随着加州生活成本居高不下，越来越多的食客选择折扣餐而非全价外出就餐，快乐时光正成为一些加州食客的主要活动。
Happy hour is becoming the main event for some California diners as the state's high cost of living pushes more customers to seek out discounted meals instead of paying full price for a night out.
Grand Restaurant Group 的厨师 Alex Carballo 对 Fox News Digital 表示，快乐时光曾占他业务的估计 5% 到 8%。如今，这一比例已升至近 30%，尽管顾客在减少外出就餐。
Chef Alex Carballo of Grand Restaurant Group told Fox News Digital that happy hour once accounted for an estimated 5% to 8% of his business. Now, that figure has climbed to nearly 30%, even as customers cut back on dining out.
“我的快乐时光增长很多，所以我认为人们正在寻找优惠和选择，”Carballo 说。
"My happy hour has increased a lot, so I think people are looking for deals and looking for options," Carballo said.
这一转变反映了加州范围内更广泛的负担能力压力，居民告诉 Fox News Digital，住房、杂货和汽油成本上升正迫使他们重新考虑日常开支。
The shift reflects a broader affordability squeeze across California where residents told Fox News Digital that rising costs for housing, groceries and gasoline are forcing them to rethink everyday spending.
根据美国经济分析局 2024 年的数据，加州在全国整体价格水平最高，价格大约高于全国平均水平 11%。但负担能力压力远不止加州，全美美国人正面临住房、杂货和其他日常必需品成本上升的问题。
California has the highest overall price levels in the nation, according to 2024 data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, with prices running roughly 11% above the national average.
加州汽油税上涨导致油价进一步上扬，纽森遭到抨击 Carballo 表示，顾客光顾他餐厅的频率降低，有些人减少了外出就餐的次数。
But affordability pressures extend far beyond the Golden State, as Americans nationwide grapple with elevated costs for housing, groceries and other everyday necessities.
“他们以前一周来四五次，现在只来三次。而以前一周来三次的人，现在只来一次，”他说。
Carballo said customers are visiting his restaurants less frequently, with some scaling back how often they eat out.
曾经只是晚餐前喝酒或吃开胃菜的停留点，如今正越来越成为晚餐本身，Carballo 说。“现在就是他们去的地方，他们在那儿度过时光，”他说。
"They're going out three times a week, where they were coming out to see me four or five [times]. And the people that used to see three times a week, they're only coming out once," he said.
顾客仍能以更低的价格享受相同的食物、服务和氛围，Carballo 说，这使得快乐时光优惠特别有吸引力。但这些折扣也给已经面临成本上升压力的餐厅经营者带来了挑战。
What was once a stop for drinks or appetizers before dinner is increasingly becoming the dinner itself, Carballo said. "Now it's like, that's where they're going and they're hitting those scenes," he said.
“我仍然为食物支付相同的金额。我仍然在支付员工工资。我的租金没有变化。一切都没有变化。我所做的只是试图通过打折产品来吸引人们来这里，”卡巴洛说。
Customers can still enjoy the same food, service and atmosphere at lower prices, Carballo said, making happy-hour deals particularly appealing. But those discounts also create challenges for restaurant operators who are already grappling with rising expenses.
美国人表示小费做法“已经变得荒谬”，因为数字提示推动了更高的小费。福克斯新闻数字版还采访了南加州的居民，他们描述了超出餐厅范围的财务权衡。
"I'm still paying the same amount for food. I'm still paying the employees. My rent didn't change. Nothing changed. Only thing I'm doing is trying to discount my product to gain people to come here," Carballo said.
圣莫尼卡居民乔纳斯正与未婚妻策划婚礼，他说随着日常开支不断增加，他和未婚妻正在重新评估他们的预算。
Fox News Digital also spoke with residents in Southern California who described making financial trade-offs that extend well beyond restaurants.
“当然汽油很贵，租金很高，而且杂货价格也相当高，”乔纳斯说。
他估计自己每周在杂货上的花费大约为100美元，并表示上涨的成本正在影响他们关于外出就餐和交通的决定。
Jonas, a Santa Monica resident who is planning a wedding with his fiancée, said he and his fiancée are reevaluating their budget as everyday expenses continue to add up. "Certainly gas is expensive, rent is high, and then grocery prices are pretty high as well," Jonas said.
这对夫妇“外出就餐的次数有所减少”，乔纳斯说，并补充说他也开始步行上班，以“同样节省汽油费用”。
He estimated that he spends approximately $100 a week on groceries and said rising costs are influencing their decisions about dining out and transportation.
“我认为人们只是看到价格到处在上涨，感觉他们得到的可能比四年前少了，”他说。”我认为每个人都真的有这种感觉。”
The couple is "eating out a little bit less," Jonas said, adding that he has also started walking to work to "save money on gas as well." "I think that people are just seeing prices go up everywhere, and feeling like they're getting less than what they had four years ago maybe," he said. "I think everybody's really feeling that."
备受喜爱的餐饮连锁店从850家门店减少到87家，但专家认为“仍然有很大的生机”。对一些加利福尼亚人来说，财务压力已经超过了减少餐厅消费的范围。
For some Californians, the financial strain has gone beyond cutting back on restaurants.
格伦多拉的加州原住民贾斯汀七年前搬到拉斯维加斯，他告诉福克斯新闻数字版，该州的高生活成本是他离开的原因之一。“负担能力已经疯狂了，”贾斯汀在洛杉矶观看公羊队比赛时说。
Justin, a California native from Glendora who moved to Las Vegas seven years ago, told Fox News Digital that the state's high cost of living was one of the reasons he left. "Affordability is crazy," Justin said while visiting Los Angeles for a Rams game.
“我七年前离开的时候，我觉得当时的汽油和你知道的租金就已经很高了，”他说。“现在我在这里已经七年了，这就是……我现在在拉斯维加斯的原因之一。这根本就负担不起。”贾斯汀说，他许多仍留在加州的朋友仍在为住房成本而挣扎。
"I left seven years ago and I thought gas and you know rent was high then," he said. "Here I am seven years later and it's ... one of the reasons why I'm in Vegas now. It's just unaffordable." Justin said many of his friends who remain in California are still struggling with housing costs.
“我90%的朋友都和室友同住。在这里独自生活真的很难，”他说。
"90% of my friends are living with a roommate. It is really hard to live alone here," he said.
住房仍然是金州另一个主要的负担能力挑战。根据加州房地产经纪人协会的数据，2026年第二季度，加州只有19%的家庭能够负担得起该州中位数价格为916,750美元的住房。
Housing remains another major affordability challenge in the Golden State. Just 19% of California households could afford the state's median-priced home of $916,750 in the second quarter of 2026, according to the California Association of Realtors.
在威尼斯，居民塔蒂亚娜描述了从汽油到杂货和社区餐馆的各项开支都在上涨。
In Venice, resident Tatiana described rising expenses across everything from gasoline to groceries and neighborhood restaurants.
“一切都在涨价，汽油更贵了，食物也更贵了，”她告诉福克斯新闻数字平台。“Abbot Kinney街上几乎没有剩下什么价格亲民的餐馆了。即使我们当地的合作社价格也上涨了至少15%。一切都在变贵。” “在加州，我们得不到任何喘息的机会，”她说。
"Everything is more expensive, gas is more expensive, food," she told Fox News Digital. "There's really very few affordable restaurants left on Abbot Kinney. Even our local co-op prices have gone up at least 15%. Everything costs more." "We're not getting any breaks in California," she said.