When going out to eat, does price make a difference?

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by Thrifty Ray

cough, cough, choke....could you WARN ME before tossing out a post like that palease!

: : :
Glad you enjoyed learning about Le Bec Fin! LOL!

Seriously, Le Bec Fin is consistently rated as one of the top 5 restaurants in the country and among the top 10 in the world. It's not the place you go when your kid gets a good report card.

As for fine dining, which we do enjoy, I have certainly spent $100 for dinner for two numerous times over the years, but always for a special occasion, usually our anniversary.

[cschin4]

tabby - It is a bit uncomfortable at first when you start asking for separate checks. Alot of people are ingrained socially to think that splitting the bill is the thing to do. So, at first, you may get a few awkward glances. But, over time, it will just become the norm. And, I don't split the tab on appetizers. I may chose to order and share with the group and sometimes others will pick up the tab for that. You just have to be willing to speak up to the waiter.
And, with larger parties, sometimes the wait staff will give you a hard time and tell you they can't give separate checks. But, I just insist on it and usually it is no problem

[BCHGRL]

My husband and I are pretty sick of eating out. We ate out for the first 3.5 years we were dating. We stopped eating out, lost 30lbs each, and saved a ton of money.

Since we hardly eat out, I often daydream about what I'll have when we do eat out for a special occasion. When that occasion arrives, and I eat like I used to and end up sick for the rest of the evening. I'd rather just stay home and have my lean cuisine then go for ice cream. Other than the convenience factor, it is almost not worth it to eat out for us.

I guess price is a factor, but only because the most expensive items are usually the heaviest (i.e. steak) and I know I'll be sick after I eat it.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by BCHGRL

My husband and I are pretty sick of eating out. We ate out for the first 3.5 years we were dating. We stopped eating out, lost 30lbs each, and saved a ton of money.

This is so true. Although we do enjoy eating out, we find we get sick of it quickly, especially on vacations when we are doing it daily. That's why when we travel we often rent a house or condo or hotel suite so we can prepare some of our own meals. We just got back from a week in Vermont. We ate all our breakfasts in the house and cooked dinner there 3 of 7 nites even though we were surrounded by some really wonderful restaurants. It saved money. It saved calories. And it was just nice not to have to deal with restaurants 3 times a day for a week.

[Thrifty Ray]

The last few times DH and I have splurged at a restaurant, we have both agreed that our home cooked meals were better. We have practiced and tweaked our recipes so that we are very happy with them....and then factor in the cost difference...wowza.

[kealina]

Originally Posted by BCHGRL

Since we hardly eat out, I often daydream about what I'll have when we do eat out for a special occasion. When that occasion arrives, and I eat like I used to and end up sick for the rest of the evening.

i can definately understand that. we actually sometimes check out the menus online and enjoy the anticipation too.
and we get sick sometimes. we are on a healthy diet so anything that is too greasy or oily tends to make us sick...

[Ima saver]

I do get sick of eating out when I am on vacations, but i still enjoy eating dinner out when I am home. But we spend at least 2 hours when we eat out, just enjoying each other.

[rob62521]

Originally Posted by disneysteve

I guess you won't be dining here anytime soon:
http://www.lebecfin.com/index.cfm

Dinner is prix fixe at $138 per person. Of course, that doesn't include drinks or tip or valet parking, so dinner for 2 can easily be $400.

And yes, I've dined there several times and it is spectacular. Fortunately, each time was a business function where someone else was picking up the tab.

OK, I'm nosy. What were your meals like? I would assume it was far more than what you get at the local diner. Glad someone else picked up the tab for you!

[shelbylovesmelby]

Usually when we go out it usually doesn't cost much more than $25-30 for all 4 of considering my kids are both under 5 & don't eat much so if the portions are good sized we'll just share out meals with them. As my oldest would rather pester people & people watch than actually eat so why spend the $?? KWIM?

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by rob62521

OK, I'm nosy. What were your meals like? I would assume it was far more than what you get at the local diner. Glad someone else picked up the tab for you!

Dinner is a 6-course meal. There is an appetizer, a fish course, a main course, a cheese course, dessert and one other course I can't think of right now (haven't been there recently).

There dessert is outrageous. They roll out a 3 level cart, roughly 5 feet high and 5 feet long. Each level is filled with all kinds of freshly made cakes, pies, pastries, flan, creme brulee, souffles, etc. The server will give you small portions of as many of the items as you wish. You could have every single one if you really wanted to, though there are 40-some items so that would be pretty tough.

If you order a bottle of champage, Georges Perrier, the owner, comes out with a saber and uncorks the bottle by whacking it with the saber. It's quite a sight.

[pearlieq]

Originally Posted by disneysteve

If you order a bottle of champage, Georges Perrier, the owner, comes out with a saber and uncorks the bottle by whacking it with the saber. It's quite a sight.

Now that alone would be totally worth the price!

[rob62521]

Thanks, Disneysteve for responding. I wondered how and what they would do at a place like this. The saber whacking could be considered entertainment!

[cschin4]

I find I am getting more takeout. Just not up for taking the kids to a restaurant. And, I agree that getting a condo on vacation is the best way to go. The last thing I would want to do is try to eat out 3 meals a day.

[Ima saver]

I enjoy eating out a lot more now than when I had kids! I am looking forward to my favorite breakfast place in less than two weeks.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by Ima saver

I enjoy eating out a lot more now than when I had kids! I am looking forward to my favorite breakfast place in less than two weeks.

I agree. Our daughter spent 4 weeks at overnite camp last month and my wife and I dined out quite a bit. It was very nice to be able to go wherever we wanted and not have to worry about if our daughter would have anything to eat. We also didn't have to worry about getting a sitter when we wanted to go to a nicer place.

[Dido]

Price does matter to me when I'm dining out. I generally try to pay about $7 before tip for lunch and $10-$12 before tip for dinner--less if possible!

My best strategy is to go to restaurants for lunch rather than dinner--lower prices. Smaller portions, too, but given how ridiculous most restaurant portions are to begin with, that's not a problem.

Most often I'll go to an ethnic restaurant--Asian (Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, or Thai) and order a rice or noodle-based dish, or to a Mexican restaurant. There's also a good Indian lunch buffet nearby for $7.95.

If I'm going to one of the fancy award-winning restaurants around here, I'll either order an entree but no appetizer or dessert, or sometimes make a meal of JUST appetizers and dessert!

I usually order just water to drink, too.

Sometimes, as a single working person, I really just want somebody else to cook for me, and that's when I hit the fast food restaurants. An egg & bagel sandwich from Dunkin Donuts or a bean & cheese burrito from Taco Bell is a satisfying meal for under $2 and someone else is doing the cooking and clean-up.

My boyfriend's birthday is three weeks after mine, and so once a year, we usually do a meal at a fancy restaurant and split the cost. It bothers both of us to pay more than $40 for the two of us, so we usually forgo either or all of beverage, appetizer, or dessert.

[Ima saver]

I agree, when I want fast food, I hit the dollar menu at wendy's and drink water.

[LuxLiving]

We do the resort exchange on our timeshare and always get a kitchen unit. I think it would be 'maybe kind of nice' to go on vacation just one time and eat out at every meal, but I don't think my frugalista bloodpressure could take it! We just came back from a week in Mississippi and the total vacation including gasoline and exchange fee was something like 550.00 dollars for a famiy of 4 (1 female + 3 over age 18 males).

We ate takeout 3 times - 1 going, 1 coming home, 1 time there. Sunday lunch out at a buffet, a day out shopping lunch at diner, one breakfast out, an ice cream stop, one night of fine *for us* dining. The rest of the time we ate nice meals in the room from the big box of groceries I scavenged from the pantry stockpile. Yes we drank water while eating out, yes, we watched prices but still got full.

A crockpot and/or electric skillet usually makes the pack list. One stop at the grocery on the way into town covers the week.

I do plan my menus and 'eating-out' times before I go and I rathole gas money and eat on the way home cash back in the wallet so it doesn't go on souvenirs or somesuch. We had a great vacation and eating out didn't kill the banker!!

[geojen]

However it drives me nuts when people go out as a group then divide the check evenly. I've had this happen to me when I order the special, drink water, yet I am subsidizing everyone's wine and lobster.[/quote]

I know, I hate that! And when I was a server, I hated that too! It was way to hard to make change and some people wanted to pay with plastic and blah blah blah. How do you go about saying , hey, you ordered a 30 dollar steak, I had an 8 dollar salad. I ain't paying for your meal!! Hubby and I are very aware of price, but always make sure to order something we will enjoy so it is not a wasted experience.

[Ima saver]

That happened to me too. I usually get something cheap, like a hamburger, then they wanted to split the bill. Our share came to $35 and our bill was about $15. I won't do that again, cause I do watch prices.