Have an impact on the upcoming changes coming to The Sims 4 - Dine Out included!
The Sims Team is commited to their Quality of Life Updates for 2026 with a new Feedback Discussion thread for The Sims 4. This time dedicated to Food, Dining and Drinking autonomy within the game. Interestingly enough the EA Community Manager also mentioned Dine Out Game Pack, asking the big "what would make it better?" question.
Take a look at what The Sims Team shared in their latest message on the official Discord channel and Reddit:

Sul Sul! I’m Cade from The Sims Community team.
We’ve been listening to your feedback on infants and autonomy (as you’ll see in the Laundry List on Tuesday), and we’re back for more. This time, we’re focusing on food, drinking, and dining as part of our Quality of Life work.
We want to know how this stuff actually feels in your game - what’s working, what’s frustrating, and what just feels off.
Especially curious around:
- Sims eating (together or not)
- Sims drinking (we know about “Always Thirsty” and that fix is coming in mid-May)
- Dine Out, what would make it better?
- Biggest dining issue you’ve noticed
- Dining overall
Please do try and keep feedback constructive, any specifics I can take back to the team are helpful. Please share whatever comes to mind, we’re reading everything and using it to shape what we tackle next.
You can choose to submit your feedback in the official Sims Discord channel through the #feedback-forum > Food, Dining and Drink Feedback. Or if you already prefer sharing your opinions through Reddit you can do so on this thread!

It's cool seeing The Sims Team show interest for The Sims 4 Dine Out Game Pack, but don't hold your expectations for major Pack Refresh level of updates. These are primarily going to be autonomy and interaction priority updates to make your gameplay experience more seamless.
First Quality of Life improvements are coming to The Sims 4 with the upcoming May 2026 Update, with the Laundry List already being revealed next week.
What do you plan to share with The Sims Team on the topic of Food, Dining and Drinking in The Sims 4? Let us know what you shared in the comments down below!
15 Comments
Lol they are actually acknowledging the extremely broken dine out after 10,000 years?
I still have so many bugs with this pack, either the ordered dinner is never served, or you have to wait 2 hours before being served, and I’m not even talking about the server who just stands there watching us eat, this pack has never worked properly, they’re only waking up now.
Reply to Noah
The whole game has never worked properly…I agree with you
I have to admit it was a brave decision to ask for feedback on eating and Dine Out at the same time XD
Never understood why they keep asking for feedback. They already have the forums with posts more than a year old about Dine Out. And, why don’t they just play the freaking game? It’s immediately obvious how in restaurants, Sims get distracted by decorations, aquariums, and other Sims to the point that they won’t sit down to eat. Also, when a table is given, they will sit down to immediately get up to sit in another chair, every single time.
Just play the game and stop wasting our time. This goes also to the weddings and so many other interactions in the game.
Reply to Bugfixes
I feel like they pretty much left the forums for dead after they moved. They never ask for opinions on the forums anymore, you almost never see them posting or commenting on opinion threads. The only stuff we get is a couple of them responding to bug reports.
Add in milkshakes and frosty and ice cream
Adding a thirst need is honestly something that should’ve been in the game a long time ago. Sims have hunger, but somehow don’t need water? That makes no sense for a life simulation.
Introducing a Thirst Need would significantly improve realism and deepen everyday gameplay. While Sims already have a hunger system, the absence of a thirst mechanic makes daily routines feel incomplete. Adding thirst would give purpose to actions like “grab water,” turning them into meaningful survival behaviors rather than filler interactions.
This system could be expanded with new objects and gameplay features, such as water coolers, refillable bottles, fountains, and even beverage variety (tap water, juice, soda, etc.). Hydration levels could influence mood, energy, and performance. For example, mildly dehydrated Sims might become fatigued or unfocused, while severe dehydration could lead to fainting. If neglected for too long, this could introduce a new and immersive consequence: death by dehydration (parched). This adds stakes and encourages players to manage Sims more thoughtfully.
To further enhance realism and challenge, water should not be completely free. Even if basic tap water remains low-cost, introducing utility expenses or small charges for bottled or filtered water would make the economy feel more balanced. Currently, earning and maintaining money in the game is too easy, which reduces long-term engagement. Adding more consistent, unavoidable expenses—like water usage—would make financial management more meaningful and rewarding.
For Dine Out, it’s not even about bugs at this point—the system just feels slow and underdeveloped. Waiting forever for food completely ruins the experience. That should’ve been fixed ages ago.
Also, why do Sims get full so fast at restaurants? You can barely order anything before they’re done. Let us order multiple items like a normal meal—appetizers, mains, desserts, drinks. That’s basic. Add more ways to order too, like cashiers or menus instead of everything feeling the same.
Restaurants themselves need way more variety. Where are the fast food spots? Cheap diners? Proper high-end restaurants? Everything feels kind of the same when it shouldn’t. And add small details like sauces or sides—stuff that makes dining feel like an actual experience instead of a rushed interaction.
And one of the most annoying things: if my Sim gets invited out, WHY am I the one paying? That makes zero sense. If someone invites you, they should pay. It’s such a small detail but it completely breaks immersion every single time.
Going back to drinks—older Sims games had things like getting drunk, and somehow that’s just gone now. Why? This is supposed to be a life sim, but it feels way too sanitized.
Let Sims get drunk again. Let it affect how they act. Give them different socials, bad decisions, mood changes—just like before. That kind of unpredictability is what made the game fun. Now everything feels overly safe and kind of flat.
At this point, it just feels like the game is holding back when it really shouldn’t. These are basic features that would make gameplay deeper, more realistic, and actually challenging instead of everything feeling easy and toned down.
Reply to Fancysimmer
I quite like the thirst need idea. It could also give the sims a new idle interaction. Taking a sip from their water bottle in their inventory and then putting it away. It would slightly fill the need. If you don’t fill thst waters they won’t drink unless you make them get a glass from the sink. I also think of hot days, your thirst should go down quicker.
Personally, I don’t experience all that much of bugs with Dine Out.
The only things that bother me are because of how it’s designed and not so much bugs.
– it takes too long for the order to arrive.
– sims won’t stay seated and often get up and walk around.
Those two are the most annoying in my gameplay.
Just make Carl’s mod part of Dine Out and that should fix a lot of problems!
nevermind dining out Bring back supermarkets, in life and hobbies and prams for toddlers, and babies.
This is obviously for the upcoming game, no way they’re fixing Dine Out this late in the life cycle.
Food and drinks tab for Likes/Dislikes (along with more likes/dislikes slots).
There needs to be Get Together, Business & Hobbies and Adventure Awaits compatibility with Dine Out.
•Employee Sims could be able to tend the chef stations if Tend Counter is used.
•Sims should be able to place an order from the chef station themselves autonomously if the station is tended when Eat is used as an activity. Currently, staff can be hired but Sims won’t eat.
•Sims should also be able to order select food based on the Eat Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner/Quick Meal option.
Related but the other existing eatery options, like Food stalls or University & High School Cafeterias, should be considered for Tending & Ordering from as well. If you make a hotel, there’s no way for Sims to properly eat food unless a chef haphazardly leave for somewhere randomly.
Lastly, the “Serve Meal”activity should also include stocking a banquet table based on the time of day. Custom venues are fill ins for hotels/resorts/retreats so it makes sense.
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