaurant X with mainly older Chinese patrons versus restaurant Y with 20-30 year old patrons, always go with the former. The elder Chinese contingent will value food quality and quantity while the younger contingent will overrate trends and alleged popularity.

Seeing how my folks were in their 40's during my formative years, the value of cheap and plentiful food was ingrained in me from early on. Add in my ravenous appetite, those values have even more meaning. So when I waste 20 bucks at Hapa Izakaya on average tasting food that failed to satisfy me, volume-wise, as much as the small bowl of cereal I ate prior to visiting said restaurant... I become upset.

So faced with the decision to eating at yuppy pretentious restaurant versus the very underrated Costco Food Court:

1/4 lb hot dog and pop (unlimited refills) for 1.50?
18" pizza for 9.99?
Decent sized poutine for $3 (in Canada)?
All at a reasonable quality?

I will take the latter every single time. Especially in this economy