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

yes

Answer 2

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 3

absolutely

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 c**p......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

When you pay for a meal you are paying for all the service, the chef, the reastaurant's bills, the cleaners and all the wasted fod they throw away. Otherwise, how would any restaurants make any money?

Answer 6

Supply and demand.  If these top restaurants charged less, you would NEVER get a booking.

Answer 7

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 8

depends which one you go to but most are a rip off get a girlfriend like me whos a good cook

Answer 9

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 10

It's cheaper for you to eat at home, not to mention prepared how you like it, and probably much healthier.

Any restaurant you go to, you are paying more for the meal than it would cost to prepare at home.

Answer 11

Oh that is a very big YES.we get ripped off big time.think it is time to boy-cot these restaurants.

Answer 12

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 13

not for me, I get the man to pick up the tab - hey, I'm worth it!

Answer 14

If you don't like to pay these prices, Go to McDonalds.

Answer 15

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 16

Going for a coffee and its over a pound even tea for that matter ,and you see them putting in a tea bag and charge over a £1  thats what i hate ,

A cafe up the town by me is a bakery/coffee shop a buttered scone to take out is 30p to sit in is 80p .

All you are getting extra is a plate and a seat.

Answer 17

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 18

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 19

We are British.  By definition we are being ripped off.  Compared to what the Americans pay for their food and the service they get.  Also, compared to Europe, the swill that they expect us to pay good money for....

Rant.

Answer 20

lol thats a good question! i think you need to think about it more though before you ask other people

Answer 21

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.

Answer 22

I had a milkshake for $8 once but it was bloody good!