are restaurant prices too high? are we being ripped off?

Question

are we paying too much for inadequate and poorly presented food?do the high prices of so called quality eating establishments stop you from eating out and staying in eating a takeaway? what do you think of celebrity chef restaurants that charge high prices? what is a obscene amount to pay?

Answer 1

Defo, I mean, why pay £50 upwards for a bit of meat on a bed of veg which has been 'crafted' by a celeb chef?

Talking of rip offs, Starbucks' venti hot chocolate - £2.59!!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 2

Ethnic restaurants -Turkish, Chinese, Indian etc - are often excellent value and the service is often very pleasant.

In London expensive restaurants are rarely good value. The service is often dreadful- snooty, charmless, and impersonal. The food just doesn´t justify the prices, and the booze is usually even more inflated. I am nearly always disappointed when I go to London´s expensive places. It´s very rarely better than my own cooking (which is not saying much).

The celebrity chef phenomenan is just a way for the industry to exaggerate prices.

I think you are paying mostly for the decor, which, admitedly, is often excellent.

The only costly place I´d reccomend in London is St John´s.

I think that for two courses, coffee and a botttle of wine a price over 100 pounds is silly.

Answer 3

Whilst what I am about to say does not justify the cost of eating out beyond a certain price what you are paying for is this:- the thought of what to offer on the menu, the writing and printing of the menus, the rent, decor, the cleaning, repairs and maintenance of the venue, someone to go out and purchase the raw ingredients, someone to prepare the ingredients, someone to set the table, someone to greet you and take you to your table, someone to take the order and deliver it to the kitchen, someone to do the finishing touches to your meal (along with however many other meals they have on order, all different, all needing to be done well and served hot and within an acceptable period of time from order without knowing in advance what people might order and how many might order the same thing or different things and when they will come in or when they will place their order - their table may be booked for 7.30pm but if they sit and chat for ages and don't order till 8.30pm the slot booked for cooking their meal has passed and the kitchen is thrown out of sync as well as their table being reserved solely for them and cannot take any further bookings on that table on that night). Then you pay towards the waiting staff to deliver your order, return to check that everything is ok and to bring you any condiments or extras, to clear your plates, take out any remaining courses you have ordered, wash the dishes, clean up the kitchen, clean your table and floor beneath, shop again to replenish the stock that has been used etc etc ...........

Of course it is cheaper to prepare a meal at home but think about when you host a dinner party and invite 6 friends over for it. You know how many people to expect, what you are going to serve (the same for all, not 6 different starters, mains and desserts) what time to expect them, what time you will serve them. Think of what goes into making the evening and the meal perfect, think of the shopping, the time involved, the clearing up....... in reality this is what you are paying for.

However I do agree that all too often the overall experience doesn't seem to merit the cost even taking into consideration all of the above but the places that fail to please will lose custom and disappear and those that do the job well can charge what they like because there are people who will pay it.

Answer 4

I went to Jamie's restaurant "Fifteen" in London and it was not worth £200 for 2 people, 3 course inc wine. NO WAY!

Gorden's restaurants are amazing, worth every penny. More often then not I come home from eating out and say to my boyfriend, that was not good value....or the service was crap......or the wine was over priced.....Trouble with me is I want it to be prefect every time!!!!! I know, not possible.

I always prefer to eat out during the week when the chef's and waiting staff are not so stressed and you get better service..food etc

i love eating out but not as much as I like cooking at home.

Answer 5

Supply x Demand. Even with ridiculous prices, the best restaurants in town are always fully booked! To get a table for Saturday at around 8-9 for a 2 hour seating you sometimes have to book more than a month in advance.

Answer 6

Dear wonderboy,

I hate to tell you, but any restaurant you eat at is going to charge you a very high fee for preparing your food! If you were to go to a grocery store and purchase the items you desire and prepare them yourself, you are going to save much money! However, what we continue to see today is Americans who want to live like millionaires, yet they earn an average salary. Credit cards, TV, radio, magazines continue to blind the minds of the average consumer. If Americans were to begin eating all their meals at home again, you would see restaurant prices drop dramatically! Places such as Starbucks and Carribou Cafe, who charge exhorbitant prices for coffe, would lower their prices.
Yes, we are being ripped off. But it seems that most people do not mind. "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

Answer 7

Its the drinks that annoy me - they'll charge you £15 - £20 for a bottle of wine you could pick up in the supermarket for a fiver.

I know the restuarants are businesses with money to make, but surely even all the overheads they incur doesn't justify a 300% mark-up on drinks!

Time to start taking my own!

Answer 8

They may be a little steep i agree,but you pay for what you get!
here in Germany the Restaurant prices have doubled since the arrival of the euro
Moral is if you have a chance to vote for the euro ,DONT

Answer 9

some are and a few are not . in case you "be responsive to" your expenses or have ever grown nutrition and canned it, then you definately are previous to the activity to be responsive to what high quality is. some people don't be responsive to and don; ' t care, some fall into gimmicks of organic and organic and that's overpriced and perchance no longer as healthful as people think of. I keep at 2 shops, the place i be responsive to the place their nutrition is coming from and that i additionally be responsive to that if i purchase adequate on sale it will make it to the subsequent sale for the sturdy high quality. the actual kick interior the pants is a few shops and aspects fee extra, they are in a position to and that they do, what i do no longer comprehend is how in Canada a can of tomato juice is 4dollars and over interior the U. S. that's barely 1dollar. Cookies and bread and noodles made in Canada are additionally low-fee here. I refuse to purchase any fruit or veges from Mexico or different international places, different than US or Canada, and prey they are actually not imported from China. Canned apple juice is from China, and that i see no reason to purchase it from a rustic that pollutants those with products and our usa has diverse apples on the industry. the comparable lawsuits are being made interior the U. S. besides, i be responsive to i purchase particular culmination and veges while in season and are extra fee-effective, and any nutrition I make even a steak dinner is a techniques much less extreme priced and fit then any eating place. particular aspects fee extra by way of fact of gasoline, however the rail nonetheless is sturdy for delivery, i think of they fee extreme by way of fact they are in a position to. 4bucks for 8oz of cereal is poor, and so is 4bucks for a loaf of bread etc. I actual have observed while they have a "sale" with smaller bins at a "low" cost is to divert the strategies from understanding the subsequent time you purchase the product at comprehensive cost you're transforming into a million/2 as lots and don't make the relationship, becuase you're used to the smaller packaging.

Answer 10

I never go to fancy eating establishments because the price is too high> I assumed it was high because of the atmosphere, food quality and presentation. I'll be interested to see what others say.