Am I the only one fed up with paying $20 for a plate of pasta?
 

How high is up? Is it just me or are restaurant prices out of sight? I can understand the astronomical prices at special occasion restaurants, but is it really necessary to spend over $100 a couple for the pedestrian food (and small portions) served at most of the run of the mill restaurants? The last time I checked you could still buy a pound of high quality pasta for less than $2.00 a pound.

Look, if it bothers you to pay non-pasta charges for pasta, why don't you get your $2 pasta (actually freshmade would be better than the dry), stay at home and cook it? You can make a nice sauce for under $3, and add a decent red for $12-$15. And a salad for a few more dollars, plus bread. I'm not sure what the real issue is here ... because the solution is so simple. Do you cook? Ciao

Ever hear the phrase "what the market will bear"? <BR>Most businesses price their products/services based on target prices which they believe people are willing to pay. If people buy in droves, prices go up. If not, they drop. <BR> <BR>Case in point is home prices. Watch boom and bust cycles play out like in Econ 101. <BR> <BR>If you don't like the price of a restaurant, vote your opinion by giving your business to someone you believe is 'doing things right'.

I'm with you on that one Fedup! <BR> <BR>Add crappy service with attitude on top of it and I'm up on my soapbox off on a rant. I avoid these types of places on general principle now. It's better for my stress level.

Hey, just a follow-up question: Ess and FedUp, clue the rest of us in ... how do you spot one of those rip-off pasta places, so you can give it a pass? Help me get the picture: you're in your truck, in the drive-thru lane, and the voice comes over the box "What would you like"? What tips you off, so you can throw it into reverse and haul ass out of there? Do you do some type of "big meal" calculation ... is that your secret? Ciao

Well, all pastas, and all restaurants, are not alike. $20 for spaghetti with marinara, and crappy service? Too much. $20 for rigatoni with duck confit, spinach, roasted red peppers, pine nuts and mushrooms, served nicely? Now that's worth arguing about! (See Il Poggio in Snowmass, CO for the rigatoni--it's great!)

L: Pasta is just an example of the problem, it carries through to $12 appetizers, $30 meat & seafood dishes, and $10 desserts. Let's not forget the $10 glass of wine. But I guess your so dumb you just don't get it. Keep getting ripped off and thinking that you have good taste. <BR> <BR>Ciao!

<BR>For you few defenders of L, his last post on this previous thread is a perfect example of why he is so disliked on this board. He has to respond to a simple question like this with his typical smarta** snobbish attitude.

I am popular ... my two supporters say so (well, there were still two by last week's count). I bet you probably even failed to notice that one poster nominated me for Mr. Congeniality. It's just that this is such a rube posting ... I mean, with all the interesting issues in the world of travel, someone wants to get off on pasta prices. By the way, Elizabeth, what kind of drive-thru offers those pasta bigmeals? I could go for a plate of that ... I mean, roaring down the interstate twirling pasta strands on my fork. Manga, manga! Ciao

Hi, L! Forgot your medication today? For your information, I don't drive a truck, and I don't eat from drive-throughs. The way I know a "place" like that is from having dined in a lot of restaurants. Usually, I can walk in, speak briefly with a staff member, ask to see the wine list, or scan the menu from outside, and get a pretty good idea of the type of place. If it's a new place I've tried where I feel like I haven't received value for my money, I simply don't go back and don't recommend it to anyone I know. I like to save my "dining" experiences for better quality restaurants - usually in NYC which we live close to. We will spend money on a good dining experience. <BR> <BR>For a quick plate of pasta that I can easily make at home, I make it at home - cuisine being one of my interests. I don't have to have that at a trendoid spot for $28 a plate. <BR> <BR>Otherwise, for casual meals we go to our local neighborhood restaurants, e.g., Thai or Afghan or Indian places, for a reasonably priced meal. Often we can bring our own wine - better stuff than is available at many restaurants. <BR> <BR>I guess it's just a matter of priorities. <BR> <BR>Ciao to you, too!

Fedup, <BR> <BR>You're spending over $100 a couple for pasta? How is that possible? What are you doing, ordering every pasta dish on the menu? Quit loading up on that $2.50 garlic bread! <BR> <BR>I'm sorry but I have to agree with Mr. CongeniaLity - why not cook at home for a change? <BR> <BR>

Hey, X: <BR> <BR>Figure $20 - $25 per plate of pasta = $50. Bottle of wine, the cheapest on the list, maybe $30 - That's $80 right there. Add on dessert or coffee, or salads to begin, plus tax and tip. It's very easy to spend $100 a couple for a casual meal.

I don't go to those $20 a plate pasta restaurants any more or any other trendy places. Too expensive for me. They just have to make do without my business. Now I go to cheap places or cook my pasta at home. The money I save goes into my travel fund. Then, its off to Italy! There I get the best, most delicious, most authentic pasta I can eat for $5 a plate. <BR>Like the man says. It's about your priorities and where you want to spend your money.

Yay, Gerry! You DO have your priorities in the right place! :-)

I'm with Elisabeth here. <BR> <BR>Besides pasta, for your $20 bucks, you are getting the following (if you're lucky): <BR> <BR>fresh baked bread <BR>dipping oil or butter <BR>salad <BR>the goodies on top of the pasta <BR>china plate and decent flatware <BR>fresh laundered linens <BR>centerpiece on your table <BR>uniformed waitstaff <BR>furnishings to enjoy <BR>artwork on the walls <BR>insurance in case you fall in the parking lot or in case you drink too much and crash on the way home <BR> <BR>need I go on? <BR> <BR> <BR>

X: We do cook at home, just not 7 days a week. Any other insightful comments? <BR> <BR>Ess: I see I have found a kindred spirit. Others may be impressed with these trendy restaurants, but I'm not.

Yes, I do have another insightful comment. Why don't you just get a GLASS of wine, or skip the extra salad or dessert and coffee? If the pasta's $20 a plate that means you're spending $60 on other stuff. Cut back on some of that, get your bill down into the $50's. <BR> <BR>Or eat somewhere else if the place you're going is a ripoff.

X: How dumb are you? That was $100 for 2 people not one. Pasta = $40, 2 glasses of wine = $16, plus Tax and Tip and you're up to over $70. You add a couple of green salads and coffee and that's $100. Get it! Now go back under your rock.

I just looked at a "trendy" local Italian restaurant menu.(Same place where fedup lives): Pasta dishes $16 and up; salad $7 and up; soup of the day($5.50; dessert $3.50 and up; coffee $2.50. Total minumum(cheapest items)=34.50 per person.+tax(8.5%)=$2.94+tip(15%)=$6. Total without drinks, appetizers or wine=$43.50 per person. <BR>Or you could go to The Old Spaghetti Factory and get all of the above for $8.99 without tax and tip. <BR>You do pay for the atmosphere!

Hey, Joan! <BR> <BR>Regarding all the extras that come with your pasta - bread, art on the walls, ambience, nice china, etc. We've got all that at home. The only thing we're lacking is the uniformed waitstaff (and my boyfriend isn't cooperating!) :-)