How many people were in that party?
Like some others have noted, I have trouble enjoying food that expensive. If it makes the person I’m with happy, I’m willing to pop for it every now and then, but as a rule, the mid-level place is fine with me. For example, the wife and I are going to Vegas in a few days. We could go to Picasso, I suppose, but we’d both prefer to go to Peppermill’s and hit the buffets instead. I can find better things to do with the cash than encouraging some cretin who thinks he’s a chef. I don’t like fancy food. Show me a good BBQ place, an Italian joint with a decent wine list, or a Mexican restaurant with Mama in the kitchen and the kid’s homework on a table in the back, and I’m content. 
It seems we all have different perceptions. Sure, I’ve been to high-end places where the food flat out wasn’t worth the price (heck, I’ve been to low-end places like that, too) but overall the places I’ve paid the big bucks for have served me food that was simply flat out worth it. Fresher, tastier, more interesting, and very much worth every penny I paid.
Once again, my experience has been different. Seems to me that the higher end the place is, the less percentage their markup on liquor is. However, the liquor in general is of a higher quality - so instead of paying $6 for a glass of wine that cost the place $1, I pay $9 for a glass of wine that cost the bar $4.50 or something like that. I’ve found that most low-end places will triple or quadruple the cost of a bottle of wine, and higher-end places double it. But that’s just my experience.
Another thought…
I think there’s a lot of bad high-end places out there, too, and I wonder if that’s why some people think it’s not worth it. Case in point: a new restaurant just opened up here, and it’s on the upper end of the price scale for this area. You’re going to pay $20 for an entree there, and from what I’ve heard, it’s very much not worth it. The menu is full of things like “Scallops in a basil-orange butter,” and I’ve heard people say things like “Well, I didn’t taste any basil or orange in that butter, and the scallops weren’t that great. Guess I’m not gourmet enough to appreciate such food.”
I cringe when I hear that, because it’s the damn food that’s the problem - not the person. No wonder they don’t want to try other pricey food, when their experience has been like that.
Athena , I agree with your observations.
I also think that there’s a time and place for everything. I do love experiencing the high-end stuff once in a while, but that doesn’t mean that I would go to those places exclusively. I love the BBQ joints and the Mexican family-owned restaurants that silenus mentioned as well. They just serve different desires, IMO.
I love eating at high-end restaurants, and I wish I could go more often. My dream is to eat at Masa in New York. It’s a sushi place where there’s no menu – you just eat what the chef makes – and a meal for two starts at $700.
As much as I love sushi, going out for sushi is about as expensive a restaurant meal as I can handle, and even then, it usually turns out to be too rich for my blood. The bill is often too high for comfort, and I’m never full either.
I’m talking about name brand liquor. For instance, you go to Jimmy’s Corner in NY and get a Grey Goose and tonic for $4.00. You go to the Tribeca grill and get it for $9.00. Same exact stuff (except I think that Jimmy’s Corner it was a stiffer drink) but at one place it’s more than twice as much.
Just me…
no it was actually about a dozen or so.
A friend and went to Asia de Cuba wearing torn jeans and waffle long-sleve Ts under a T-shirt. We didn’t get very good seats though.
Living in and around NYC, it would be foolish IMHO not to take advantage of the great restaurants. I’m fortunate though that my girlfriend and I and our friends make enough to take advantage of the fine dining (as long as we stick to “regular” high-end, not super high end $300 burger type places). And as I mentioned, it helps that I work in an industry where there are a lot of expensed dinners and lunches.
Couple of restaurants I can recomend:
Seattle - Daniels Broiler (actually in Bellevue but has excellent view Seattle)
Philladelphia - Any of the Stephen Starr restuarants: Buddakan, Alma de Cuba, Pod (it’s like dining in a 60s James Bond villains lair)
New York (there’s a shitload obviously, but these are some of the better known ones I like in no particular order)
Blue Water Grill
Atlantic Grill
Angelo & Maxis
Spice Market
Peter Lugers (Brooklyn)
Haru
Ruby Foo’s
Asia de Cuba
Lombardi’s (best pizza in the city but I’m boycotting them because I refuse to wait an hour for pizza and it’s ALWAYS an hour wait)
I completely agree; high-end is great at times, but it by no means supercedes “normal” restaurants. Some days you want a burger, other days you want seared duck on a bed of rainbow chard.