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Is this ok or does it come off as cheap?
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amother
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Post Fri, Sep 15 2017, 5:25 am
Am I that out of the loop? I live in Brooklyn and occasionally eat at fancy Manhattan restaurants. The most expensive place I know of is Reserve cut in Manhattan and a quick look at their menu indicates that the cost of eating there is nowhere near $200 per person. Unless of course your ordering expensive bottles of wine or drinks. Other fancy places like Mike's Bistro and Wolf and Lamb also are way under $200. Where on earth is this place that a piece of chicken is $150???
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DrMom




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Sep 15 2017, 5:29 am
Who said the OP lived in a NY?
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amother
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Post Fri, Sep 15 2017, 5:41 am
DrMom wrote:
Who said the OP lived in a NY?


Sure, but I figure that a Manhattan restaurant would be near the top of any expensive restaurant list. Are the restaurants im chicago, los Angeles, London or Israel way more expensive than the priciest Manhattan restaurant?
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petiteruchy




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Sep 15 2017, 7:47 am
I don't care about the restaurant... as long as you're tipping the server an appropriate percentage of the bill, why on earth should it matter to you whether the restaurant is happy with the final amount of the bill?

How is it different from going to a more mid-range restaurant and ordering conservatively because you're not that hungry, or you want to keep the bill low? Some people go to a mid range restaurant and order apps and mains and desserts and multiple drinks, so NO ONE is allowed to order a main and water?

As long as you're keeping the table an appropriate amount of time (ie, not sitting for hours over a side salad and water), and tipping appropriately (on the percentage!) you are not hurting anyone... the only time you have to adjust your tip is if you order with gift certificate, you get something comped, or you stay an inordinate amount of time for the meal you order.

All that said, I wouldn't go. If you can't afford to spend at that level, you won't have a good time. It's really no fun to visit fancy restaurants and then agonize over every choice. The portions will probably be small, so you'll be hungry, and the drinks will all be extremely expensive, and you'll probably end up choosing the cheapest thing on the menu rather than what you really want to try anyway!
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MagentaYenta




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Sep 15 2017, 7:53 am
watergirl wrote:
Except that $70 for a party of 4 in this place IS shorted. This dinner plan would cost $350 like you said, when it should in theory cost over $800. So the waiter would be shorted quite a bit. We dont tip them for the work they put in, carrying the food. We tip them for doing their job. Thats restaurant tipping culture.


Wait staff in often tip down. That means that they tip the busboy who clears the table, sometimes they also tip an expediter who works in the kitchen. It is merely an assumption that a waiter in a fine dining restaurant keeps 100% of their tip. At lower end restaurants tips may be pooled and shared.
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Amarante




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Sep 15 2017, 8:08 am
I personally would not go to a fine restaurant with four people and order one appetizer, two mains and drink water during the dinner hour. If four people order an appetizer and mains, they are going to linger because by definition you are then having two courses.

That is going to be perceived as "cheap" by the wait staff and you are adversely impacting their livelihood if you are taking up four chairs during a time period when four people would be eating more normally. Expensive restaurants generally have less than a turnover as it is assumed people are lingering for a more leisurely experience so each table is more valuable to the waiters.

Are you planning to tip the waiter $150 because that would be the tip he or she would otherwise receive from a table ordering a normal amount of food and drink. I personally would be less concerned with the restaurant. For example, I frequent a restaurant that has a 50% off special between certain hours but I tip the waitress based on the 100% price and not the discounted price. T

If I was that desperate to try out food, I would do so at lunch or perhaps at the cocktail hour to sample appetizers or one main per person and not linger. Or I would go on a Monday night when a restaurant is normally empty and would certainly not go on Saturday or Sunday when the expectation would be that all table are full and turning twice.

Could you post the name of the restaurant so we can look at the menu. Posting the name of the restaurant is not going to destroy your anonymity. By looking at the menu and the hours and perhaps the reviews from yelp, I think we can give better feedback on appropriate protocol.
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Amarante




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Sep 15 2017, 8:19 am
amother wrote:
How is this different than going into an expensive shop just to buy that itty bitty scarf that enticed you and ignoring all the other merchandise?
Everything is for sale. You get to decide what to buy.


That is completely different.

If you go into an expensive store, you are not displacing money the store - or more importantly the SA would be getting because unlike a restaurant, real estate in a store, even a tiny one, is not finite.

The appropriate analogy would be to go into a full service expensive store and having the SA bring you all kinds of things for you to try on and perhaps give you styling tips and then your not buying anything at all deliberately because you planned to purchase elsewhere all along.

Or going to a makeup counter to have your makeup done and then not buying a thing because you just wanted to have your makeup done for a special occasion.

You are not "browsing" in a restaurant or getting an expensive dish to go. There really isn't much less work for a waiter to serve one appetizer instead of four or two mains instead of four. The real work is tending to the table well - not the actual shlepping of an extra two or three plates. LOL LOL Very Happy
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simba




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Sep 15 2017, 8:23 am
It may come off as cheap but who cares. go out and enjoy yourself. Let the waiter thing you are cheap Smile
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nechamashifra




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Sep 15 2017, 9:02 am
Quote:
I don't care about the restaurant... as long as you're tipping the server an appropriate percentage of the bill, why on earth should it matter to you whether the restaurant is happy with the final amount of the bill?


Owning my own business has made me think differently. There are human beings behind every business, and they have their own bills to pay. Sure, you can always find loopholes and discounts and find a way to get what you want. But at what price? Someone else is losing out because you want to get a luxury that you can't afford.
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miami85




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Sep 15 2017, 10:00 am
I'm really not a restauranteur by any means, but I recall from my dating experience that places that really care about their price/table/hour often have a cover charge. If they don't then I don't think you have to worry as much about the business, as long as you don't do it on a frequent basis. I'm sure there will be other parties that will more than compensate for your meager patronage. What are they going to do if they think that you're being cheap?Hunt you down? I would try if possible to go during an off-peak time, then it looks less obvious---maybe you just "happen to be in the neighborhood" and "want to check it out" but its not glaringly a meal time.
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Amarante




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Sep 15 2017, 10:47 am
miami85 wrote:
I'm really not a restauranteur by any means, but I recall from my dating experience that places that really care about their price/table/hour often have a cover charge. If they don't then I don't think you have to worry as much about the business, as long as you don't do it on a frequent basis. I'm sure there will be other parties that will more than compensate for your meager patronage. What are they going to do if they think that you're being cheap?Hunt you down? I would try if possible to go during an off-peak time, then it looks less obvious---maybe you just "happen to be in the neighborhood" and "want to check it out" but its not glaringly a meal time.


In my experience, high end restaurants don't have cover charges because they don't expect shnorrers to infiltrate. It's pretty déclassé to have a stated cover charge in a menu since it subtly demeans the patrons.

Cover charges are most typically at places that have entertainment or attract people who would take up valuable real estate.

Similarly with sharing a plate. Expensive restaurants, at least in my experience, will divide salads, entrees with no charge whereas cheaper restaurants will have a charge for doing so.

At any rate, just because you can do something doesn't mean that it's a gracious way to behave. The OP asked whether it would be cheap or perceived as cheap and I think the wait people would comment in it as being unlucky they had gotten the cheap table and thus their pay for that night would be less for what is essentially the same amount of work.
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