This is not about kitchens, but it is about dining so…close enough.
Fine Dining
On Saturday, my wife took me out to dinner for my birthday. We went to a beautiful restaurant with great service and to my surprise, 4 of our friends were there waiting for us. It was a nice evening. We had a glass of wine or 2 and some good food, but most importantly, the 6 of us hadn’t gotten together for quite a while so that was nice.
Saturday night’s bill came to about $200 per couple.
We splurged, but it was a really nice time.
Peg’s
It’s Wednesday morning, and I’ve just returned from meeting my friend Mike at Peg’s diner. We meet here every couple of months for breakfast. 2 eggs over easy, ham, home fries and toast with coffee. Mike had an omelet and an orange juice. Mike picked up the tab – only right since he had the orange juice – which came to $14 (for 2 of us).
A full breakfast for 2 with coffees (and an orange juice) for $14.
I love Peg’s. It’s an old diner car. Everything is original (old). But it’s not everyone’s cup of tea.
Requirements
In many of my posts, I jokingly talk about requirements. I spent a career in product development and every successful project begins with defining requirements. So ha ha.
But it really does transfer well to most things that we do. Before we spend time, energy or cash, doesn’t it make sense to think about what we hope to accomplish? What are our requirements?
Dining Out
Dining out is pretty popular. All the kids are doing it.
Even with sky-high inflation, restaurants seem pretty busy. It was standing room only on Saturday night and Peg’s was pretty busy on a Wednesday.
Why?
Some like the convenience. For others it is a way to try food we wouldn’t or couldn’t make at home. For me, it’s mainly social.
I like to get together with friends. Restaurants are a great place to do this.
Very often my key requirement is social.
Food Quality
The food is important.
Peg’s provides a good breakfast. Mike and I have tried a couple of other local places and the food and coffee have both been a little better, but the tab was about $50.
Thus the return to Peg’s
Tony and I routinely go to Napoli Deli. Outstanding food. BYOB. I’d stack the food quality and quantity at Napoli up against most other restaurants. You sit at a card table, but the food can’t miss.
Mike and I tried the Neighborhood Kitchen for lunch. Mediocre food at best and no alcoholic beverages. If you’re going to have bad food, at least give me a beer to wash it down.
We won’t be back.
Food is important.
Cost
Cost is important.
If you have a budget, which I hope you do, you probably have a line item for dining out.
Whether you allocate $10 or $100, would you rather dine out once or twice?
Most people would choose twice.
Cost matters.
Wrap-Up
So, my primary requirement is to get together with friends, share some food and drinks and have a nice time. I also like to try new dishes and I like having someone clean up after. I also discovered that it is a bonus to have alcohol. The beer flights at my favorite BBQ place are a fantastic complement to a great meal, and a beer at the Neighborhood Kitchen could have salvaged a disappointing lunch.
And once we know our requirements, we can find a number of reasonable cost alternatives to meet them. Sometimes it works out sometimes not. But that’s part of the fun.
For me, my primary requirement is social. I don’t need to spend $50 for breakfast, $14 will do nicely.
The $200 dinner was a fantastic night out. I’ll do it again. Not every week or every month, but I will be back.
My point is that we have choices. I love dining out. And I love finding a bargain even more. But I know a lot of people struggle with over-spending on dining out.