Have you guys ever eaten at a fine dining restaurant or work in one?

[flyfishstout_CO]

You'd be surprised. I work with a lot of country folk turned business people and with some of them you get the impression that all of their dining out experience is with dive restaurants and country buffets. I remember one time on a road trip with some coworkers we stopped at a decently nice steak house for dinner. The country boys in the car liked the idea of getting steak but were very vocal about not wanting to go to a fancy place which they felt this place would be.

After sitting down, one guy went to get up to go to the bathroom and I told him to be prepared to see a bathroom attendant and the dude turned around, sat back down and sighed "nevermind I'll wait". It was like they were offended by nice things and any time they saw something nice they would give each other a look and an eye roll.

The restaurant had a prime rib special so they both ordered that. When the prime rib hit the table they both looked at each other and said something about "place this nice you'd think they'd actually cook the steak for ya" because the prime rib was pink. Both the waiter and I tried to explain prime rib to them and they both insisted he take their prime rib back and cook it thoroughly. Then they said the steak sucked after digging into their grey prime rib. "It's tough and dry". Yeah no #$##.

Their takeaway to this day is that the place sucked and fancy places are a waste of money.

What industry? I’ve worked with a lot of guys in agriculture with similar experiences. Getting to the “big city” is a big deal for them!

 

[Flie]

What industry? I’ve worked with a lot of guys in agriculture with similar experiences. Getting to the “big city” is a big deal for them!

Information technology. These specific guys are IT people in that they can turn screws, mount servers and network gear in racks, and run cables. They aren't very deep on the actual technology side although they will tell you that they are technology experts. Some dunning kruger effect in action.

 

[HawkMachine]

Never experienced dining like this.

I don't get too excited about food, just me. Not big on eating out.

Rather than buying a $500 meal I'd rather buy a $500 fishing rod.

I'm frugal on certain things but can go all out on others.

I would never pay several hundred for food. Nope.

 

[Old_wrestling_fan]

Never experienced dining like this.

I don't get too excited about food, just me. Not big on eating out.

Rather than buying a $500 meal I'd rather buy a $500 fishing rod.

I'm frugal on certain things but can go all out on others.

I would never pay several hundred for food. Nope.

This is me too. ^^ I have eaten in a high end restaurant probably about 5 times in my life and to my recollection, I wasn't paying for any of them, so I was OK with it. I am a simple man and also not a "foodie", so while I am sure that I was eating very, very well, it also really didn't matter to me that much.

I am quite satisfied with a well prepared steak, some good broccoli and a Caesar salad and plenty of iced tea. Anything higher quality than that is probably money wasted on me as it relates to eating. Now then, I probably have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to fishing poles. But even, I shy away from the really big dollar ones and prefer the fairly high quality, reasonably expensive category. My OCD also compels me to have an even number of any given rod/reel combo too...so if you need to borrow a good setup for just about any Iowa or Canada based fishing...I got you covered.

 

[HawkMachine]

But even, I shy away from the really big dollar ones and prefer the fairly high quality, reasonably expensive category. My OCD also compels me to have an even number of any given rod/reel combo too...so if you need to borrow a good setup for just about any Iowa or Canada based fishing...I got you covered.

I'm a gear junkie. My most expensive combo is probably $600. I only have one of those though.

Most of my combos are probably around $300.

I'm looking at a $500 rod right now, just have to talk the wife into it. I want to start throwing swimbaits that weight 1-3 ounces so it takes a special rod. Maybe not a $500 one but it's hella nice and it throws exactly what I'm looking for.

Oh, and give me Culver's any day. LOL

 

[dgordo]

I'm more of a Bib Gourmand diner... and poster

Bib gourmand and the Michelin 1 star list are some of the most reasonable gourmet restaurants.

 

[fredjr82]

On my bucket list - Swim at Circa for a Hawkeyes game and then a Chiefs game the same weekend.

Venetian- We did Delmonico's way back in the day. It was fabulous.

We'll do Philly game Friday and then we'll go somewhere Saturday for the Iowa vs Iowa St game. Might try to find a Hawkeye bar downtown. I love being on the PST time zone for sports. 9AM kicks 😍

 

[hawkeyetraveler]

I’ve done a number of 3 Michelin star restaurants. All the ones in Chicago over past 10+ years, plus several in NYC, Vegas, Paris, Tokyo, Spain. They can be hit or miss, but when they hit it is out of this world. My two favorites were my first trip to Alinea in Chi and Azurmendi near Bilbao.

For the no pic and I it is more about the experience than the meal. If you think of it as a full evening of entertainment akin to going to a major concert or sporting event plus world class food then the price point becomes more palatable. It is definitely a pricey habit though.

Also, agree with others that Chicago's food scene is world class. It definitely punches above it’s weight class.