# Are expensive restaurants really much better than cheaper ones
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-expensive-restaurants-really-much-better-than-cheaper-ones/615220
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [March 9, 2012, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-expensive-restaurants-really-much-better-than-cheaper-ones/615220 "2012-03-09T02:10:12Z")
**Posts on this page:** 16
**Page:** 5
### Author:  [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)
#### Post date: [March 13, 2012, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-expensive-restaurants-really-much-better-than-cheaper-ones/615220/81 "2012-03-13T12:34:08Z")
> [@Nava](#):
>
> Ah. See, I think I have a disadvantage of sorts appreciating that kind of stuff in that I live in a place where if you want to eat prime seafood until it comes out of your ears, you vacation in Galicia during a month with an R in its name. From the ship to the pot to the table.
The but odds of my ever BEING there are approaching Zero. The restaurant collects those things from the far flung corners of the earth and present them to you on one table. You’re paying for the experience of the people up the chain knowing the best food, and then getting it to you while it is still the best food.
And it’s obviously not something that happens often.
There’s a restaurant in Downtown Denver that sells the _BEST_ carnitas. Cheap, and always packed. Another, before it closed, was a posh, upscale, dark wood and terazzo tile affair that specialized in _Cajun_
The food really was good…but the fact they’re selling this stuff at a premium, when it’s the food the lower classes in Louisiana developed _because it was cheap_ is a little ironic.
One of the things that’s been abstracted out has been seafood. Colorado is a landlocked state. They receive a flight a day from the coasts…the seafood you eat at Joe’s Crab Shack came in on the same flight as McCormick and Schmicks. And eating fresh (really really fresh) oysters is entirely possible.
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### Author:  [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)
#### Post date: [March 13, 2012, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-expensive-restaurants-really-much-better-than-cheaper-ones/615220/82 "2012-03-13T13:36:44Z")
I don’t think we should count as part of the expense things like drinks, appetizers, and the extra cost of being from the sea. Just the average entree price.
That said I find it’s hit or miss. The food is certainly almost always “fancier” for whatever that’s worth. The food is usually cooked better, but not always proportionally better compared to the price difference.
But it can be worse in some ways. There is very often a smaller selection, and smaller portions.
And better service is not a guarantee. Sometimes fancy waiters take big tips for granted, and sometimes chain waiters really work for their tips because they depend on them.
Researching reviews is even more crucial because there’s potentially more to lose.
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### Author:  [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)
#### Post date: [March 13, 2012, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-expensive-restaurants-really-much-better-than-cheaper-ones/615220/83 "2012-03-13T14:51:41Z")
The point of a ‘fancy’ restaurant is quality not quantity. I don’t remember ever seeing huge portions at one of these restaurants…yet I don’t ever remember leaving hungry, either.
And drinks and appetizers are key in a ‘flight’ style dinner where different wines are paired with different foods, so that’s not a valid simplifying assumption, either.
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### Author:  [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)
#### Post date: [March 13, 2012, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-expensive-restaurants-really-much-better-than-cheaper-ones/615220/84 "2012-03-13T14:54:44Z")
> [@Unintentionally\_Blank](#):
>
> And drinks and appetizers are key in a ‘flight’ style dinner where different wines are paired with different foods, so that’s not a valid simplifying assumption, either.
It seems like that sort of thing was specifically excluded in the OP.
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### Author:  [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)
#### Post date: [March 13, 2012, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-expensive-restaurants-really-much-better-than-cheaper-ones/615220/85 "2012-03-13T15:02:29Z")
> [@Unintentionally\_Blank](#):
>
> I don’t remember ever seeing huge portions at one of these restaurants…yet I don’t ever remember leaving hungry, either.
I’ve eaten at an expensive teppan-yaki place before. It was the late 80’s and entrees were in the low $20. So in today’s money that would be almost but not quite $50, not including drinks. And the portions were huge. (And the sauces were tastier than other places but that might just be nostalgia talking.)
They were slightly fancier than the average teppan-yaki place in that they had the better chefs. The other ones I go to have a standard routine that all the chefs do which gets predictable after awhile, whereas the expensive place imported some creative chefs who each did their own thing.
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### Author:  [@Brainiac4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brainiac4)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2012, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-expensive-restaurants-really-much-better-than-cheaper-ones/615220/86 "2012-03-16T02:10:36Z")
> [@Klostertal](#):
>
> Has anyone eaten at foodie orgasm places like El Bulli or the French Laundry? Was it worth it? It sounds amazing when someone like Tony Bourdain describes eating at places like those, but of course he’s famous and (presumably) doesn’t get treated like an average schlub.
Yep. In addition to the others who have posted here, I ate at the French Laundry (on Facebook’s dime, even) back in 2009. It was very, very good food, but not the best meal I have ever eaten.
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### Author:  [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2012, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-expensive-restaurants-really-much-better-than-cheaper-ones/615220/87 "2012-03-19T10:33:46Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#):
>
> We tried that at one of our parties as a side by side comparison. People who knew wine picked the expensive wine pretty consistently. People who normally drank wine that had kangaroos on the bottle couldn’t.
Expensive doesn’t always mean good when it comes to wine.
The fact is, there are always pretentious idiots with no taste who will think a wine or a restaurant is awesome because it’s expensive. Of course they get mad when you make them look like a jackass.
> [@Unintentionally Blank](#):
>
> The point of a ‘fancy’ restaurant is quality not quantity. I don’t remember ever seeing huge portions at one of these restaurants…yet I don’t ever remember leaving hungry, either.
Yeah, if you want quantity, there are plenty of Chilli’s and Olive Garden type chain restaurants that will cater to the “endless bread sticks” crowd.
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### Author:  [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2012, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-expensive-restaurants-really-much-better-than-cheaper-ones/615220/88 "2012-03-19T11:08:09Z")
We ate at McCorkick and Schmick’s this weekend. We opted to NOT drink, which I’m sure knocked 40-60 off the bill. We also decided to play about and only order off the top 1/3rd of the menu. So, in Denver:
1. Dozen oysters…1/2 from the east coast, 1/2 from the west.
2. 1 -Lobster Bisque (you could taste the sherry)
3. 1 -Clam Chowder (heavy, wonderful, creamy)
4.
1. -Frankly average Caesar’s salad.
5.
1. stacked blue crab salad with mangoes, avocadoes, roasted corn, and orange and balsamic reductions.
The last salad was rather impressive, lots of competing sweet and sour components. Honestly, it overpowered the crab and couold have been made without it to good effect, it was still very good.
Dinner before tip came to just at $100. We left full, and sampled many different tastes and dishes from many parts of the US.
We could have easily blown three times that had one of us chosen the Market Price Lobster and the other had a dry aged Ribeye, and we shared a 1/2 bottle of wine.
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### Author:  [@jacobwilson8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jacobwilson8)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2012, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-expensive-restaurants-really-much-better-than-cheaper-ones/615220/89 "2012-03-19T13:39:52Z")
All that matters to me is quality of food and justifiable quantity for the price you are paying. I can get that at a cheaper restaurant, why to bother with high end joints. 🙂
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### Author:  [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2012, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-expensive-restaurants-really-much-better-than-cheaper-ones/615220/90 "2012-03-19T23:33:10Z")
My issue with hyper expensive restaurants is that you CANNOT improve certain foods. Take scallops and lobster-they are best cooked with a little butter-that is all-anything more spoils the flavor. Adding pernod (coquilles St. Jacques) spoils the wonderful flavor of fresh scallops The same with steak-all I want on a steak is salt and pepper…anything else detracts from it.
I admit, for slow cooked foods (like braised meats) spices and sauces are important. Bt don’t f\*ck up my fresh lobster.
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### Author:  [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)
#### Post date: [March 20, 2012, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-expensive-restaurants-really-much-better-than-cheaper-ones/615220/91 "2012-03-20T00:54:51Z")
> [@ralph124c](#):
>
> My issue with hyper expensive restaurants is that you CANNOT improve certain foods.
No, but you can buy a better quality steak/lobster/scallop, and you can cook it better. A good quality lobster can be cooked into rubber; a low-quality scallop will be tasteless regardless of how well it’s cooked. I’m not saying these aren’t available at lower-priced restaurants or that they’re always done well in expensive restaurants, but to say that high-end restaurants are always about sauces and spices is wrong. The really high-end, super-high-quality places aren’t going to mask the flavors of truly great cuts/seafood with something that hides or overpowers them.
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### Author:  [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)
#### Post date: [March 20, 2012, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-expensive-restaurants-really-much-better-than-cheaper-ones/615220/92 "2012-03-20T01:10:50Z")
I don’t think you’d normally get a lobster or piece of steak at a truly top tier of restaurant, except perhaps as a concession to less adventurous eaters. Most of the best restaurants are going to have “tasting menus” featuring numerous small courses displaying the chef’s range and creativity. There isn’t a lot of room for what is basically a one-note hunk of meat, no matter how well prepared. You might see these used as ingredients in a more creative dish, but you wouldn’t expect to sit down in front of a whole porterhouse.
High end steak and seafood houses tend to treat the meat more as commodities sold by weight, which makes a lot of sense given how simple the preparation is. They offer top quality meat at high prices, but not a lot of creativity or innovation in cooking.
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [March 20, 2012, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-expensive-restaurants-really-much-better-than-cheaper-ones/615220/93 "2012-03-20T01:14:24Z")
A top-end place will concoct a jalapeño-tropical fruit steak sauce that enhances the flavor of a well-cooked rib-eye. The lower end joints give you ketchup.
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### Author:  [@jacobwilson8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jacobwilson8)
#### Post date: [March 20, 2012, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-expensive-restaurants-really-much-better-than-cheaper-ones/615220/94 "2012-03-20T06:04:39Z")
All that matters to me is quality of food and justifiable quantity for the price you are paying. I can get that at a cheaper restaurant, why to bother with high end joints 🙂
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### Author:  [@Sleel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleel)
#### Post date: [March 22, 2012, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-expensive-restaurants-really-much-better-than-cheaper-ones/615220/95 "2012-03-22T21:48:14Z")
> [@msmith537](#):
>
> Expensive doesn’t always mean good when it comes to wine.
>
> The fact is, there are always pretentious idiots with no taste who will think a wine or a restaurant is awesome because it’s expensive. Of course they get mad when you make them look like a jackass.
Yes, absolutely true. People who really know wine can give recommendations for good wine at just about any price point. The pretentious jerks cannot.
There was a wine store in San Diego that I discovered around my second year living there that was run by a guy who was passionate about wine. He had a monthly newsletter and he’d have a list of “Joe’s Picks” which were wines he thought were great, under $50, and a steal at the price. There’d be anything from a $6 bottle of wine on up on that list. He had some expensive stuff available too ($100 a bottle, or more) but he could just as easily and knowledgeably recommend something within anyone’s budget and taste. There are some very tasty wines that are relatively cheap.
On the other hand, sometimes the price is totally justified. I’ve been to a couple of wine stores in Ginza and Odaiba that have tasting bars, on several different occasions. You can try a glass for usually about 1/10 of what a bottle would cost you. That doesn’t make it exactly cheap, but it’s affordable for a normal person to try wines that would be way more than their budgets would allow. While there have been a few wines I’ve tried that don’t taste that much different from stuff I’ve had at half the price or less, there have been some very memorable wines that had equally memorable price tags.
One champagne in particular was incredible. It tasted like concentrated raisins and sunlight and honey. Seriously wow. It was ¥25,000 a bottle. I would have bought a damn case if there was any way I could have afforded it.
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### Author:  [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)
#### Post date: [March 22, 2012, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-expensive-restaurants-really-much-better-than-cheaper-ones/615220/96 "2012-03-22T23:12:39Z")
> [@Sleel](#):
>
> Yes, absolutely true. People who really know wine can give recommendations for good wine at just about any price point. The pretentious jerks cannot.
This applies anywhere cubic dollars can buy prestige. I’ve seen it in Autocross/SCCA/track days, too. Where the guy that’s dropped 10’s of thousands on upgrades is creamed by a guy that’s spend hundreds on training in a stock vehicle.
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