Fancy Restaurants.........love em or hate em?

[US Egg]

I don’t see any difference in U.S./Euro restaurants, the touch screen kiosk dining experience is about the same to me.

[Augie]

16 minutes ago, US Egg said:

I don’t see any difference in U.S./Euro restaurants, the touch screen kiosk dining experience is about the same to me.

 

It’s basically the same toys in the Happy Meal.  🤷‍♂️

[Saxum]

1 hour ago, Sweats said:

So, what started this thread is that me and my wife went to another fancy place last night........sat down at 5pm, got out of there around 10:30 pm.

There were 5 courses, so that's about 1 hour per course.

It kills me having to sit anywhere or any place for 5 hours, let alone for food. The food was good (i had the Wagyu steak), but that's a long time to be just sitting there for food.

 

Also, me and my wife will polish off about 2 bottles of wine.......that's $50 a bottle, so $100 of our actual $450 bill last night was for 2 bottles of wine alone.

 

I really don't know how i feel about this.

 

Chinese family meals are sometimes like that with course after course sometimes with little bowls of sherberts to clean taste and waiters who will come to table emptying the main dishes into bowls before they take bowl away.

[Johnny Hammersticks]

I’ve been to a handful for Michelin star rated restaurants in my life, and have really enjoyed the experience every time.
 

Most recently, my wife and I visited a college roommate of mine in NYC.  One of the nights we went to Thomas Keller’s Per Se and did the 9 course tasting menu.  Just to make reservations I had to put down an $800 deposit (200/person), and I believe the bill was around $450/person without tip.

 

My buddy and I ended up splitting the bill, and it was north of $1300 per couple but it was well worth it.  Once in a lifetime experience.  No single ingredient was used twice during the meal.  I thought that was kind of cool.

[Augie]

1 hour ago, Johnny Hammersticks said:

I’ve been to a handful for Michelin star rated restaurants in my life, and have really enjoyed the experience every time.
 

Most recently, my wife and I visited a college roommate of mine in NYC.  One of the nights we went to Thomas Keller’s Per Se and did the 9 course tasting menu.  Just to make reservations I had to put down an $800 deposit (200/person), and I believe the bill was around $450/person without tip.

 

My buddy and I ended up splitting the bill, and it was north of $1300 per couple but it was well worth it.  Once in a lifetime experience.  No single ingredient was used twice during the meal.  I thought that was kind of cool.

 

I mentioned the French Laundry earlier, also a Thomas Keller creation. I’ve never been to anything quite like that, but I’m sure you can easily get into that price range with a deal like that. Maybe one day I’ll get to have that kind of experience. 

 

I have a friend who was invited to his neighbors 80th BDay party at a fancy restaurant in Sarasota. There were 20 guests, and the BDay boy’s son was  filthy rich. He not only picked up the tab, but brought two bottles of wine born the same year as dad. Those 80 year old bottles of wine were $10,000 EACH! Everybody got a taste, and I’m told it was “fine”. That is just FU money right there. 

[Saxum]

1 hour ago, Augie said:

 

I mentioned the French Laundry earlier, also a Thomas Keller creation. I’ve never been to anything quite like that, but I’m sure you can easily get into that price range with a deal like that. Maybe one day I’ll get to have that kind of experience. 

 

I have a friend who was invited to his neighbors 80th BDay party at a fancy restaurant in Sarasota. There were 20 guests, and the BDay boy’s son was  filthy rich. He not only picked up the tab, but brought two bottles of wine born the same year as dad. Those 80 year old bottles of wine were $10,000 EACH! Everybody got a taste, and I’m told it was “fine”. That is just FU money right there. 

 

I have 6 bottles of imported scotch approximately 40 years old which according to market check are $700 a bottle and I will not even open it because I do not want to waste money.  Personally I'd find a better use for the money for my palate is not so discerning. 

[ICanSleepWhenI'mDead]

5 hours ago, Augie said:

 

 That is just FU money right there. 

 

FU money is extremely satisfying, because it liberates you.  You can get there more quickly if you don't spend $450/couple on dinner/wine.

[BringMetheHeadofLeonLett]

Just a story- not meant to answer the OP's pressing question... Somewhere around maybe 2007 while I was living in SF and before the tech invasion had gutted that town, I was hanging out on a weekend afternoon with a couple gals in my building, and we decided to catch a drink or 2 at a locals dive.  It was a good Saturday, just laughing and getting a bit plastered.  At some point a guy named Paul shows up and decides he'd like to join us.  Paul hung out in my neighborhood from time to time and was an ok enough guy, entertaining enough but not someone I went out of any way to hang around too much- just someone on my periphery.
 

He was stupid rich- a couple years prior he'd sold some tech company for 200 million, and was working on the next one to sell off.  I didn't give a crap about the tech world (still don't) and he developed stuff around data mining, so, well, I've never been too impressed by legalized thievery- but he was alright in his own way and I know somebody else woulda done it if he hadn't. 
 

Anyway, he joins us- I'm not sure what he'd been up to that day, but the 3 of us were at least 80% in the bag at that point- then he asks if we want to go grab a bite to eat... he knows this great restaurant in Pacific Heights... 'so much better than Gary Danko... nobody goes to Gary Danko anymore'.   That was a very true statement, in fact I didn't go there so much anymore that I'd never gone in the first place.  

 

Well, sure, why not.  So he drives us across town in his custom built BMW with 200 cylinders, bomb-resistant windows, and seats with adjustable crotch-holders... something like that.  It took 'em a year to build it after he visited the design team to get everything just oh so right, he said.  
 

And they had.  Despite being heavier than a Humvee with full armament, that sucker flew!

 

Anyway, we arrive at the restaurant, and with Paul we were now in a category which went beyond any dress requirements.  Not that we were total slobs, but suffice it to say we'd left our dining attire at home.  The girls were super-cute by nature at least, but me, I just has to rely on my rugged masculinity.
 

Frankly, I'm not entirely sure of anything we had to eat, but I do remember the wine.  After the staff greets us all with an effusive appreciation for our presence, we get seated.  The waiter says they still have a few bottles of Paul's favorite '74 Bordeaux, so we start there.  
 

Yeah, that was a 4 grand bottle, and I did my absolute damndest to savor... and at least understand what I was drinking.   I'm still an equal opportunity alcohol swiller, but I definitely know more about wine now than I did back then.  Add in the previous probably 5+ Irish whiskeys and certainly more than one beer, and oh I'm sure I just didn't get it.  
 

I think Paul wanted to save the remaining '74's for another night, so we switched to the cheap stuff- the 1978's at about 2 grand apiece.

 

2 of those and he had himself an 8 grand wine tab plus god knows what for food.  I had a decent job, paid the apartment rent and left enough for quite a bit of entertainment, so in fairness

 

I completely left the bill on him.  I didn't even pretend I could be of any use with that one.  )

 

 

Now that I'm older and wiser, and to answer the OP- the wine tab should be higher than the food tab.   )   Hit a grand a meal- they'll be less frequent, but so much more special that way.  

[muppy]

has anyone asked if it depends on whose dime it is? It truly makes a huge difference for me personally. My max price range for a single meal tops at say $100 per person. Even that is to me a HUGE SPEND for a meal. More than that makes me not feel so great about it. Just being real.

 

Now when our financial guy offers us luxury box seats plus sushi tacos and free drinks at Petco I can only imagine how much per person that costs.  Not  restaurant perse but trust me I enjoy THAT immensely

 

the most expensive meal we enjoyed recently and we WILL do it again was a Brazilian steakhouse which was amazing and all you can eat type place. I'll find a link 

https://www.yelp.com/biz/galpão-gaucho-brazilian-steakhouse-san-diego-3

 

so bottom line I enjoy finer things but I'm also frugal. It's a rub.

[Sweats]

My financial guy used to take me out to classy places all the time to discuss my finances and every time i would offer to pick up the bill, he would always pay it......every single time.

 

The one night we went to a fancy restaurant and then went out to see the strippers and i went to pick up the bill and he pays it again, the whole bill.....i told him that i didn't feel right that he always paid, and he says, "I'm YOUR financial guy, handling YOUR money......it's YOUR money that is paying these bills".

 

Once that light went on and the realization hit home, we went to coffee shops after that.

 

True story.

[Saxum]

2 minutes ago, Sweats said:

My financial guy used to take me out to classy places all the time to discuss my finances and every time i would offer to pick up the bill, he would always pay it......every single time.

 

The one night we went to a fancy restaurant and then went out to see the strippers and i went to pick up the bill and he pays it again, the whole bill.....i told him that i didn't feel right that he always paid, and he says, "I'm YOUR financial guy, handling YOUR money......it's YOUR money that is paying these bills".

 

Once that light went on and the realization hit home, we went to coffee shops after that.

 

True story.

 

Usually financial guy is getting commission of some sort as part of his job especially if it is a no fee one sometimes paid by product you are buying.  We bought $100K in annuities last week and we had to choose between class A which there was a commission up front and class C which there was not.   Class A in addition to the voting rights had a higher promised return rate and higher cap.  I asked him to calculate some time figures and he did the reports for the two we comparing and after 7 years the projected returns were higher after 7 years.  With savings goal of 10 years it made more sense to buy the Class A.

His face was straight but I could tell he was happy about it.  He did a lot of work getting previously annuities transferred ensuring tax savings are not lost so I was happy he was going to get a commision but he has never bought me such a meal. 

[Sweats]

22 minutes ago, Saxum said:

 

Usually financial guy is getting commission of some sort as part of his job especially if it is a no fee one sometimes paid by product you are buying.  We bought $100K in annuities last week and we had to choose between class A which there was a commission up front and class C which there was not.   Class A in addition to the voting rights had a higher promised return rate and higher cap.  I asked him to calculate some time figures and he did the reports for the two we comparing and after 7 years the projected returns were higher after 7 years.  With savings goal of 10 years it made more sense to buy the Class A.

His face was straight but I could tell he was happy about it.  He did a lot of work getting previously annuities transferred ensuring tax savings are not lost so I was happy he was going to get a commision but he has never bought me such a meal. 

 

 

 

My financial guy only made money with me when i cashed out, however, we would get together to go over what was hot in the market and decide where to keep shuffling the money around......sometimes it was Science and Research in Germany for 6 months (if rumors were abound with upcoming European medicine) and then we would shift it over to North America and Japan for Technology for a couple of months, but  we were constantly shifting the money around from one thing or another.

 

It was definitely in my financial guy's best interest for me to keep making money and keep shifting it around to where we saw the biggest gains.

When i eventually cashed out about 5 years later (i needed a mortgage and used my capital gains), the financial guy took his percentage (i forget the amount). The whole 5 years that we were investing, i paid him zero money (only upfront for the initial investment) and nothing else was paid until i cashed out.....almost like an RRSP, but with a lower percentage paid.

 

I know that even though i would get the bulk amount at the end when i cashed out, he was still making money, on my money from quarterly dividends on his end (which was essentially my money) that i wouldn't see until i completely cashed out.

So, when he paid all the restaurant bills and he said it was MY money, he was absolutely correct that it was MY money.

 

 

[Mark Vader]

On 11/2/2024 at 6:44 AM, Sweats said:

 

 

 

This is exactly it.

People in NA don't understand the European dining experience......It's not just about getting in, getting your food and getting the hell out. It's about the actual dining experience, where you sit down and enjoy the ambience, the decor, the atmosphere, the food presentation, etc........(my wife loves it, i don't understand it).

I've been to many places like this in NA, and I've never been rushed to get out when I've finished eating.

[ICanSleepWhenI'mDead]

1 hour ago, Sweats said:

 

 

 

My financial guy only made money with me when i cashed out, however, we would get together to go over what was hot in the market and decide where to keep shuffling the money around......sometimes it was Science and Research in Germany for 6 months (if rumors were abound with upcoming European medicine) and then we would shift it over to North America and Japan for Technology for a couple of months, but  we were constantly shifting the money around from one thing or another.

 

It was definitely in my financial guy's best interest for me to keep making money and keep shifting it around to where we saw the biggest gains.

When i eventually cashed out about 5 years later (i needed a mortgage and used my capital gains), the financial guy took his percentage (i forget the amount). The whole 5 years that we were investing, i paid him zero money (only upfront for the initial investment) and nothing else was paid until i cashed out.....almost like an RRSP, but with a lower percentage paid.

 

I know that even though i would get the bulk amount at the end when i cashed out, he was still making money, on my money from quarterly dividends on his end (which was essentially my money) that i wouldn't see until i completely cashed out.

So, when he paid all the restaurant bills and he said it was MY money, he was absolutely correct that it was MY money.

 

 

 

If I'm understanding your post (might not be because some of it was a little vague), you (1) paid him a fee or commission up front for him to handle your money, (2) paid him either a fee or a percentage of the profits when you "cashed out" after five years, (3) let him keep the quarterly dividends paid on the stocks that he bought for you rather than adding them to your account, and (4) let him use funds in your account to periodically buy extremely expensive dinner/wine for the 2 of you.

 

Just because you never came out of pocket to pay him at any time other than day 1 when you first invested and day (365*5)= 1825 when you cashed out, doesn't necessarily mean he wasn't getting a commission every time he sold "Science and Research in Germany" and re-invested the funds in "Technology in Japan."  Constantly shifting your money around every few months, if he was getting a commission for doing it, is sometimes called "churning" the account.  Are you sure he didn't get a commission every few months when he sold one type of investment and re-invested the funds someplace else?

 

If you made a bunch of money with this guy that's great (if you had "capital gains" it sounds like the investments did make money), but did you ever calculate what NET annualized rate of return you got over the 5 years and see how that compared to what the S&P 500 did over the same time frame?  I'm guessing no, but I could be wrong.

 

Free advice is worth what you pay for it, but my free advice is that anybody who only casually follows Wall Street might want to read "Where Are The Customers' Yachts?"

 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/288897.Where_Are_the_Customers_Yachts_

 

 

[DrDawkinstein]

On 11/1/2024 at 10:57 PM, Sweats said:

So, the old place we used to live was basically a backwoods, hillbilly redneck town with only about 2 restaurants in town.......and in those 2 places, you had your choice of beer, nachos, wings, burgers and more beer.

 

The new place we moved to is way upscale with a fine dining restaurant on every corner. My wife is really into that sort of thing, so i take her out to these fancy places. It's not really my thing, but she enjoys it.

The average cost for just the two of us to go to a fancy restaurant around here is about $450......that's just the two of us and we end up sitting in these places for about 4-5 hours because you go for the upscale food and the classy experience.

When i sit down to eat, i eat and i'm done.......i don't like dragging my eating out over 4-5 hours. I mean, just give me my food and i'll be on my way. I don't really care what my meal looks like, so you don't need to "wow" me with a nice presentation.

 

I actually kind of miss a restaurant that serves beer, nachos, wings, burgers, etc. and i have yet to find anything like that around here.

 

Fancy restaurants..........love em or hate em?

 

I need links because I like fancy restaurants, but even at some of the more expensive restaurants in Atlanta, it's very tough for two of us to run it up that high (and we've tried hard!).

[Sweats]

13 minutes ago, ICanSleepWhenI'mDead said:

 

If I'm understanding your post (might not be because some of it was a little vague), you (1) paid him a fee or commission up front for him to handle your money, (2) paid him either a fee or a percentage of the profits when you "cashed out" after five years, (3) let him keep the quarterly dividends paid on the stocks that he bought for you rather than adding them to your account, and (4) let him use funds in your account to periodically buy extremely expensive dinner/wine for the 2 of you.

 

Just because you never came out of pocket to pay him at any time other than day 1 when you first invested and day (365*5)= 1825 when you cashed out, doesn't necessarily mean he wasn't getting a commission every time he sold "Science and Research in Germany" and re-invested the funds in "Technology in Japan."  Constantly shifting your money around every few months, if he was getting a commission for doing it, is sometimes called "churning" the account.  Are you sure he didn't get a commission every few months when he sold one type of investment and re-invested the funds someplace else?

 

If you made a bunch of money with this guy that's great (if you had "capital gains" it sounds like the investments did make money), but did you ever calculate what NET annualized rate of return you got over the 5 years and see how that compared to what the S&P 500 did over the same time frame?  I'm guessing no, but I could be wrong.

 

Free advice is worth what you pay for it, but my free advice is that anybody who only casually follows Wall Street might want to read "Where Are The Customers' Yachts?"

 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/288897.Where_Are_the_Customers_Yachts_

 

 

 

 

 

Alright, here's what i know about finances and investing........diddly squat.

 

I gave my finance guy 10k and we initially put it into some fairly aggressive markets. About every 3-6 months, we would sit down together and discuss options that were on the rise, so we would split them up and diversify into whatever was hot and shuffle out of whatever was getting cold......science and technology is always hot cause new technologies and new medicines are being developed every day, we just had to figure out which country was making the most progress in these fields.

 

If my finance guy was taking a quarterly "cut" for his time or commission (which i'm sure he was but was never discussed) then it meant nothing to me as i just wanted to see the "bottom line" for when i eventually cashed out.

 

I cashed out 5 years later with enough money to pay 40% down on my mortgage and have cash left over to furnish my house.

 

In my eyes, it was a win-win for everybody.

 

 

[Ned Flanders]

I've watched the three seasons of The Bear, and the restaurant Carmy has opened up is a place I'd never go to...we go out to eat when we're hungry and the dishes prepared at that restaurant just don't appeal to me...simply put, I'd never go to a place like that, but that's me.

 

Our family rarely goes out to dinner anymore...it's just too damn expensive and half the time, I leave disappointed while dropping $150-200 for a meal for four.

 

We have a great local chain here in the Northern Virginia area called Great American Restaurants.  It's about a dozen spots, the food is always good, the service is excellent and you leave feeling you didn't get ripped off...our nights out usually consist to those restaurants.

[Augie]

15 minutes ago, Ned Flanders said:

I've watched the three seasons of The Bear, and the restaurant Carmy has opened up is a place I'd never go to...we go out to eat when we're hungry and the dishes prepared at that restaurant just don't appeal to me...simply put, I'd never go to a place like that, but that's me.

 

Our family rarely goes out to dinner anymore...it's just too damn expensive and half the time, I leave disappointed while dropping $150-200 for a meal for four.

 

We have a great local chain here in the Northern Virginia area called Great American Restaurants.  It's about a dozen spots, the food is always good, the service is excellent and you leave feeling you didn't get ripped off...our nights out usually consist to those restaurants.

 

I just looked at Randy’s Prime and that looked nice while still being reasonable. My wife and I rarely go to dinner with just the two of us, but it’s something we do more of with family and friends. We had a running gag with one couple about who could come up with the next, nicest restaurants that were new to us. It became a game, and it was fun. 

 

Having said that, with some groups we prefer to be at home and cook and eat at our own pace. That way we avoid their little “formula” for how the process works to get the tables turned. At home we can keep our own schedule and it’s more relaxed. Oh, and it is cheaper.  It’s nice to have a mix of staying home and going out, but we are never looking to break the bank. The food is like the wine, I can’t tell the difference between the $100 version or the $1,000 version.  🤷‍♂️

[Saxum]

26 minutes ago, Ned Flanders said:

We have a great local chain here in the Northern Virginia area called Great American Restaurants.  It's about a dozen spots, the food is always good, the service is excellent and you leave feeling you didn't get ripped off...our nights out usually consist to those restaurants.

 

Since you live in Annandale you are lucky for Duck Chang has the best Peking Duck in area.  It is a restaurant presidents have eaten at. We have been going there for almost thirty years.  The original owner Duck Chang, who passed away in 2005, carved my daughter's first Peking Duck at our table.  His son Peter Chang runs restaurant and his other son had a restaurant in Alexandria which has since closed due to owner's health.

[Ned Flanders]

24 minutes ago, Saxum said:

 

Since you live in Annandale you are lucky for Duck Chang has the best Peking Duck in area.  It is a restaurant presidents have eaten at. We have been going there for almost thirty years.  The original owner Duck Chang, who passed away in 2005, carved my daughter's first Peking Duck at our table.  His son Peter Chang runs restaurant and his other son had a restaurant in Alexandria which has since closed due to owner's health.