I’m about done with the tears of restaurateurs, spilled to reporters as they explain why they’re closing, why restaurant ownership is so difficult, why this, why that — nearly five years since Covid obliterated the diner-to-restaurant relationship.

This goes for special occasion, high-end spots, and pre-Covid favorites — local joints we’d populate weekly.

I’m about done with restaurants serving $11 pints of beer ($8 at my local). And glacial service, as order after order flies out the door on the wings of Grub Hub. And $19 appetizers, $17 mixed drinks, $44 entrees, $8 espressos. And, perhaps most egregiously, $44 bottles of $15 (at retail) Chianti (the latter at my nearby red-sauce joint).

I’m about done with $18 for a large delivery pizza (+$4 for each topping). And $18 chicken-with-bok choy orders at the Chinese take-out.

I get it. They’re making up for years of lockdown. And rising costs of veg, meat & poultry, and commercial rents. And good people are hard to find (and about to get wayyy harder).

Guess what? Covid knee-capped my income — and disposable income — too.

The restaurant — and delivery — models are broken. They raise prices and reduce portions, and eliminate staff. Diners, in turn, forego the experience of having professionals prepare and serve the food.

It’s a race to the bottom. Deal me out.

Covid taught nubies how to cook, and lockdown gave experienced home cooks plenty of time to learn how to cook even better. We rediscovered the fun of having people over for dinner, and simultaneously lost interest in barreling out into the cold, in search of the new hot place (or revisiting neighborhood favorites).

A sad, sodden order of red tablecloth veal parm for $28, that takes 45 minutes to arrive tableside? Hard pass.

The restaurant (and take-out) experience once was a treat, not a chore. Not a punishment. I have access to topnotch butchers and seafood stores (thank you, Arthur Avenue), and I have an H-Mart that has the provisions for me to make my own lo mein and sizzling shrimp, thank you very much.

Jacques Pepin’s videos show how economical, tasty and easy the process can be. See: Jacquespepin.com.

And so, dear restaurateurs, save your tears for someone else. I’ll visit you, once in awhile, but not like the old days. Reservations? I don’t need your stinkin’ RESERVATIONS!