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Old 28 September 2022, 03:38 AM   #61
Bstewart
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It's actually from LA Stories with Steve Martin, pre-pandemic. But it feels like how "good" restaurants seem.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1IRqqp8vHw

Luckily the best restaurant I've enjoyed is Auberge du Soleil in Napa (Rutherford).

I've eaten at a few big name places on my wife's corporate card with her clients and it just isn't me.

For me they are far too pretentious, too precious and too much needy people either new or old money trying too hard.

I'd much prefer hanging out with bartenders or waiters and waitresses. (perhaps not these days but back in the day).

I shun the whole putting on airs, so great family restaurants with real people, are my favs.
I ate at Auberge this March for my birthday after a long afternoon at Opus One. Very expensive day, very good day.
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Old 28 September 2022, 03:50 AM   #62
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I ate at Auberge this March for my birthday after a long afternoon at Opus One. Very expensive day, very good day.
A favorite of mine, and celebrated a few birthdays there as well.

The food is great and the view ain't too bad either.
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Old 28 September 2022, 04:16 AM   #63
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Frustrating restaurant experiences - No recourse

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This, getting some random person to drive your car into often a tight spot is just ludicrous imo.


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I was a valet parker in high school. It's where I learned to drive a stick shift. FWIW, I have never valeted my cars, which have always been manual shifts except for one, and virtually never valet my wife's sedan or SUV. Just my $0.02.


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they always park me up front.


I’m not too worried about the parking itself. Usually with the nice cars, they will put it up front like Seth says. With the beater, they’ll hide it by the dumpster.

I also usually like to support the service industry in general.

My concern is the litigation happy country we live in where I am somehow still legally responsible for my vehicle even though I have handed the keys to someone else and my feet were nowhere near the pedal.
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Old 28 September 2022, 04:25 AM   #64
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it's actually from la stories with steve martin, pre-pandemic. But it feels like how "good" restaurants seem.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1irqqp8vhw

luckily the best restaurant i've enjoyed is auberge du soleil in napa (rutherford).

I've eaten at a few big name places on my wife's corporate card with her clients and it just isn't me.

For me they are far too pretentious, too precious and too much needy people either new or old money trying too hard.

I'd much prefer hanging out with bartenders or waiters and waitresses. (perhaps not these days but back in the day).

I shun the whole putting on airs, so great family restaurants with real people, are my favs.
agreed!!!
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Old 28 September 2022, 04:36 AM   #65
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Why do people instinctively defend restaurant staff and blame customers? Only a handful of times in my life have I seen customers be blatantly disrespectful to staff, and all the incidents were outside of the US.

I’m literally nicer to restaurant staff than they are to me. There are some great people who, either as a career or as a temporary source of income, work in restaurants. But overall it’s not a great quality of person and that’s only become more true in recent years. Call a spade a spade.
This. Unfortunately, when you're traveling for business or vacations, cooking yourself is not an option.

It's gotten to the point nowadays where I'm actually surprised when we receive great food and good service.

OP, what did you tip on these meals?
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Old 28 September 2022, 07:54 AM   #66
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This. Unfortunately, when you're traveling for business or vacations, cooking yourself is not an option.

It's gotten to the point nowadays where I'm actually surprised when we receive great food and good service.

OP, what did you tip on these meals?
Usual argument with my wife, I leave 15-20% when I’m unhappy or just get regular unmemorable service. If I’m really wowed, I’ll leave 35-50% sometimes 100% at my favorite spots to let them know. So this was a 15%. My wife would have left $1.

Of course, all relative to the value of the bill
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Old 28 September 2022, 08:34 AM   #67
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Originally Posted by Blansky View Post
It's actually from LA Stories with Steve Martin, pre-pandemic. But it feels like how "good" restaurants seem.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1IRqqp8vHw

Luckily the best restaurant I've enjoyed is Auberge du Soleil in Napa (Rutherford).

I've eaten at a few big name places on my wife's corporate card with her clients and it just isn't me.

For me they are far too pretentious, too precious and too much needy people either new or old money trying too hard.

I'd much prefer hanging out with bartenders or waiters and waitresses. (perhaps not these days but back in the day).

I shun the whole putting on airs, so great family restaurants with real people, are my favs.
Couldn’t agree more those high end restaurants are just laughing at you behind the door. Also the super Uber filthy rich wouldn’t waste their money there.
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Old 28 September 2022, 12:40 PM   #68
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Also the super Uber filthy rich wouldn’t waste their money there.

Come on… I distinctly remember Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston frequently dined lavishly at The Palm on their television show.

(I’m being super sarcastic by suggesting they’re the “super Uber filthy rich” you’re talking about - also, I hate that I have to explain - but someone will mistake my joke for a serious comment)


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Old 28 September 2022, 12:43 PM   #69
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Couldn’t agree more those high end restaurants are just laughing at you behind the door. Also the super Uber filthy rich wouldn’t waste their money there.
Then how do you explain the time I saw Elon Musk at the Benihana in midtown
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Old 28 September 2022, 05:49 PM   #70
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Then how do you explain the time I saw Elon Musk at the Benihana in midtown
There is always one.
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Old 28 September 2022, 06:43 PM   #71
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I hope that you find a way to get through this traumatic experience.
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Old 28 September 2022, 06:45 PM   #72
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I would like to hear the Valet's side of the story.....
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Old 28 September 2022, 08:14 PM   #73
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they always park me up front.
Not to mention they have no idea about the sequence required to start modern cars, riding the clutch, not letting the oil pump kick in, accelerator and brake at the same time. I could go on
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Old 28 September 2022, 10:28 PM   #74
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Couldn’t agree more those high end restaurants are just laughing at you behind the door. Also the super Uber filthy rich wouldn’t waste their money there.
The super Uber filthy poor wouldn't either.
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Old 30 September 2022, 06:32 AM   #75
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Good service and polite floor staff is not a huge ask. It’s a shame that you have to deal with that, considering what you pay for it.

Luxury food experiences are wasted on me, though. A few hundred dollars for the two of us is about where my value in a dinner peaks out. Past there, I don’t see what I’m paying for.


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Old 1 October 2022, 05:49 PM   #76
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I mean......I don't necessarily blame the valet. You paid him to valet....so let him valet it. I get you feel entitled because you paid $2k for a dinner (which let's be honest....was mostly probably wine in a 4 person group)....but what if you end up bringing up your own car and hitting a $400k car (which he obviously was worried about).
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Old 2 October 2022, 05:46 AM   #77
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Old 3 October 2022, 01:41 PM   #78
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Before kids, we did the restaurant thing regularly ('80s).
After kids came along, we did the 'Dinner Party' thing for a decade or two. Standards for wine and food were great but it was exhausting. The clean-up was often major.
Post-kids, we find that restaurants are rarely up to expectations and service is usually by young and inexperienced (and over-familiar) people who do not appear to get any supervision or training. I think in the 21st Century, "service jobs" are regarded as undesirable and a lot of incumbents see them as temporary.
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Old 3 October 2022, 08:35 PM   #79
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This is an insane amount to spend on food, IMO.
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Old 3 October 2022, 09:50 PM   #80
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This is an insane amount to spend on food, IMO.
4 salads, 4 bone in cowboys (37oz), sides, 4 cocktails, 3 bottles of my favorite wines. Pretty standard at any steakhouse


It’s not like I spent $26,000 on sides… even if they did cure cancer
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Old 3 October 2022, 10:36 PM   #81
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4 salads, 4 bone in cowboys (37oz), sides, 4 cocktails, 3 bottles of my favorite wines. Pretty standard at any steakhouse


It’s not like I spent $26,000 on sides… even if they did cure cancer
They were hosting the Pfizer clients and could write it off for TNA though 🤣🤣🤣
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Old 3 October 2022, 11:25 PM   #82
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This is an insane amount to spend on food, IMO.
I was thinking the same (3.000 $ in 2 dinners) and I am really surprised that none of those who have responded thought the same.
As if they accept that it is normal to spend such huge amounts of money on food in restaurants.

Don't get me wrong, I understand that we all do not have the same financial capacity but again 1900 $ for dinner of four people seems inconceivable to me, regardless of the financial situation.
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Old 3 October 2022, 11:47 PM   #83
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I was thinking the same (3.000 $ in 2 dinners) and I am really surprised that none of those who have responded thought the same.
As if they accept that it is normal to spend such huge amounts of money on food in restaurants.

Don't get me wrong, I understand that we all do not have the same financial capacity but again 1900 $ for dinner of four people seems inconceivable to me, regardless of the financial situation.
USA is a huge country with many wealthy people, so it depends where you go. OP’s dinner could have been $850 with no wine. In New York there are several restaurants I can think of where $2,000 would be the bare minimum for four people to sit down, before drinks, taxes, or service charges — and other cities like SF and LA likely have the same

Granted, I wouldn’t show up at a $500+/head dinner unless someone else was picking up the tab
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Old 4 October 2022, 12:50 AM   #84
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They were hosting the Pfizer clients and could write it off for TNA though 🤣🤣🤣
Love that scene. Cracks me up every time
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Old 4 October 2022, 12:51 AM   #85
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I was thinking the same (3.000 $ in 2 dinners) and I am really surprised that none of those who have responded thought the same.
As if they accept that it is normal to spend such huge amounts of money on food in restaurants.

Don't get me wrong, I understand that we all do not have the same financial capacity but again 1900 $ for dinner of four people seems inconceivable to me, regardless of the financial situation.
It’s not like I do this every week. I’ve only been out once since then and it was for pub dinner under $50
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Old 4 October 2022, 01:37 AM   #86
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USA is a huge country with many wealthy people, so it depends where you go. OP’s dinner could have been $850 with no wine. In New York there are several restaurants I can think of where $2,000 would be the bare minimum for four people to sit down, before drinks, taxes, or service charges — and other cities like SF and LA likely have the same

Granted, I wouldn’t show up at a $500+/head dinner unless someone else was picking up the tab
Of course, getting hit with an outsize restaurant bill is a distinct possibility in many large cities around the world, and sometimes in small villages as well, if they have a "celebrity chef" or a Michelin star.

I agree with your second para. Anything over, say £100/head is completely unnecessary flim-flam, IMO. Wine/drinks prices in most restaurants are often around 300%+ of the cost of the wine, IME.

My favourite restaurant is my own kitchen, because I can choose exactly what I want, usually for <£10/head and I know exactly what has and what hasn't gone into my dinner! Plus I don't rip myself off for any wine.
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Old 4 October 2022, 03:29 PM   #87
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A mate was recently regaling me with the story of his $2000. 60th birthday dinner (4 people) in a Sydney (Australia) restaurant. I think he said it was a 'degustation' menu - so lots of small courses, plus a few good (but nothing special) wines.
So, yes, every big city has these places.
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Old 4 October 2022, 06:20 PM   #88
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I agree with your second para. Anything over, say £100/head is completely unnecessary flim-flam, IMO. Wine/drinks prices in most restaurants are often around 300%+ of the cost of the wine, IME.

I'm not sure why more people don't contact restaurants about corking fees.

$25-50/bottle at most places. Most have a bottle limit, but generally 2-4 bottles a table allowed.

When I drank, there was only one restaurant I ever bought bottles from. it was some local sparkling wine that was on par if not better than some of the top tier champagnes, can't remember the name for the life of me. Hand numbered bottles, etc. it was only around $70 or so while the only place I could find it for sale(that wasn't convenient) was $60. Always made going to that specific restaurant worth it in that case. for the most part 300% for mass produced bottles seems to be the standard.

Otherwise I just brought my own and paid the corking fee.
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Old 12 October 2022, 05:17 AM   #89
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4 salads, 4 bone in cowboys (37oz), sides, 4 cocktails, 3 bottles of my favorite wines. Pretty standard at any steakhouse


It’s not like I spent $26,000 on sides… even if they did cure cancer
One cocktail and almost an entire bottle of wine, on average, per person and you drove? Hmm. So that's the valets concern.
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Old 13 October 2022, 05:28 AM   #90
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One cocktail and almost an entire bottle of wine, on average, per person and you drove? Hmm. So that's the valets concern.
Instead of jumping to conclusions and if you must know, my wife was with her friend nearby and was my DD.
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