That’s pretty much a steakhouse affectation, not something you see in high end restaurants of other types.
It doesn’t bother me in a steakhouse, I guess because I expect it to be that way in a high end steakhouse. Mind you, I don’t frequent high end steakhouses, because, on the whole, I don’t think they’re worth the money, given my tastes. I like steaks, don’t get me wrong, but I’ve had $25 steaks that came with sides and I’ve had $45 steaks that didn’t, and for me, the flavor difference isn’t that huge. Though, I did have some very expensive lamb at the steakhouse at the Opryland hotel that was well worth whatever price difference they might have liked to charge. I would like to try one of the kobe tasting menus once just to see what it’s like, as well.
Sure, El Gaucho in Portland, Oregon. The service was also exceptional.
I had the Peppercorn New York, 64 oz. It was perfectly prepared medium, and had to be nearly 2 inches thick. I probably should have skipped the peppercorn sauce, the steak was so good.
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.)
A little over $300 for 2 at Morton’s in Chicago. But my best friend had just bailed me out of jail (long story) so I was more than happy to foot the bill for that one.
On what size of a party? I’ve footed the bill for a table of four at a top flight steakhouse, that bill came to around $500 including tax and tip. Let’s see: appetizers for the table (crab cakes and cocktail shrimp - $15 each), steaks (about $40 each), sides (mashed potatoes, spinach, sauteed mushrooms – about $10 each), wine (two bottles @ $75 each) and dessert with coffee ($15 each).
I pretty regularly spend about $300 - $400 (including drinks, tax and tip) on dinner for just my wife and myself. It’s one of the ways I still get to enjoy what makes NYC special: a few times a year my wife and I get babysitting for the kids and go out for a night of fine dining. Among our favorites are The Four Seasons (a block away from my office), Aquavit (also very close), and One If By Land, Two If By Sea in the West Village.
As far as name brand steakhouses go, I wasn’t so impressed with the Palm steakhouse, but am very happy to go back again and again to Smith & Wollensky’s or Wolfgang’s (a Peter Luger offshoot of sorts in Midtown). I haven’t been to the original Luger’s in years, as it’s a bit out of the way for me, but I’ve been to the one in Great Neck a few times. Closest to home is Uncle Jack’s Steakhouse in Bayside, Queens, which is in the same league as the others. I also enjoy Ruth’s Chris (though I haven’t been to any in NYC, I’ve been to ones in Baltimore and Boston a few times), but was not impressed by Morton’s (even the original one in Chicago).
Woof, enough about expensive dining. I’m getting hungry!
I took my mother to Paris one year for Mother’s Day and she wanted to eat at the Jules Verne in the Eiffel Tower. It cost me about $400 for 2 of us. It was all delicious and the waiters fawned all over her, which was nice, but …geez it’s just food with a view. I had sticker shock for a few days.
Probably about $100 for the two of us, at a steakhouse. 3 appetizers, but no alcohol and no dessert.
It was good but not superb.
Best meals we’ve had were at El Meson and we can get out of there for around $65 for the 2 of us. We took the kids and it was only around $80 or so. If anyone’s in the neighborhood, give that place a try, it’s fabulous – we make the trip from Buffalo as often as we can to go.
My wife and I have broken ~$350 a few times, just the two of us. It’s easy when steaks are ~$60, sides are a la carte, and you get drinks and dessert.
Most with a group was ~$4,500 for about 10 or 12 of us for just drinks on a co-worker’s birthday a couple years ago. I believe that included the rental of the VIP room for the night.
Times aren’t anywhere near that good now. Luckily we’re content to eat at home 6 days a week and have cheap carryout Mexican on Saturdays.
I took my (now) wife for a dinner in one of the French restaurants in the Ritz Cartlon, together with two bottles of wine, the total was around $900 USD. We did it for the experience, and probably won’t do it again as neither of us could really relax because neither of us felt like we belonged there. Food was good though, and the wine even better.
Oh, that’s true. I definitely feel like a poser in the good places. I’m tempted to act up: “Whoa Nelly! Thet thar mac and cheese cost more than my first car! Are these rolls free?”
$800 for dinner for two (including tips). We had the “tour” paired with wines at Alinea in Chicago. What’s worse, is we couldn’t finish the entire “tour”, so $800 was the cost of the “abbreviated tour”. There were, I think, 24 courses. We only made it through 18. :eek:
On our honeymoon in August we went to Le Cirque in New York. I can’t remember the exact total but it was something like $440 for the two of us, and we didn’t even go for the most expensive tasting menu.
We did have champagne to start, then four courses, with wine by the glass to go with each (I think one glass of red I had was $45 alone).
But, it was our honeymoon and it was worth every penny. I was a bit worried that an upscale place like that would be too starchy and make us feel uncomfortable, but it wasn’t like that at all. The service was spot-on - very attentive but not in-your-face, and friendly without being too pally.
Plus, the exchange rate was about $1.85 to the pound at the time, so it wasn’t much more than £100 a head. I’m planning to go to the Fat Duck next year, where the tasting menu is £125 per head, so I think that record will go pretty soon…
Per person, $250 for 2, at some place in San Francisco. I can’t remeber the name of the place but it was the same as it’s address.
I once spent $600.00 including a generous tip at Ruths Chris in Indianapolis but that was for a party of 8. They seemed impressed that I tipped a full 20% and gave us free drinks in tha bar after dinner, and both the manager and owner came out to thank me for choosing their restaurant.
I used to work for a company where one of the benefits was that all of the executives got to spend a few hundred dollars a month at client restaurants, which included most of the high end places in Canada. So, a lot of the top meals that would be on my list were essentially part of my job.
Excluding those:
[ul][li]85,000 yen (~ $1000 Canadian at the time) for four people, ostensibly a business meeting, at a Thai restaurant in Ginza[/li][li]65,000 yen for three at Noodles, an “ethnic” (read: non-Japanese Asian) restaurant in Azabu-Juban (Tokyo)[/li][li]$600 + tip at Le Cirque in New York for two[/li][li]$700 + tip at Canoe in Toronto for two[/li][li]$500 + tip at The Fat Belgian in Toronto for three[/li][li]$450 + tip at Club Lucky in Toronto (next door to The Fat Belgian) for two[/ul][/li]
The flat-out best deals (i.e. price/quality ratio) for high-end restaurants I ever got were:
[ul][li]$200 + tip at K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen in New Orleans for two (with wine!)[/li][li]100,000 yen at The Monsoon Cafe in Azabu-Juban (Tokyo) for 12 people[/li][li]20,000 yen at New York Steakhouse in Shinagawa (Tokyo) for two people[/li][li]$250 + tip at Tetley’s Restaurant in Niagara-On-The-Lake for four[/ul][/li]
As someone who is waaaay too fond of pricey wine for his own wallet, it’s not uncommon for me to go out for $100+ per person meals.