'town

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

Let's do the math - without Brian's help on this one.

From the Grocery Store (assuming that the fridge is empty and I'm feeding 2):
(2) 10 oz. tenderloin - $18
(1) bunch asapragus - $5
(1/2) lb. red potatoes - $2
(2) btls decent wine - $40
(1) bag charcoal - $8
(1) btl lighter fluid - $5
(1) pk salt & pepper - $2
(1) btl olive oil - $6
(2) hrs of my time (varies from person to person) - $130
Total for me to cook steaks at home - $216 (before tax & tip)(doesn't include washing any dishes)

I think that I'll take my chances with an 'EXPENSIVE' restaurant @ $120 for 2 people.

You see what you want to see.

[RockStar]

@non-redneck
You can do better than $20/bottle for incredible wine. You can get phenomenal Argentine malbecs for under $10 and I know a great Chilean merlot that drinks like a cab for under $12 as well. Bonus for not having to drink typical new world, fruit forward wine. *yawn* I like Cali/Oregon wines, but they've gotten boring and overpriced. South America is where it's at....

Oh, and your labor costs @ $65/hr to cook are too high. You're fired. LOL

Love me some 'town...maybe tonight.

[ChriswUfGator]

Let's do the math - without Brian's help on this one.

From the Grocery Store (assuming that the fridge is empty and I'm feeding 2):
(2) 10 oz. tenderloin - $18
(1) bunch asapragus - $5
(1/2) lb. red potatoes - $2
(2) btls decent wine - $40
(1) bag charcoal - $8
(1) btl lighter fluid - $5
(1) pk salt & pepper - $2
(1) btl olive oil - $6
(2) hrs of my time (varies from person to person) - $130
Total for me to cook steaks at home - $216 (before tax & tip)(doesn't include washing any dishes)

I think that I'll take my chances with an 'EXPENSIVE' restaurant @ $120 for 2 people.

You see what you want to see.

Your math's off.

I get a flat of 4 or 5 1.5lb T-bones from Costco for a smidge over $20, and the other problem with your post is that with the exception of the meat and asparagus you'll never use all those items up on a single meal. Almost all of it will be left over to last through months of cooking at home. So your actual cost, even assuming you can find meat that overpriced to stick with your numbers, is the $23 for the steak and asparagus, plus maybe $3 total worth of the other items that you used on that meal. So $26...

As to the wine, a bottle of wine that really costs $20 is probably going for $60 on town's wine list, so you just lost some ground and went backwards on that one. When you back out the markup you would have paid on that bottle of wine at town', you've already saved more than the entire $26 you spent on food.

As far as your time, wtf's up with that? Everybody's time is worth money, but if I'm sitting at my dining table or sitting in a restaurant, my time is being taken up either way. One way I'm waiting for my own food to be done, the other way I'm waiting for town' to finish making my food. Either way, my time is spent waiting on food, right?

By that logic should town' pay me for eating there, since 2 hours of my time is worth more than the meal?

[TheProfessor]

Why are people nickle and diming a restaurant.  If you don't like the prices then don't eat there.

[ChriswUfGator]

Why are people nickle and diming a restaurant.  If you don't like the prices then don't eat there.

Because two posters want to argue with me that a restaurant getting hundreds of bucks for dinner for 2 is such a steal.

And by your own logic, if you don't like this thread then don't read it, right?

[TheProfessor]

I'd like to read it if something constructive were written.

[konstantconsumer]

Hundreds of bucks for dinner for two?  Maybe my perspective is way off but $100 for two people for a nice dinner seems, frankly, cheap.  In NY you'd be lucky to eat for $100 at a halfway decent place.

[BridgeTroll]

And that is the point really.  Jax is flooded with affordable, quick and easy blah/blech places to eat.  What we lack are "Special" places... memorable places.  A place for a first date, anniversary, guest from out of town.  Comparing prices at a Diner with what you could purchase and prepare yourself is silly and should not even be part of the discussion.

I cannot eat at Orsay or 'town or bb's or Aix every time I go out to eat.  Those places compete for my "lets go somewhere special" dinner.

'town is an awesome addition to Jacksonville's dining scene and I recommend it to everyone.

[RockStar]

Not to keep this argument alive, but I thought I'd share my bill from last night @ 'town - dinner for two:

1 Eggplant Brushetta $5
1 3 for 33 deal $33 (we shared the chop salad, scallops and hangar steak...all were phenom)
1 Glass of Notro Torrontes $7
1 Glass of Tormaresca Neprica $8
2 Espresso $6
$63.13 tax included. Service was excellent so my bill finished @ $80.
Considering the food/service/atmosphere, I think that's a steal.
Just my opinion though.

[ChriswUfGator]

Not to keep this argument alive, but I thought I'd share my bill from last night @ 'town - dinner for two:

1 Eggplant Brushetta $5
1 3 for 33 deal $33 (we shared the chop salad, scallops and hangar steak...all were phenom)
1 Glass of Notro Torrontes $7
1 Glass of Tormaresca Neprica $8
2 Espresso $6
$63.13 tax included. Service was excellent so my bill finished @ $80.
Considering the food/service/atmosphere, I think that's a steal.
Just my opinion though.

Honestly it isn't my goal to bash this place. But this is the second time I've had to point this out in this thread, if the only way you can make a place sound reasonable is by splitting a meal between multiple people, then that is pretty much my whole point here in a nutshell. The only people who have given a cost rundown in this thread have both been forced to split meals to make the place come out sounding reasonable.

Most people order separately, and the truth is that your bill would have been much higher if both members of your party had each ordered separately. And $6 for a plain espresso is nuts. So's $7 for a class of Notro, I don't think that Argentine property even produces a selection that sells for more than $5-$6 for the whole bottle.

I not trying to keep this debate alive, either. And I am probably being too hard on the place, as if people are willing to pay the price then who am I to judge? Everyone is entitled to their preference. But it is certainly a bit humorous that the only people saying the place is reasonable are all ordering the special and then splitting it in order to keep the bill barely under $100. I am not out to knock the place, this all started way back at the beginning of the thread when I said I just didn't understand their price point and the debate kind of ran out of hand from there. But I do still stand by my observation.

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

Nobody goes to a high-end restaurant to order a super-cheap special with a side of nothing and an ice-water.

AND

So understanding that's the case, then the reality is that this place is pricey for what's delivered.

Sooooooo, now I'm confused.  Are you expecting inexpensive or high-end?

In my line of business, not the restaurant industry, I can give my customers 2 out 3 things -everytime - without question.  They have to choose 2 of:  Quality, Cost & Speed of Delivery.  I think the same applies here.

[ChriswUfGator]

Nobody goes to a high-end restaurant to order a super-cheap special with a side of nothing and an ice-water.

AND

So understanding that's the case, then the reality is that this place is pricey for what's delivered.

Sooooooo, now I'm confused.  Are you expecting inexpensive or high-end?

In my line of business, not the restaurant industry, I can give my customers 2 out 3 things -everytime - without question.  They have to choose 2 of:  Quality, Cost & Speed of Delivery.  I think the same applies here.

What I've stated is abundantly clear; In my opinion the price outruns the product. What's so confusing?

[avs]

These are small farms, mostly organic.  They aren't subsidized by big brother so OF COURSE its more expensive.  But the savings are in less gas used to move resources around and eating organic food has tremendous health benefits, thus lowering health care costs.  I will gladly pay for the REAL cost to produce food and the saving of resources and reduction in health care costs.

Imagine the impact if just 10-20% of our restaurants committed to sustainability.

[RockStar]

Not to keep this argument alive, but I thought I'd share my bill from last night @ 'town - dinner for two:

1 Eggplant Brushetta $5
1 3 for 33 deal $33 (we shared the chop salad, scallops and hangar steak...all were phenom)
1 Glass of Notro Torrontes $7
1 Glass of Tormaresca Neprica $8
2 Espresso $6
$63.13 tax included. Service was excellent so my bill finished @ $80.
Considering the food/service/atmosphere, I think that's a steal.
Just my opinion though.

Honestly it isn't my goal to bash this place. But this is the second time I've had to point this out in this thread, if the only way you can make a place sound reasonable is by splitting a meal between multiple people, then that is pretty much my whole point here in a nutshell. The only people who have given a cost rundown in this thread have both been forced to split meals to make the place come out sounding reasonable.

Most people order separately, and the truth is that your bill would have been much higher if both members of your party had each ordered separately. And $6 for a plain espresso is nuts. So's $7 for a class of Notro, I don't think that Argentine property even produces a selection that sells for more than $5-$6 for the whole bottle.

I not trying to keep this debate alive, either. And I am probably being too hard on the place, as if people are willing to pay the price then who am I to judge? Everyone is entitled to their preference. But it is certainly a bit humorous that the only people saying the place is reasonable are all ordering the special and then splitting it in order to keep the bill barely under $100. I am not out to knock the place, this all started way back at the beginning of the thread when I said I just didn't understand their price point and the debate kind of ran out of hand from there. But I do still stand by my observation.

$6 was for 2 double espressos. So $3/each.

[ChriswUfGator]

Not to keep this argument alive, but I thought I'd share my bill from last night @ 'town - dinner for two:

1 Eggplant Brushetta $5
1 3 for 33 deal $33 (we shared the chop salad, scallops and hangar steak...all were phenom)
1 Glass of Notro Torrontes $7
1 Glass of Tormaresca Neprica $8
2 Espresso $6
$63.13 tax included. Service was excellent so my bill finished @ $80.
Considering the food/service/atmosphere, I think that's a steal.
Just my opinion though.

Honestly it isn't my goal to bash this place. But this is the second time I've had to point this out in this thread, if the only way you can make a place sound reasonable is by splitting a meal between multiple people, then that is pretty much my whole point here in a nutshell. The only people who have given a cost rundown in this thread have both been forced to split meals to make the place come out sounding reasonable.

Most people order separately, and the truth is that your bill would have been much higher if both members of your party had each ordered separately. And $6 for a plain espresso is nuts. So's $7 for a class of Notro, I don't think that Argentine property even produces a selection that sells for more than $5-$6 for the whole bottle.

I not trying to keep this debate alive, either. And I am probably being too hard on the place, as if people are willing to pay the price then who am I to judge? Everyone is entitled to their preference. But it is certainly a bit humorous that the only people saying the place is reasonable are all ordering the special and then splitting it in order to keep the bill barely under $100. I am not out to knock the place, this all started way back at the beginning of the thread when I said I just didn't understand their price point and the debate kind of ran out of hand from there. But I do still stand by my observation.

$6 was for 2 double espressos. So $3/each.

My mistake, that price is fair.