Kswck wrote:

> Depends what's meant by "high-calber", the OP is mute on that point...
> at $70 for essentially stir fry I'd call that high caliber prices..
> and since you don't drink... booze, you can do just as well at less
> than half that price at a neighborhood golden wok take out... hey, as
> you say it all ends up the same. But that's not the point... you can
> ride from point A to point B in a Toyota Corolla but it just ain't
> nearly the same ride as in a Chrysler 300 SRT.
>
> There are plenty of very popular eateries that don't cost very much at
> all (The Ground Round on Lung Guyland - essentially a burger joint)
> where folks line up 50 deep and wait two hours for a table, they don't
> take reservations and you can't bribe your way in... they grind the
> meat right out in the open, and they make the best onion rings served
> mountain high, But I don't stand on line to eat anywhere, haven't
> since boot camp... so I've only been a few times at off hours on week
> days (when I didn't see many cars in the parking lot I might hang a
> quick left), a really great burger with all the fixings and a beer
> cost like $15 per... The Ground Round is a high-caliber burger joint.
>
> The Ground Round is a dying joint on LI. It is slowly being replaced with
> Ruby Tuesdays, TGI Fridays, Macaroni Grill-which are essentially the same.
> None of them are worth standing on line for more than 10 minutes.
>
> But if I'm going to pay like $100-$150 a couple for a steak dinner at
> a high caliber place (to me high caliber means proper attire too)
> what's a ten spot to the hostess to ensure a better seating location
> and to get seated ahead of two other couples who are too tight
> fisted. When you tip the hostess word passes at the get-go to all the
> other staff and you do indeed get better service, and better food and
> drink. Everything in life has its price and not all things are
> equal... there are steak dinners and there are Steak Dinners... there
> are dentists and there are Dentists. You can call it chi-chi Asian
> fusion all you like, it's stir fry... I wouldn't spend $70 at any
> restaurant for a small plate of sauted onions and broccoli with a few
> tiny bits of mystery meat swimming in thickened bouillion cube
> sauce... and all "fusion" means is that it's way over priced for
> teensy portions of mediocre food served with a paper umbrella.
>
> The WORST place for an expensive steak is Ruth's Chris. The days of the ads
> of 8" thick steaks like they advertise are long gone. Porterhouse for 2-inch
> and a half on a plate-$95+, a la carte. I'll make it at home for 1/10 the
> price.
>
> The only reason I go out to eat is for a pleasant change of decor and
> attentive service... if I'm not willing to open my wallet for service
> then I can eat just as well if not better at home... in fact I know I
> can always eat better at home but I'll have to do all the labor. I
> don't know why so many folks think labor should be free.. when you tip
> the hostess you are making a tacit contract for their attentitiveness
> to their ensuring your experience is more pleasurable... how is that
> service not labor, labor that requires renumeration... when the
> hostess comes to my table a couple three times during dinner to ask if
> everything is okay that alone is what ensures everything will be okay,
> the other staff aren't blind.
>
> The exhorbitant prices on the menu is for food only, really not a whit
> of difference from the exhorbitant prices on a vending machine, always
> remember that when you go to any restaurant you are not owed any
> consideration other than having food placed in front of you. Anyone
> unwilling to tip really should eat home... if unwilling to cook or
> unable there are literally hundreds of take outs, many will even
> deliver... but then you had better tip, or never order from them
> again. And usually those delivery emplyees in the neighborhood know
> each other and talk to each other, and in turn talk to the cooks as
> well... don't stiff them.
>
>
You need to help readers here identify what you've actually written
yourself versus the quotes of others posted before your response.