Checked the menu at the local Ruth's Chris, and dinner for two with tip would be in the $200 to $250 range, excluding wine, etc. But we recently had dinner at Waffle House for about $30 with tip.
A lot depends on whether or not alcohol is involved. Regarding Ruth's Chris...the least expensive steak starts at $50, Lon. Just the steak. No appetizer, no salad, no sides, no dessert, no drinks. And that's in the Virginia suburbs outside of DC. I gotta go with Hoot's number. Add 30% for DC, NYC, LA, etc.
No interest here in spending that amount or anything close to it just to eat a meal my dinner yesterday was under $20 for 2 with all we needed at the local truck stop and we enjoyed it and were very full 4 of us so $40 minus for 4, to many memories of how hard that $40 was to earn in my past so we just do not do it any can label it as they wish just a truthful statement here, rather donate $30 to help animals and rest to eat on for me as long as I knew for sure where the donation really went to. and any donations I ask what % goes for employees benefit salary or otherwise. then show me proof. Blowing money on a fancy meal is just not me.
Depends on what qualifies as a “really nice place”. It’s been years since I dined or even worked in a place I personally consider to be fine dining but for 10+ courses including aperitif to wine(s) during the meal and champagne or after dinner drinks I never expected to pay less than 500 beans. Ruth Chris is a nice place as well as similar places but for table side service, ala carte menu, a great wine selection and also having a table that belongs to me for 2-4 hours costs money. One place we have here in Huntsville almost advertises that you won’t leave there without spending at least $250 + tip for two guests. As a side bar: A golf club I worked at charged 5K a month for the restaurant whether you ate in the dining room or not. A simple tuna fish sandwich with a couple of chips cost $15 at the 19 hole and there was nothing on the dining room menu that cost less than $75.
We would never/ever spend that much! At the very most, for a nice prime rib dinner and 4oz lobster dinner at Longhorn Steakhouse, with a Bud Light and possibly an appetizer (stuffed mushrooms), it will cost us, with tip: $70.00
Again, it depends on what you deem to be a “really nice place” and I might add, what you consider to be dining versus having a meal out. If Long Horn trips your trigger, that’s fine. Hal likes his Steer and Stein and we generally hit a Mexican, Chinese or even IHOP on an occasion when we go out to eat. It’s all good but there is a definite distinction between fine dining and just going to a “nice” place.
Yes, you definitely have that right. Our dining is very cheap, compared to some restaurants. P.F. Chang is very expensive, like Benihana's. Just done some research and there are plenty of very, very Upper-Class restaurants in both New York City and Las Vegas. I had a nice dinner at Steer and Stein one time, while living in Riverside, California.
I wouldn't consider any chain restaurant to be "fine dining", although several of them are very nice. I don't know how many fine restaurants are left in Anchorage, as I haven't been in there since the whole Covid thing started. There were once a number of fine restaurants there, but the city has put many of them out of business with the restrictions. I think we only have one really good restaurant in this area and it is affiliated with a golf course, but you don't need to belong to the club to eat there, or even to play golf there.
Well, we have the world famous Roanoke Hotel. On Sundays, I'm, guessing it would come to $80 for my wife and I.
This reminds me of a steak house just across the river from DC in Rosslyn called "Emerson's." This was back when restaurants offered "all you can drink" beer with your meal. -The upside was that lawsuits had yet to shut down this activity. -The downside was they served Schaefer draft. I don't see how Chang's stays in business. They're in a market known for large helpings of inexpensive food. That being said, I've never eaten there.