How much do you spend on a "nice" dinner?

[Fly320s]

Just curious.

My wife and I are DINKs (dual-income, no kids).  Over the last year or two we have really started to become food snobs.  We've noticed that most restaurants have absolutly nothing of interest to us on their menu, certainly not any of the chains.   We still eat pizza and burgers and such, but not from any fast-food chains; we cook those ourselves or find a good local pizza place.

Now when we go out to eat, we want fresh, healthy food that tastes great.  That normally means slightly expensive to expensive dining.  Fresh, healthy, and tasty do not describe 99% of the restaurant options in the US.

Years ago, I bought my first $100 dinner for two.  I was shocked and sickened that I could spend that much for just dinner.  Now, $100 for dinner for two is almost, but not quite, normal to us when we want a "nice" dinner.

Using my normal dinner-out as an example:

1 appetizer (shared)
1 green salad (also shared unless it comes with the meal)
1 main course each
1 glass of wine each
1 dessert (shared)

And many times my wife and I share an entree simply because restaurant portions are too large for us.  Even so, that type of dinner will cost us $70 to $90 before tip.

So, what's your idea of a nice dinner with your spouse?  Not a special-occassion dinner, just a "nice" dinner.

[mtnbkr]

My wife's taste in food is pretty pedestrian, for us a "nice" dinner is a place like Macaroni Grill.  She also doesn't drink, which keeps the bill down.  A nice, but not fancy dinner will run about $40ish (including a meal for the spawn, we're no DINKs).

Depending on the restaurant, we may or may not get the appetizer and dessert.  If there's any booze on the tab, it'll be mine.

It's a shame really.  There are a lot of interesting restaurant options in Northern Virginia, but she's perfectly content with places like Olive Garden and Red Lobster. 

Chris

[Jamisjockey]

Depends.  We generally don't blink at a $100 tab for the two of us, however, we're not DINK's.  We've got two little ones, so getting out to a $100 dinner isn't a regular occurance.
I like good food, and have found that often times you get it from places that aren't pretentious, but aren't chains.  Although I had a killer salad at Ruby Tuesday the other day.  Oh, and dinner for 6 with a few beverages was $106.  I tried to pick it up and my buddy switched our cards at the last minute, taking advantage of my relaxed state.

[Len Budney]

Same as Mntnbkr: we usually don't drink, and our tastes are moderate. A "nice" dinner seldom goes much over $50 for the two of us.

We once spent $160, but that was a special occasion: my company sent me out of town for six weeks straight, and then told me to "take the wife out to dinner, on us!" We went to the Grand Concourse and ordered off the a la carte menu. I had lobster and fillet mignon, and tried Remy Martin for the first time in my life. Didn't like it.

--Len.

[K Frame]

My ex and I dropped $400 on dinner for two back in the early 1990s.

We were celebrating, what I can't remember, and decided to splurge.

Being on my own now I tend not to spend a lot on a restaurant.

[HankB]

I'm not a wine drinker, so seldom does a "nice" meal for two run me over $50 - $75 . . . and usually it's less. I tend not to go to trendy places - I'm much more likely to hit Macaroni Grill, Olive Garden, Houston's, Iguana Grill, El Arroyo, Logan's Roadhouse, Outback, or Red Lobster rather than Eddie V's, Sienna, or Hudson's on the Bend.

If you're not familiar with the Austex area, the last three probably don't mean anything to you . . . but they're the places where its easy to drop over $100 on dinner for two . . . and IMHO you're paying for "atmosphere," NOT the food!

(What I really miss here in the Austex area are the varied menus of the independent restaurants I had growing up in Chicago . . . the only independents here seem to be BBQ,  Mexican or Oriental. And no good bakeries at all. )

[LadySmith]

Oh my goodness, I shudder to think of all that guns & ammo money wasted on food!
Yes, I'm weird like that.

[MillCreek]

The kids are gone,  and all the orthodontia is paid for, so we have more disposable income.  We have always enjoyed eating well, and I have no problems with paying good money for good food.  Good money for bad or mediocre food is another story.  It is not uncommon for the two of us to drop at least $ 100-150 for a good dinner in the Seattle area.  Seattle restaurant prices tend to be more expensive than most other areas of the country.  The most was a bit over $ 400 for a dinner at the Herbfarm, which is the only five star restaurant in Seattle, and is world-renowned.

On the other hand, we also have no problem in going to a small local Thai restaurant and paying $ 30 for dinner for the two of us.  It all depends on our mood, and we simply cannot eat rich restaurant food all the time.  As we have gotten into middle age, we don't eat as much as we used to, so we usually get an entree and either an appetizer or dessert but not both.  A glass of wine each, or a glass of wine for her and a beer for me, and we are set.  We probably go out to eat 3-4 times a month.  We are both excellent cooks, so when we go out to eat, we generally look for things that we don't make at home or are too much trouble to make for just two.

[Manedwolf]

It's a shame really.  There are a lot of interesting restaurant options in Northern Virginia, but she's perfectly content with places like Olive Garden and Red Lobster. 

Tell her the truth about those places. Most of Olive Garden's food is prepack, made in a central commissary somewhere in the midwest on a factory floor, sent frozen in portions and plastic pillows to the retail locations and reconstituted for use. Most elements of the meal are microwaved, while a few bits are fresh-made to give the appearance of a "fresh meal". There's no chef in the kitchen making your meal from raw ingredients. Your meal there is assembled from prepack, not cooked. And Red Lobster uses MSG in nearly everything. And, in any of those chains, food is engineered for best "mouthfeel" and lowest cost in lab kitchens, thus, it's likely to have such lovely home-cooking ingredients as Dow METHOCEL cellulose gum and other things you won't find in a real Italian or seafood restaurant's kitchen. I prefer my lasagna laid in a pan layer by layer, not extruded.

Eating at Olive Garden is no different than eating at McDonalds, and most of their food has as much salt in it...it's just that it's served on a plate, not in cardboard.

[Jamisjockey]

One of the recent expensive dinners we had was a Dinner cruise on the Potomac.  Started in Alexandria, it took about 3 hours.  Dinner was ok, but not terrific.  However it was a beautiful night, my lovely bride wore a sleek black dress and 4" heels, and it was nice to pretend we were adults for a little bit.
http://www.dandydinnerboat.com/
My understanding is there are some nicer ones based closer into DC.  Total cost was about $230 after tip and drinks.  The couple seated next to us went into very hushed tones when the bill was delivered...I think it was a surprise...

[charby]

When I want a nice dinner I do it at home.

I can have my steak how I want it, my drinks how I want it and I don't have some antsy high school aged waiter/waitress hassling me.

I just wish I could get fresh seafood.

-C

[Manedwolf]

As for getting spendy, it's more fun when work is paying for it. Best meal I didn't have to see the check for was a recent work-sponsored thing at a local very nice, small place called Michael Timothy's Bistro.

I had wild boar, and a white chocolate creme brulee. Quite nice. 

Otherwise, if I'm out with a girl, I have no problem paying at least $25 per on a meal, which can get one a rather nice meal at some local upscale seafood places. My rule is pretty much "I'm paying, she can have whatever she wants, the only budget is what I order for my meal."

[Jamisjockey]

As for getting spendy, it's more fun when work is paying for it. Best meal I didn't have to see the check for was a recent work-sponsored thing at a local very nice, small place called Michael Timothy's Bistro.

I had wild boar, and a white chocolate creme brulee. Quite nice. 

Otherwise, if I'm out with a girl, I have no problem paying at least $25 per on a meal, which can get one a rather nice meal at some local upscale seafood places. My rule is pretty much "I'm paying, she can have whatever she wants, the only budget is what I order for my meal."

You mean like when the .gov sent me to Oklahoma city for a month for Radar school?  We went to bars, strip clubs and Hooters on the taxpayer dime. 
They gave a food allowance, and by being conservative during the rest of the week we had plenty left to blow on the weekend.

[Sindawe]

Not being much of a wine drinker, $75 - $100 for two is average for a "Nice" dinner out.  Keep in mind with me and the type of females I tend to associate with that means dinner is at a top caliber brew-pub where they brew on site or some eclectic restaurant like the Celtic Tavern or Mataam Fez.

"I'm paying, she can have whatever she wants, the only budget is what I order for my meal."

Same here.  I guess its a good thing my tastes run more toward Bangers & Mash than Foie Gras & Truffles.

[ilbob]

$3 X2

McDonalds value meal

double cheeseburger
fries
coke

[mtnbkr]

Tell her the truth about those places. Most of Olive Garden's food is prepack, made in a central commissary somewhere in the midwest on a factory floor, sent frozen in portions and plastic pillows to the retail locations and reconstituted for use. Most elements of the meal are microwaved, while a few bits are fresh-made to give the appearance of a "fresh meal". There's no chef in the kitchen making your meal from raw ingredients. Your meal there is assembled from prepack, not cooked. And Red Lobster uses MSG in nearly everything. And, in any of those chains, food is engineered for best "mouthfeel" and lowest cost in lab kitchens, thus, it's likely to have such lovely home-cooking ingredients as Dow METHOCEL cellulose gum and other things you won't find in a real Italian or seafood restaurant's kitchen. I prefer my lasagna laid in a pan layer by layer, not extruded.
Eating at Olive Garden is no different than eating at McDonalds, and most of their food has as much salt in it...it's just that it's served on a plate, not in cardboard.

She doesn't care. 

Chris

[K Frame]

Realistically, nor do I.

Anyone who goes into a major chain restaurant and believes that there's a mad Italian, German, French, etc., chef whipping up new creations every evening is daft.

Restaurants such as Olive Garden strive for one thing above all else -- consistency.

They want you to be able to go into an Olive Garden in San Antonio and get a meal that tastes the same as one in the OG in Bangor, Maine.

[Paddy]

B-b-but what about the Italian music, the checkered tablecloths, the 'when you're here, you're family'?

And what about The Culinary Institute of Tuscany?

[AJ Dual]

Our favorite "fancy" place to eat is a local Japanese Hibachi. We'll spend about $40 on a lean outing there, hibachi dinner for two (or a sushi platter of comparable price for me) and diet coke. Soup and salad included.

A splurge night would be the same, except I'd get sake, maybe an Asahi, Kirin, or Sapporo while waiting to be seated, Mrs. Dual would get a mixed drink or two like a Mai Thai etc., and I'd get a sushi appetizer and a hibachi dinner, that runs us about $70.

And the beauty of sushi and hibachi is you KNOW everything was made from scratch and is fresh, because you can watch it being made.

[HankB]

. . . And the beauty of sushi  . . . you can watch it being made.

Why do I want to watch sushi being made? It's cheaper & faster to just stop by the local Beer, Bait, and Ammo shop and have Cletus fill up the old minnow bucket before I go fishing . . . I never could see the attraction of that fancy Japanese designer bait. 

[K Frame]

"B-b-but what about the Italian music, the checkered tablecloths, the 'when you're here, you're family'?"

What about it?

Does that somehow make the food taste better?


"Culinary Institute of Tuscany."

I suspect that the "chefs" that go there aren't really chefs, they're quality control specialists.

[AJ Dual]

. . . And the beauty of sushi  . . . you can watch it being made.

Why do I want to watch sushi being made? It's cheaper & faster to just stop by the local Beer, Bait, and Ammo shop and have Cletus fill up the old minnow bucket before I go fishing . . . I never could see the attraction of that fancy Japanese designer bait. 

  Well, I won't rise to your bait either. Other than to say it's perfectly okay in this enlightened age to be afraid to eat what millions of little Japanese schoolgirls do for lunch. To each his own.

And it's okay for a man to cry too...

[French G.]

$100-120.  There has been worse I suppose, one I was party to but not paying was $370 +tip+ pre-dinner drinks for 3 people.  St. Elmo's, Indy, IN best steak ever. They don't take reservations. Good shrimp cocktail and cheesecake too. Extensive wine list.

Another one is kind of trendy but good, Jazz'd tapas bar in Savannah, GA. A couple can actually get out of there for less than $100 with 4 entrees, two salads, two desserts and drinks. Plenty of food too.

[280plus]

"B-b-but what about the Italian music, the checkered tablecloths, the 'when you're here, you're family'?"

What about it?

Does that somehow make the food taste better?

All I know is the accordian player ticks off the wife when he comes right up to your table and blasts you with the thing.  

$50-$60 is about where I like to end up. I hate chains but go to them occasionally to keep the peace.  

[wooderson]

My parents love all the Olive Garden/Macaroni Grill/Red Lobster places and get mad when I say something about those places. The food is mediocre at best (Red Lobster is brutal - fish swimming in so much butter/oil/etc. that you can't taste the damn thing), and for the money+hassle of eating out, I just don't want to bother most of the time.

I like a lot of cheap delis and local mom'n'pop joints, and I find that some of the the big-ticket places serve food worth eating (eager to hit Masa, the sushi place in NY, when I'm there - $125/dinner before wine, on the cheap end) - but the middle-of-the-road places, no thank you. I'd rather cook for myself.

Only exceptions to the chain disavowal are the Pappas restaurants, which are fairly expensive/high-class as chains go. I waited/bartended at Pappadeaux for a couple of years and saw how the kitchen worked - clean, reasonably fresh, the only fried seafood I've eaten that didn't taste like grease.