MrZ took me out to eat Friday night at our newest fancy restaurant. We’re a small town so I’m not sure how our “fancy” equates to yours – but any menu that spells out the cost instead of types it as a number? Is fancy in my book. You know, that entree costs “eighteen” instead of “$18.” That’s high-class right there. Because only us peons use the number pad on a keyboard.
Now, MrZ and I like to eat out. We wish we could do it more often. We really like to try new places and enjoy the once or twice a year we justify outrageous prices for a above-normal dining experience. However…I must know the answer to these two questions:
1) Why does expensive food seem to repel expensive beer? This is not the first time we’ve noticed this. We go to a higher-end restaurant and they have a wine list 94 pages long. But their beer selection is surpassed by the Shell station down the street. Michelob Ultra. Bud Light. Yeungling. Samual Adams. THAT’S IT. We shipped in fresh Sea Bass from across the country but god forbid we keep a few imports in stock. I just don’t really like wine, okay? I’ll drink it if I have to. I tried to drink it for awhile, tried several different types to find at least one I liked. (Riesling.) But honestly? I don’t like it. I like a good beer. And Yeungling is fine, I don’t mind it. But if you’re only going to stock domestics, don’t insult me more by charging me FOUR BUCKS for that domestic. And that’s FOUR. Not 4. Because they’re fancy.
2) Why does one have to wear nice clothes to eat nice food. When did that happen? Where in our culture did the first person think, “Wait. We’re not going to use numbers on our menus. Let’s encourage our patrons to wear slacks.” I know that the majority of the world probably likes dressing up. But I kinda hate it. And while I could just say “Screw you!” and wear my blue jeans anyway, I lack the self-confidence to pull that off. I’m typically already insecure when I eat at those places – I feel like I’m being judged. So I’m definitely not brave enough to sit down at the cloth-napkin table dressed more casually than the server.
I would love to find a place that served really high-quality seafood but kept imports on tap and had TVs in every corner. I don’t necessarily want to watch TV when I eat, but that’s how I know I’m allowed to dress casual. When SportsCenter is running on a loop above the bar.
I’m so classy it hurts sometimes.
I’m with you ten-thousand percent. No, not 10,000…
I HATE dressing up. I want to be comfortable. I don’t want to feel judged. I happen to be more comfortable with air-dried hair and no makeup. Others are comfortable in 4-inch heels and dresses. That’s fine, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have the right to the same service & food as they do. It’s prejudiced!
I think you should start a restaurant and I will be your most frequent diner.
I’m right there with you. I do not like to get dressed up. If left to my own devices, I would wear pajamas all day long.
I actually like getting kind of dressed up to go out to eat, but I am completely with you about the beer/wine thing! Beer goes well with food, people like beer, so you think restaurants wouldn’t cut back beer for wine or mixed drinks. I don’t get it. On the other hand, if you want good seafood and laidback atmosphere, I think you have to move to New Orleans.
Okay, this? “Wait. We’re not going to use numbers on our menus. Let’s encourage our patrons to wear slacks.”
CRACKED ME UP. I’m klassy — that’s classy with a “k” — and I know I’d enjoy “fancy” food more if I didn’t have to worry about dressing up, and whether my pantyhose have a run in them, and what kind of bra to wear, and not spilling anything on my dress. Makes it kind of hard to relax.
I am not a fancy food place patron goer. I have gone a couple times, but really? I am the happiest at a greasy spoon…
Word on the beer thing. The hubby and I both really enjoy good beer, and I really don’t like wine at all. And we live in a tourist town, so, while the town is not huge, we do have a decent range of restaurant options. Most with crappy beer selections, though. Used to be that we had to drive an hour to even get to a store that had a decent beer selection, but one finally opened in our town. Best day ever.
Questions, is it snotty of me to ask the server at a restaurant, “What’s your selection of good beers?” I just don’t want them to waste their time listing out all the variants of bud, michelob, etc. ‘Course, the question never stops them from listing those options, so I guess maybe it is snotty…
I LOVE good food and am quite the food snob, but I hate fancy-dress restaurants. I personally don’t think the two things contradict each other. Why should I have to dress up to enjoy a good meal? I promise I’ll have a much better experience–and tip better, ding ding ding–if I’m comfortable! Luckily, we live in an area where there are a lot of restaurants with great food and a casual atmosphere.
I don’t know that I’ve seen a menu with prices spelled out, but I’ve seen upscale restaurants that drop the punctuation. So, instead of “$18.00″ (so bourgeois!), it’s merely “18.” And the price is not separated from the description of the menu item, so you could miss it on first (or second) glance. I guess they figure if you’re that focused on the price, you can’t afford to eat there. *rolls eyes*
My hubby would be with you on the beer thing. I just wish I didn’t get looks from wait staff when I just order water. I hate beer, I’ve never developed a taste for wine, and I like water. Doesn’t mean I’m cheap, it’s just what I like.
You’re cracking me up. I’m pretty sure that it used to be any dinner required dressing up, and the recent decision was that it was actually okay not to dress up for ‘casual dining.’ And, around here, the fancy restaurants still have numbers on their menus. Now I want to find one that doesn’t, but I’m scared of what that would cost. (Sure as heck the entrees wouldn’t be less than $40.)
haha, this post made me laugh because just this past weekend MD and I went out with two friends to a VERY swanky place…and they had 3 local beer to offer. 3! WTF?! 3 kinds of beer…and not even GOOD beer….
So strange to have a chef’s selection menu, at 95$ a person and only offer the choice of 3 beer….
idiots
All I have to say is “AMEN”! Finally, someone has said all that I have thought for years. Maybe this is because I’m from St. Bernard Parish in La., and everybody knows that we have no klass at all, at all. But, I think it is because I was ripped away from there 15 years ago, and haven’t found a good oyster poboy outside of there since!! Our favorite place to eat was called Arabi Food Store, and it was the backside of a grocery store that had the best seafood platter going and stocked several different kinds of beer that were unusual for the time. But, you could also get things like trout almandine, gumbo, various courtbouillons that were as good as any of the fancy places in the french quarter, and do it with shorts or jeans while you watched da saints!! Thanks for sending me down memory lane with this post!!
We don’t really have any good ones here, but brew pubs sound like you guys’ best bet. Interesting, foodie-licious menu selections, pleasant, unpretentious atmosphere, and awesome beer. We have faves in virtually every city around here — ask if you’re ever interested. Actually, one local suggestion — try eating in the bar at 801 Franklin. They have amazing tapas and small plates, a low-key atmosphere, and a great beer selection.
Also, have you guys tried The Nook on Bob Wallace yet? Not really an eatery, but it’s a paradise for beer nerds. No smoking, many of the new high-gravity selections, and they refuse to even serve crappy domestics.
I don’t mind dressing up now – but when I worked and had to do it every day I resented feeling like I had to dress up to spend my money on a nice dinner. And I agree on the beer/wine thing and some restaurants are starting to catch on. I love Yuengling but I can understand wanting to branch out. (Also I hate paying Nine dollars for a 3 oz girlie martini/cosmo thingie.) I’ve seen some restaurants starting to suggest beer pairings with meals as well as wine…unfortunately this comes at a time in my life when i don’t get to go out to dinner at places that don’t have the TVs to cover the noise my children make.
You would love florida….everyone wears shorts everywhere. Even so called fine dining.
i think we need to plan a flo-town trip and visit crocodile ed’s. it’s replaced the ECC but same owner and same good food – just not upscale. i could dig it!
You need a good BrewHouse in the area, BJ’s is a fav around here http://www.bjsbrewhouse.com/
also, Gordon Biersch http://www.gordonbiersch.com/
Both have good food (and not spelled out prices) and good beer.
Wine sucks. Like really sucks. Reisling is ok, but Gewurztraminer is killer. It’s the beer of the wines and I love it. Try it sometime and I think you’ll love it too. It’s no Corona with a wedge of lime, but it will do in a pinch.
I have to laugh – I was going to say come to Colorado, where you see jeans AND formals at the opera, and noone really cares. But when I looked up my best fishhouse/brewpub suggestion – they are no longer serving fish, but “comfort food” with their good beer. Seafood in CO is questionable in general, although I do have a favorite bar for oysters and good beer.
So, even in the land of the microbrew… yup, can’t do it. Can’t serve a full seafood menu with good beer. You are so right. However, we do have lots of other “upscale” restaurants with awesome beer. Or awesome microbreweries with good food (brewpubs- totally the way to solve your conundrum).
I do completely agree with you on restaurants and beer availability/dress code. When you come back to Chicago, I have the BEST place for you. Casual dress code and HUGE beer list that is premium beers. It’s a great place.
Hey, you’re classier than me! I don’t even hit the local Red Lobster. Though I will be taking my kids to eat at Chili’s and Outback when they return home at the end of the month. You and yours should join us!
I rarely ever drink anymore-but before I 99.99% quit*, I too enjoyed beer over wine. Wine is too acidic for me, I think, and it plays havoc with my stomach. A good, dark, rich, frothy mug of stout or one of those really dark porters…that’s what I like (mmm, Guinness). The ale Trader Joe’s releases at christmas is another fave. For a lighter beer, I like Stella Artois.
*In order to quit smoking, and I never really took it up again.
By the way, I think what you’re looking for is a gastropub. They’re supposed to be all the rage in Europe.