Would you agree that the more expensive the restaurant, the better the food?

Sometimes, I would agree to that, but I have been to places where they weren’t expensive, but they blew a fancy restaurant away with taste. And Welcome to Fluther!

Not always. Sometimes you pay high prices for food but it’s more like you’re paying for the ambience and location of the restaurant and possibly for the reputation also. We have a restaurant in downtown Phoenix called The Compass Room. It is a round restaurant on the top of the Hyatt Regency Hotel that rotates 360 degrees while you eat. If offers a nice view of the city and has mellow and romantic lighting with an inviting ambience but the food is just above average and overpriced, in my opinion.

No. I’ve been in some tiny little restaurants/cafes that serve excellent food without all the frou frou.

No.
The better the food, the more expensive the restaurant sometimes.

(Don’t mix up cause and effect)

I think that it just depends, just because it is good at an expensive restaurant, doesn’t mean that it won’t be better at a cheaper place and visa versa.

Yes, usually the more expensive, the better the menu. You can go to a less expensive one and possibly get lucky, but when you pay a high price for it it is invariably good. I prefer those undiscovered places that have good food and reasonable prices.

No. I live near NYC

No, because I’ve had some awesome mexican food (including good salsa) from a fast food-type place (Rubio’s), whereas the salsa and quality of other mexican food items is questionable at the ‘fancier’ restaurants.

Although I have eaten out in the past, I find nothing that compares to a home-cooked meal (unless it’s pizza, which can be difficult to replicate at home).

Also, you can sometimes find good prices on sushi from local asian food stores, whereas eating sushi out is often very pricey. And (at least the place I’m thinking about) only keeps food for a day (or possibly less), so there’s less chance of the fish or rice going off.

@evegrimm whereas the salsa and quality of other mexican food items is questionable at the ‘fancier’ restaurants.

I didn’t realise that there was such a thing as an expensive Mexican Restaurant (outside Mexico). I have learned something new – presumably about American culinary practices.

@DarkScribe, “expensive Mexican Restaurants” may be something that only occurs in the States near Mexico. (You can also get really good cheap Mexican food in the Southwest, so I think it’s more demand than anything else.)

I think part of the issue with the more expensive places (not chain restaurants) is that the food is less regimented than in fast-food type joints: sort of like how, at a Starbucks in California and a Starbucks in New York, a Caramel Macchiato will taste (basically) the same. There’s a “formula” or “recipe”, if you will, that the chain stores aren’t allowed to deviate from.

And to me, expensive is upwards of $50 for 2–3 people. (Is that expensive? I have no idea, as I rarely, if ever, eat out on my own. Usually it’s family taking me out, for my birthday or something.)

@evegrimm “expensive Mexican Restaurants” may be something that only occurs in the States near Mexico.

I lived in Texas for quite a while when young. Lots of Tex/Mex places – but none expensive. Also it differs with area and lifestyle demographic I suppose. If I can get out of lunch for four at less than three hundred dollars (US$260) or dinner for four at less than five hundred dollars (US$435) I consider it it be a reasonable cost. If I am in the country the prices can drop back to a third – but not in the major cities. We were recently voted one of the most expensive countries in the world for normal lifestyle – we have the most expensive housing (based on a percentage of annual income) outside of places like Dubai (and the most expensive cars). According to our politicians we are the only western democracy to have escaped the “depression/recession. Not everyone agrees.

(It is what happens when a Government tries to please everybody. Everybody pays.)

It depends if the restaurant is really good or not.

If you pay $5 or $25 for the same dish, people will generally say that the expensive one tasted better. I think it has to do with how much they have invested in the dish.

It’s similar at art fairs. If you put $50 price on a sculpture, people won’t buy it. But if the same sculpture costs $500, they say it must be good, and buy it and put it in their living room to show all their friends.

Sometimes, yeah, you get what you pay for. (Olive oil is a good example of that.) And sometimes, human psychology tells us that something is better because it cost us more.

The main difference I’ve seen in higher priced places is the attitude of the servers. It seems that in the higher priced places, I either get excellent service, or the server has a bug up their ass, and a snooty attitude.

No, because I’ve eaten in some very expensive restaurants where the food was sub-par.

In places catering to tourists like the coast of Maine, this is very common – the big fancy restaurant right on Route 1 serves horrible food, but charges an arm and a leg for it, because their clientele is mostly tourists who won’t be back. In other places, you pay for the ambiance, the location, and the snooty attitudes more than you pay for the food; some people mistake this for quality, no doubt.

@scamp The main difference I’ve seen in higher priced places is the attitude of the servers. It seems that in the higher priced places,

It needs to be high rated, not just high priced. A restaurant guide is a good investment if you are in an unfamiliar area. You can also use BlackBerry/iPhone apps to check rating as well as make bookings.

No. Logically, we may assume that the more expensive the food the “better quality” it is. The food price is not always relative to it’s cost.

Quality…an interesting argument. Who’s scale judges the quality?

No way.

I can tell if things in restaurants are made there, or if they’re bought. You can do classic “fancy” dishes, and make them amazing, but some people are so bland with it.
@scotielee I think people can judge quality for themselves. And some people actually have nice palates and can tell the difference.

Seems like it; but can’t be always. I had been to some restaurants which offer good quality food than their expensive counterparts.

I think, prices relate more to factors like where the restaurant is (expensive area in city/town), if it’s monopolistic (no other restaurants nearby, so people usually don’t have another option), what food or dishes it offers (some require expensive food items), etc. than it’s quality.
Some of restaurants here have raised their prices after renovation.

Also, there are few restos here which violate above things. Even though it is expensive, it’s become popular, so people keep flowing in.

Edit: Prices can also vary depending upon the food quantity they offer.

No. Not at all.

I’ve been to some fancy-schmancy restaurants through the years where I found the food to be abysmal.

Some chefs have a heavy hand with regard to their seasoning. Some places try to put out low quality ingredients as good food. Sometimes you can taste that a dish has been overcooked or otherwise not cooked properly. Sometimes the food is bland.

Expensive is often over-fussy and has blue food. Many chefs spend too much time decorating their creations.. I don’t need raddish roses, carrot curls, whipped cream, shaved chocolate, fresh raspberries and a mint spring arranged artistically on a dish.

Oh, @gailcalled – I think this little sketch is right up your street on that score.

@aprilsimnel: I swore I wasn’t going to open that until later. However…very funny..

Not at all. Some of the best food in all of Chicago is at decidedly non-expensive, non-fancy places. They make what they make and they do it well. Sometimes expensive food is just bad, sometimes it is all emperor’s new clothes. Sometimes it is fantastic. Depends on the place, but I would never judge that by cost. Only experiences—and not necessarily my own. Yelp can be very helpful in this respect.