How much does the average restaurant meal cost nowadays?
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Anonymous
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I live in Europe in a fairly expensive and touristy city, and I usually spend an average of $50-60 for dinner in a restaurant (just for myself), which I find pretty expensive, but that does usually include one glass of wine and of course there is no additional tax/tip. Obviously it's possible to spend less for a quick, casual sandwich-type place, or at the other end, the sky is the limit here. I was talking with visitors from back home and they said after all the inflation lately, eating at restaurants is now more expensive than it is here. I was pretty surprised to hear this, as I remember a few years back being able to go out as a family of four for maybe $80-$100 at an average place. But I guess times have changed. When we all go out here, it is usually at least $200 (with only two adults drinking). Is that roughly the same as in DC is now?
Curious what the average cost is for a family of four is at a regular restaurant (not fancy) including drinks, tax, tip? |
Anonymous
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I mean ... it depends on where you.
For low end sit down, let's take an example that DCUM loves to flame: Olive Garden. I'll use it because I think it is typical, pricewise, and you can't argue it isn't low end. At Olive Garden the average entree is about $16 (cheapest being 12.99 and most expensive being 22.49), with free salad and breadsticks, and a glass of wine is about $6. So you can eat there pretty cheaply -- around $25 or so. Up a notch to a neighborhood place that is still casual. In my neighborhood -- let's choose Clare and Don's. Grilled fish dinner starts at 17.50 and we go up to Crab Cakes at 28.75. Let's call an average dinner entree there $23. Small salads are $5. Then add a Margarita for $5. So we are up to about $30 or a little more. Now somewhere nice. Date night-ish. Again in my neighborhood -- Thompson's Italian. A little gem salad is $20. Entrees are going to range from $23 for less expensive pasta dishes to $35 for arctic char fish. Add a glass of wine, let's say $9, which is a low estimate, but they don't have their alc prices online. Now we are looking at, oh, about $55. And of course all of this is before tax and tip. For a family of four, with two being kids? Or ordering from the regular menu? Say they are ordering from the regular menu but not wine, a family of four you will get out of a cheaper place like Olive Garden, including tax and tip, maybe a bit under $100. And you can kind of figure out based on the above how it would go up from there, easily costing a lot more depending on what people order. |
Anonymous
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$100 for 2.
Heck, even our cheap eats for Vietnamese pho and Chinese food at non fancy restaurants now run $50-60 after tip and tax..$100 is easy for 2. |
Anonymous
How does pho cost $50?! |
Anonymous
| Family of 4 at olive garden no alcohol is $96 |
Anonymous
| It sounds roughly the same as your general numbers. |
Anonymous
PP was saying that pho costs $25-$30 per person, so $50 per person is easy at a fancier place or with appetizers or dessert and wine |
Anonymous
Nonsense. DH and I ate at an upscale Japanese restaurant last night. We both had cocktails, we both had soup, he had a sushi appetizer, and we both had entrees. The total was less than $80. If you’re spending “$100 easy” on freaking Chinese food for two, you must be ordering and eating for six. In one night. We got Chinese food a few weeks ago for a family of four, spent $70 and had leftovers. |
Anonymous
Nope, I went to Olive Garden on the road for Thanksgiving trip and family of four with both adults drinking alcohol was under $100. |
Anonymous
Which Japanese restaurant? That seems ridiculously cheap for what you ordered! |
Anonymous
Seriously. Where are they going. $25 with a soda max. |
Anonymous
| So I had WL surgery a few years ago so generally order an app as my meal because it’s smaller. I’ve found even an app now can be in the mid to high teens. |
Anonymous
No way was this an upscale Japanese restaurant. Unless you’re in rural Arkansas. |
Anonymous
Poster lives in the middle of bumblef*ck. |
Anonymous
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It really depends where you live and what you consider good food, OP. We just spent $100, tip included, for 3 people at Mussels Bar in Bethesda (MD suburb of DC), for mussels & fries and tap water. A decent bowl of ramen from an authentic Japanese place near my house starts at $16, more for fancy. Make of that what you will. |