After a particularly grueling day at the office, Ed Ebert stood in his kitchen making meatballs. He started with ground turkey, adding fresh herbs and even making his own breadcrumbs. The meal won raves from his family, as well as his father-in-law who was in town visiting.

"I don't know if everyone would have spent an hour of their evening making dinner," says Ebert.

Ebert is no ordinary kitchen cook. As executive chef at HoEoB's Central Market grocery store on North Lamar, and a well-known chef in his own right, Ebert certainly knows how to put a fabulous meal together.

But, just as with the rest of us, there are plenty of nights he doesn't want to cook. "Would I rather be chasing my three-year-old around the back yard?" he asks. "You bet."

Like never before, the question of "What's for dinner?" is being answered with takeout food. According to the National Restaurant Association, fifty-eight percent of restaurant sales are from takeout or delivery services. This year, the restaurant association says, Americans will spend more than $440 billion dollars on food outside the home.

Prepared food used to mean a can of soup or a frozen dinner. No longer. From smoked salmon to moussaka and sushi, gourmet food to go is more popular than ever.

"People have less time, but still want high quality food," says Scott Simons, marketing manager for Whole Foods Market Inc.'s southwest region.

You might think single people or working moms are driving this trend, but that's only part of the story. Just follow the carts weaving through the aisles of Whole Foods Market. You'll run into Deena Graham, a stay-at-home mom with two young children, who has just picked up one of the store's popular rotisserie chickens.

"It's a shortcut," says Graham. "One night, we can have this. Then I can take the left-over meat and make soup."

The shortcut to dinner offered by prepared food is a choice more and more Americans are making. "Our clientele is a mix of working moms, stay-at-home moms and couples cooking for two," says Lee Morrison, owner of Cooper's Meat Market, where pre-cooked items make up the majority of sales. "A lot of people will pick up cooked chicken breasts or a pan of pre-made lasagna, just to make it easier to get dinner on the table."

The market for takeout foods is clearly growing, extending well beyond fast-food outlets. A survey by the National Restaurant Association found a thirty-four percent increase in takeout orders among traditional "sit-down" restaurants. Six out of ten of those clients said they were interested in "high quality" takeout food.

"Our palates have evolved, but our cooking skills have not" says Chase Jones, chef and owner of Portabla. "People are infatuated with gourmet cooking and living the European lifestyle, of growing your own vegetables and cooking them. But when it comes down to making it, they're intimidated by the process, or just don't have time. They'd rather go search for a nice bottle of wine and enjoy life."

If you lack the time, energy or skills to cook every night of the week, then look no further than these Austin establishments. They are building a business around our desire to eat well, without the messy clean up.

Central Market

• 4001 N. Lamar Blvd. 512-206-1000
• 4477 S. Lamar Blvd. 512-899-4300

I'm going to let you in on a secret. Chef Ed Ebert didn't cook his family's entire Thanksgiving dinner last year. He bought the stuffing, vegetables and even the gravy from Central Market. "I watched them make it," Ebert says. "The chefs make it to such exact specifications, why wouldn't I (want to serve it)?"

This Thanksgiving, Central Market will offer hundreds of cooked birds and even more holiday goodies in their newly-opened "food hall" on North Lamar, says Ebert. The renovated area will have a myriad of pre-cooked, prepared or "shortcut" foods. Ebert says the Austin store will also expand its meat and seafood sections to showcase more products.

"People have expanded palates and want a more complex food experience," he says. "A couple of steaks just doesn't cut it anymore."

That's why Central Market offers entrées like Tofu Vera Cruz with brown rice and roasted dill carrots, already packaged for two. Grilled salmon, edamame (green soy beans in their pods) salad and orzo (pasta) are also popular choices. Ebert says customers often will pick up a pre-cooked piece of fish, and add their own sides. Or reverse the process, cooking a fresh piece of meat, and add pre-cooked sides.

"We play a big part in the quality of life for our customers," says Ebert. "We give them time back, time they can be spending with their families."

The market's Café on the Run section, where you can find pre-cooked food already individually packaged, has expanded dramatically. Ebert realized customers would buy more prepared food, if they didn't have to stand in line at the store's Chef's case, where servers package the food for customers. Now, patrons can grab a serving of herbed green beans and confetti rice along with fresh pizzas and lemon rosemary chicken breasts.

"It's the exact same salmon (offered at the Chef's case) and it took ten seconds to get," says Ebert. For that reason, the combined sales of the store's pre-cooked food sections have topped sales in the nearby Central Market Café.

Ebert says he looks at his own two children and their needs when considering what to do for dinner. "Am I a worse parent because I bought my dinner here instead of making it from scratch? I don't think so."

Cipollina

• 1213 West Lynn St.
• 512-477-5211

It's easy to see why Cipollina does a great lunch business. Close to downtown, the café offers crisp salads, rustic Italian sandwiches and a unique lamb, feta and mint pizza.

But the café is even busier in the evenings, when nearly half to three-quarters of its business is takeout. Residents of this West Austin neighborhood flock here for veal scaloppini, roasted chicken, grilled salmon and tilapia (fish). The flavors are pure Italian, with an emphasis on lemon, garlic, parsley and olive oil.

"We have a large and loyal clientele who like to try new things. So we are trying to constantly keep current," says chef Chris Chism.

"People are working longer hours and they have more going on with their kids. Or, they think, to make fresh food of high quality, they need a whole day off to do that," says Chism.

Since it opened five years ago, the restaurant has evolved. It has done away with the large retail food section, making more room for diners who want to sit down and eat. "We wanted to be able to accommodate those customers," says Chism. The restaurant also offers live music on select evenings.

The chefs at Cipollina still do things the old-fashion way, rolling their own lasagna noodles and mixing the pizza dough from scratch. As the holidays approach, the café will be offering roasted turkeys to their customers, along with chestnut stuffing, sweet potatoes and other traditional sides.

Cooper's Meat Market

• 1601 W. 38th St., Suite 12, 512-467-6700

Lee Morrison, owner of Cooper's Meat Market, can fill just about any food desire. Need a whole pig? No problem. Rattlesnake? She can get it. A casserole for unexpected guests? She has that, too.

When Morrison's brother opened the first Cooper's Meat Market in San Antonio, she was there, working alongside him.

"We had baked cookies at Christmas to offer to customers while they waited," she recalls. "But soon, our customers were ordering cookies by the dozen." Very quickly, the San Antonio location grew from a raw meat market to a full-service location, with catering services.

In Austin, Morrison has blended the two concepts, offering high-quality raw meats at competitive prices as well as pre-cooked entrées like roasted pork tenderloin and homemade casseroles like chicken spaghetti. Cooper's Meat Market also has sides like green beans and twice-baked potatoes.

In business for less than three years, Morrison's catering menu has gotten her noticed at Austin parties. One of her more popular items are the Atkins-approved "Lizzies," a bite-size piece of meat, paired with jalapeno and mozzarella cheese, wrapped in bacon and roasted in the oven.

Customers' raves about the appetizers have translated into sales for her business. "We have customers who've had our fruited brie at a party and they come in because they're grilling out with friends, or they want to pick up a casserole for a friend who had a baby," says Morrison.

This month, Cooper's Meat Market will begin taking orders for its popular holiday offerings, such as fried turkeys and turduckens, which are deboned turkeys stuffed with a boneless chicken, medallions of duck breast and stuffing.

"I'm just like my customers," says Morrison, who has a young daughter. "I don't think about dinner until I leave here at six o'clock. I'm looking for shortcuts in the kitchen, too."

Pizza Nizza

• 2712 Bee Caves Road #107,
• 512-474-7070

Riding this trend toward takeout food is Pizza Nizza. The business traded its dining room on Barton Springs Road for a strictly delivery business on Bee Caves last month.

"The dining room no longer pays for itself," says Mark Skiles, who owns the restaurant along with wife Sylvie Skiles. "By the time you pay for insurance, parking, dishes and labor, you've lost your profit." The dine-in portion of the business had slipped to just twenty-five percent of Skiles' business, before he decided to move.

"It's a sign of the times, really," says Skiles. "You don't hear about anyone going out for pizza anymore. It's almost all moved to takeout."

Pizza Nizza is offering free delivery from the new location. The old favorites are still on the menu, like the ever-popular veggie deluxe pizza with artichoke hearts, fresh spinach, red onions, black olives, roasted red pepper and sun-dried tomatoes. Look for new additions too, like the chicken parmesan and no-crust pizza for low-carb dieters.

"Most pizza delivery places only offer pizza, breadsticks and wings, but we have salads, pasta and specialty pizzas," says Skiles.

If you're worried the pizza won't be the same if it comes out of a box, Skiles says he has that problem solved. "I know how to make a pizza that will travel," he says. "That is, it won't get soggy. It will still be crusty even if it's been in the box for fifteen minutes."

There's only one way to find out.

Portabla

• 1200 W. Sixth St. 512-481-TOGO (8646)

If you love creative food, but don't have the time to experiment in the kitchen, this West Austin bistro is for you. Every day of the week, Portabla's chef, Chase Jones, prepares a mouth-watering take-home entrée for his customers. Think of it as a meal-planning service for the time-challenged.

With offerings like roast leg of lamb with minted couscous (a small pearl-like pasta from Morocco) and sausage and polenta lasagna, there's no room for boredom. Prices range from $5.99 to $11.99.

"We know people are busy, but they still want to eat well," says Jones, who took over ownership of the restaurant in May. "That's why we publish our menu two weeks in advance, so people can plan ahead."

Jones says what sets his establishment apart is its emphasis on preparing organic produce and all-natural meats. "We use extra virgin olive oil and fresh vegetables. Our soups are thickened with potatoes and rice, so we try to stay away from the heavy cream and butter," he says.

However, the bistro still offers some traditional favorites like steak frite and meatloaf sandwiches. The restaurant also has a case with vegetables, entrées and salads for the take-home crowd. Jones also prepares small casseroles such as moussaka for two that sell for $7.99. Portabla also offers catering services that can be as informal as the customer requires.

"I had a customer come in and ask for a meatloaf dinner for ten people," says Jones. "We took it right out of the case, and dressed it up on his platters with different sides. People just don't have the time to cook. Or, they want to spend time with their guests, not cooking and cleaning up."

It all makes for a growing business for Jones, whose sales have increased twenty percent since he took control of the restaurant. "I'm filling a niche of giving people what they want, but don't have the time to do themselves," says Jones.

As the holidays approach, Jones expects to offer gourmet dinners to his customers and even gift baskets with touches such as handmade jellies and jams.

Whole Foods Market

• 601 N. Lamar Blvd. 512-476-1206
• 9607 Research Blvd. 512-345-5003

It's noon at Whole Foods grocery store on North Lamar, and the prepared foods department is jammed with two dozen people, looking for something healthy for lunch. Several hover around the large salad bar, juggling cell phones as they pile the takeout containers with selections like spinach salad and hummus.

A foot away, Jennifer Brown stalks the refrigerated case, trying to decide what to order. The grilled chicken looks appealing, but the store also has a selection of quinoa (though considered a "supergrain" this is the seed of a plant distantly related to spinach) and couscous salads, as well.

Brown says she's a bit of a regular. "It's really hard to cook for one," she says. "This is quick and easy and there's always a healthy selection of food, when you don't have a lot of time."

What started as the deli section of the store, with cold cuts and pre-made salads has blossomed into the most popular departments at Whole Foods Markets across the nation. "The original stores didn't even have a prepared food section," says Scott Simons, marketing manager with Whole Foods.

Sprinkled around the store, are more prepared foods in just about every department. The seafood department offers scallop kabobs, ready for the grill, as well as freshly boiled shrimp already peeled and deveined. In the bakery, pumpkin empanadas are still warm in their packages. There's even an island of olives, where customers can create their own antipasto appetizers. Don't forget the yummy seeded flatbread.

When the new flagship, eighty-thousand-square-foot store opens next spring at Fifth and Lamar Streets, Simons promises a store unlike any other. "It's mind-blowing. It will be the most amazing grocery store on the planet," he says. Simons hints that the new store will have a chef demonstration area, a dining area inside the store, as well as expanded versions of their popular prepared foods section.

"We're also launching a line of oven-ready frozen foods with fabulous, reasonably priced entrées and side dishes," says Simons.

As always, Whole Foods catering business will offer customers party items during the holidays as well as fully-cooked complete dinners.

Wok In Wok Out

• 5501 Balcones Drive 512-419-1686

It seems like there's a Chinese restaurant on every corner these days, and yet, when was the last time you had really good Chinese food? The answer is a trip to Wok In Wok Out.

First of all, the menu is substantial, with Thai-style noodles and Asian lettuce wraps along with favorites like sesame chicken and kung pao shrimp. The portions are huge, with generous portions of soup with every entrée, along with both white and brown rice. Each meal also comes with a fried spring roll, but not just any spring roll. These are made fresh at the restaurant and you can taste the difference. The food arrives hot, really steaming, so it doesn't get cold on the car-ride home.

Owner Larry Liu says a little more than half of his business is takeout. "We have a lot of regular customers," says Liu, who opened his business just over a year ago. "They come in. Then they come back with their friends."

Austin Anderson is one of those regular customers. He says he picks up dinner for his family about three times a month. "I'll pick up dinner on the way home, when my wife is too tired," says Anderson.

Wok In Wok Out also offers a delivery service, although Liu admits its rarely faster than when customers come in to pick up their own order. "Delivery is difficult to predict; we've had some customers wait an hour for a delivery. It's much better if you come in and pick it up to go."

Time-honored traditions

When I was a child, my grandmother used to sit out on the porch in the evenings and shell peas. I remember catching fireflies in the summer twilight as she worked her thumbnail through each pod, releasing the tiny, green field peas. She would simmer them all day and season with butter, salt and pepper before putting them on the Sunday dinner table.

My mother canned the vegetables she grew in our garden. Crisp dill pickles, pickled okra, even her special "brand" of picante sauce became family favorites. Holidays were not complete without one of her famous pecan pies, with handmade crust.

I don't shell my own peas, nor do I can my own vegetables. I can't remember the last time my pie crust didn't come from a box.

"I cook less than my mother, and she cooked less than my grandmother," says Whole Food's Scott Simons. "I wonder how much will my kids cook?"

What memories will our kids have, if their meals come out of a box? That's a good question, but I can't stop to ponder it right now. It's six o'clock and I don't know what I'm going to do for dinner.

Michelle Moon Reinhardt still occasionally cooks field peas for her two kids, the same way her grandmother did, only she buys them already shelled at the farmer's market. E-mail her at mreinhardt@goodlifemag.com.