# What is the most you've spent at a restaurant on one visit?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-youve-spent-at-a-restaurant-on-one-visit/470626
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [November 1, 2008, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-youve-spent-at-a-restaurant-on-one-visit/470626 "2008-11-01T20:16:31Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 5
### Author:  [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)
#### Post date: [November 6, 2008, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-youve-spent-at-a-restaurant-on-one-visit/470626/81 "2008-11-06T21:58:12Z")
> [@control-z](#):
>
> I spent about $80 at a Golden Corral in Nags Head NC, for 3 people. I had no idea it would be that much, but they had seafood on the buffet. In spite of the fact none of us liked or ate any of that seafood, they still wanted to charge ~$23 each ($80 after drinks were added in.)
Being a vegetarian has some nice benefits in that the food is generally cheaper at restaurants–buffets being the big exception. I’m not paying some but-there-is-premium-steak-at-the-buffet price for your buffet when all I’ll be eating is some potato salad and a dollop of hummus or something.
---
### Author:  [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)
#### Post date: [November 6, 2008, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-youve-spent-at-a-restaurant-on-one-visit/470626/82 "2008-11-06T21:59:51Z")
**Chowder** - Really?? $377 for dinner for 5 at Red Lobster - a medium priced family restaurant chain? BTW - can you tell me the difference between regular clam chowder and Manhattan clam chowder?
StG
---
### Author:  [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)
#### Post date: [November 6, 2008, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-youve-spent-at-a-restaurant-on-one-visit/470626/83 "2008-11-06T22:06:04Z")
Stupid Duplicate post.
---
### Author:  [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)
#### Post date: [November 6, 2008, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-youve-spent-at-a-restaurant-on-one-visit/470626/84 "2008-11-06T22:38:42Z")
I think the most was right around $200-$225 for the SO’s birthday a few years ago. We went to a now defunct restaurant in Evanston called Trio and had a very good meal with portions that were too small and…what can I say? I’m not a high end foodie. It cost way too much and I’m sorry, but I don’t care who the chef is, I want a **meal** , not a gustatory experience.
---
### Author:  [@Hi\_Neighbor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hi_Neighbor)
#### Post date: [November 6, 2008, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-youve-spent-at-a-restaurant-on-one-visit/470626/85 "2008-11-06T23:54:20Z")
> [@StGermain](#):
>
> **Chowder** - Really?? $377 for dinner for 5 at Red Lobster - a medium priced family restaurant chain? BTW - can you tell me the difference between regular clam chowder and Manhattan clam chowder?
>
> StG
I was thinking it to be a little high as well. That comes to a $75.53 per person average. And two of the five people were kids.
I just spent $84.50 (including a 20% tip) at Red Lobster for a party of three. We each had a few drinks, and definitely didn’t order the least expensive meals on the menu.
Either \*\*Chowder \*\*ate at the most expensive Red Lobster in the world BY FAR, or that wasn’t Red Lobster!
---
### Author:  [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)
#### Post date: [November 7, 2008, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-youve-spent-at-a-restaurant-on-one-visit/470626/86 "2008-11-07T03:37:14Z")
Friends helped me move when I had to change apartments, and I wanted to treat them to supper. It was raining and there was a place right there on our own block, like 40 yards from our front door, where I’d never eaten.
Shoulda had a premonition when the menu did not list any prices.
Including tip came to a nice round $500 for the four of us. _Il Postino_ in the Turtle Bay area off of 1st Ave.
---
### Author:  [@greatshakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/greatshakes)
#### Post date: [November 7, 2008, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-youve-spent-at-a-restaurant-on-one-visit/470626/87 "2008-11-07T07:01:13Z")
> [@Autolycus](#):
>
> Who: Me and a date
> Where: Osaka, a fancy restaurant at the top of a skyscraper
> What: Pizza and wine
> How much: Around $200
> Result: Not even a kiss
>
> I wasn’t _trying_ to buy affection, but the lack of it combined with the overpriced meal made me feel like I got played. It’s a long story.
Yes, but a very old one.
Sorry, brother.
---
### Author:  [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)
#### Post date: [November 7, 2008, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-youve-spent-at-a-restaurant-on-one-visit/470626/88 "2008-11-07T15:13:49Z")
> [@AHunter3](#):
>
> Friends helped me move when I had to change apartments, and I wanted to treat them to supper. It was raining and there was a place right there on our own block, like 40 yards from our front door, where I’d never eaten.
>
> Shoulda had a premonition when the menu did not list any prices.
>
> Including tip came to a nice round $500 for the four of us. _Il Postino_ in the Turtle Bay area off of 1st Ave.
LOL, shoulda took them to Ray’s Pizza!
---
### Author:  [@Sleel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleel)
#### Post date: [November 11, 2008, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-youve-spent-at-a-restaurant-on-one-visit/470626/89 "2008-11-11T00:12:01Z")
Nice dinners for two in Tokyo are always about ¥20,000 or more. Our last anniversary dinner [here](http://www.tanicha.com/) was almost ¥30,000 with a moderately-priced bottle of wine. The most expensive and probably overpriced meal I’ve had was at [Ninja](http://www.ninjaakasaka.com/) in Akasaka. You’re paying mostly for novelty and atmosphere, though the food was very good. If I remember right, that was about ¥36,000.
I can’t afford the truly upscale restaurants; I’d have to pay off a dinner at most places in Ginza over half a year.
---
### Author:  [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)
#### Post date: [November 11, 2008, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-youve-spent-at-a-restaurant-on-one-visit/470626/90 "2008-11-11T18:10:28Z")
Ok, that’s completely meaningless to me. Is ¥30,000 closer to $3 or $300? I have absolutely no concept whatsoever. It may be closer to a penny for all I know.
---
### Author:  [@Hi\_Neighbor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hi_Neighbor)
#### Post date: [November 11, 2008, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-youve-spent-at-a-restaurant-on-one-visit/470626/91 "2008-11-11T18:12:47Z")
> [@OpalCat](#):
>
> Ok, that’s completely meaningless to me. Is ¥30,000 closer to $3 or $300? I have absolutely no concept whatsoever. It may be closer to a penny for all I know.
¥1 = US $0.010216
¥30,000 is US $306.49
---
### Author:  [@thwartme](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thwartme)
#### Post date: [November 11, 2008, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-youve-spent-at-a-restaurant-on-one-visit/470626/92 "2008-11-11T18:21:46Z")
> [@chique](#):
>
> - starting with a pre-dinner drink called “pancakes and bacon”.
Okay, you have to tell us what this is. If it’s alcohol, and tastes like bacon, it gets to become part of [the dinner](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=10258436&postcount=9).
Wine’ll kill ya when it comes to stretching the pocket book. Excluding alcohol, I’ve never spent more than $75-$80 on food. But add in a few drinks before, wine with, and liqueur & coffee after… over $200 easy.
thwartme
---
### Author:  [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)
#### Post date: [November 11, 2008, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-youve-spent-at-a-restaurant-on-one-visit/470626/93 "2008-11-11T19:48:09Z")
> [@Hi\_Neighbor](#):
>
> ¥1 = US $0.010216
>
> ¥30,000 is US $306.49
Thanks 🙂
And before anyone says it, yes I know how to use Google to come up with currency conversions. However, on a board where only a tiny percentage of the people will be fluent in your currency, it’s only polite to provide a conversion estimate, rather than expecting hundreds of readers to individually go to Google to parse your post (most of the time, they won’t, and so your post will be disregarded by the majority).
---
### Author:  [@MissTake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissTake)
#### Post date: [November 11, 2008, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-youve-spent-at-a-restaurant-on-one-visit/470626/94 "2008-11-11T20:19:03Z")
Twentyish years ago the then fiance took me out to dinner - I don’t remember the name of the place but it was on the Mississippi waterfront downtown Minneapolis. I do know it’s no longer there. Nouvelle cuisine type dinner with five green beans artfully placed on a single potato with paper thin slices of venison made into origami ducks kind of thing. The best part of the meal was the rosemary bread. For the two of us it came up to $175.00, no alcohol.
Then we paid another $5 to McDonalds on the way home.
A few months ago the family went to Benihana - the bill came out to almost $500 for the 9 of us. The dinner was decent, the teppanyaki chef wasn’t so personable though.
---
### Author:  [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)
#### Post date: [November 11, 2008, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-youve-spent-at-a-restaurant-on-one-visit/470626/95 "2008-11-11T21:41:30Z")
I think the dinner my husband paid when he proposed was in the 300$ CDN (2004) range, but I didn’t actually ask and he didn’t tell me.
We regularly (well, once every month or two, say) spend 100-130$ for two in restaurants. We love going out to eat, and for good food, good wine, and a meal that lasts more than 20 minutes, that’s what we’re prepared to pay. We have a great little French restaurant up the street from us with a 4 course meal for under 40$pp, and no wine at more than 40$ each, all of them private imports, and very reasonable cost for everything else you might want. And it’s all in a room that can’t fit more than 20 people or so, with the chef cooking all the food on one tiny stove and oven in the corner of the room. It’s FANTASTIC.
---
### Author:  [@kathmandu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kathmandu)
#### Post date: [November 11, 2008, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-youve-spent-at-a-restaurant-on-one-visit/470626/96 "2008-11-11T23:14:49Z")
I paid about $450.00 (inclusive of tip) for a tasting menu for two, plus wine, at Suser in Toronto.
---
### Author:  [@chique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chique)
#### Post date: [November 12, 2008, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-youve-spent-at-a-restaurant-on-one-visit/470626/97 "2008-11-12T03:32:50Z")
> [@thwartme](#):
>
> Okay, you have to tell us what this is. If it’s alcohol, and tastes like bacon, it gets to become part of [the dinner](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=10258436&postcount=9).
I honestly have no idea but it had enough alcohol to put us in the mood for the upcoming 20 courses of wine. 😉
If anyone is reading this from the Chicago area, the front of Moto is a (relatively) casual bar area; you should be able to stop in for just a drink.
---
### Author:  [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)
#### Post date: [November 12, 2008, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-youve-spent-at-a-restaurant-on-one-visit/470626/98 "2008-11-12T03:40:43Z")
I think I lowball the thread so far – $60 for me and a date at Outback Steakhouse.
I wouldn’t mind going to Ruth’s or something sometime but the one time I was planning on going there with friends I got “exchanged” for a couple who “really wanted to go”.
Then there was the time where I accidentally bought two too many tickets to Medieval Times for a party of 12 which ended up costing me around $75 at the time since I didn’t notice till later but that doesn’t really count.
---
### Author:  [@DadWagonDriver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DadWagonDriver)
#### Post date: [November 12, 2008, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-youve-spent-at-a-restaurant-on-one-visit/470626/99 "2008-11-12T05:06:02Z")
My wife and I took my parents to The Stockyards, a steakhouse in Phoenix, back in August. My parents are paragons of frugality, and didn’t even want to order once they saw the prices on the menu. I simply told them, “Hey, we don’t have kids and make pretty decent money. You flew here from Michigan to see us; let us buy you a nice dinner.”
I think the total was around $250; my mom starts to hyperventilate if the bill gets above $45 😉
---
### Author:  [@Ian\_D.Bergkamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ian_D.Bergkamp)
#### Post date: [November 12, 2008, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-youve-spent-at-a-restaurant-on-one-visit/470626/100 "2008-11-12T17:03:07Z")
My wife and spent about $300 at [Mama’s Fish House](http://www.mamasfishhouse.com/) (caution - web page has sound) on Maui, including a bottle of wine and dessert. For the fish, the menu lists where, when, and by whom it was caught. One of the top 5 meals in my life\*.
\*The other four, in no particular order, were at:
[The Banyan Tree](http://www.ritzcarlton.com/en/Properties/KapaluaMaui/Dining/TheBanyanTree/Default.htm), Kapalua, Maui (Asian fusion - I had fish);
[Dubh Prais](http://www.dubhpraisrestaurant.com/), Edinburgh, Scotland (traditional Scottish cuisine - I had steak);
[Tapas Restaurant](http://www.tapashiltonhead.com/), Hilton Head, South Carolina (tapas - I had lots of things); and
[The Oceanaire](http://www.theoceanaire.com/), Washington, DC (seafood - I had crabcakes).
[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-youve-spent-at-a-restaurant-on-one-visit/470626.md?page=4)
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-youve-spent-at-a-restaurant-on-one-visit/470626.md?page=6)