Fanciest restaurant you've ever eaten in

[PaulTheProtist]

While fast food seems to be popular nowadays, we all like to live life in the lap of luxury from time to time. So what's the most high-class restaurant you've ordered a meal from?

For me, it'd have to be the City Tavern in Philadelphia. Many of the nation's founding fathers, including George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, liked to eat there. Today, the restaurant still looks much like it did in the late 18th century, the staff dress in period clothing, and all of the recipes are as they were in the late 18th century. It's about $45 for a dinner, but I think it's worth it.

So what are the classiest eateries you have dined in?

 

[dragon_nataku]

It has come to my attention that I don't understand what "expensive" is. Whenever I take my friends out just for shits n giggles I'm usually paying at least USD$50 per person, but usually more around USD$80 or so really if I feel like either my friends or I should take food home so as to not have to cook the next day. I do this pretty frequently but apparently to everyone else this is "expensive." I think the other issue is that I tend to frequent places that don't bother putting prices on the menu so I am just basing this off of the receipt I get at the end of the meal. I guess to me expensive is more like $100 per person, which is like the restaurant I'm sending my parents to for their anniversary. That place will literally not even seat you at a table if you're not properly dressed, so I figured mum would love a place like that.

We did go to some supposedly "super-fancy" restaurant around here once for New Years' Eve dinner one year when mum didn't feel like cooking, but no one in my family was particularly impressed. The food wasn't that great. I think it's one of those restaurants that survives on past reputation alone instead of putting any effort into anything. It was another restaurant with no prices on the menu and dad was paying so I don't know how much it cost but the service wasn't that great either. Needless to say, we never went back.

 

[Zexy]

Le Procope, Paris. It is the oldest resturant/cafe in Paris that's still operational and some believe it is actually the oldest cafe worldwide.
My mother brought me and my father there for her birthday (which coincided with the week we had a trip to Paris). I was quite young and thus don't remember the prices etc. but the interior design and the food were all awesome!

On a separate note; I consider any restaurant which costs more than 10 euros (11 USD) per person expensive. So the numbers I've seen above look absolutely crazy expensive. Although the fancy restaurants are supposed to be expensive of course, still 50 USD per person or more sounds too much even for that stuff...

 

[G50]

Growing up there were 2 fancy restaurants that I absolutely loved. Sante's and The Ranch. Sante's and The Ranch were very similar, and I used to eat the exact same meal from each of them. Unfortunately a few years ago, Sante's and The Ranch closed down and diners became the only non-fast food restaurants in the area.

Steaks and the best soups is what I remember them most by. The loss of these two restaurants ended up being the reason Chinese Food became my main cuisine.

 

[Hector]

It's a toss up between Per Se, Le Bernardin and Eleven Madison Park, all three of which are in New York City.

Both of these establishments are known for being crazy expensive (the average cost at Per Se is $825. Per person. [which to be fair does factor in wine, the food itself is about half that number]).

As a once in a while experience, it's worth it. Le Bernardin was definitely the best meal I've ever had in my life. And one I don't think I'll top anytime soon, given that all three places are fixtures on World's Best Restaurant lists.

 

[Falconwing]

I don't generally go out to eat at super fancy places (though there is apparently a great cajun restaurant in Portland that has great Mac and Cheese), but I suppose if we're going by price and quality... The Hearthfire in Olympia, WA is pretty great. It's out on the lake near the capitol. Feliciano and Covet and I went there for a meetup once. Fun times.

 

[Freesia]

I don't think I have ever been to a fancy restaurant.. there are none in my area, but I have been to a couple of expensive restaurants like P.F Changs, and Vitales but I don't think that counts as fancy. I do want to try Han Dynasty in New York some time though, because the food is authentic and looks delicious and I would consider that a fancy restaurant.

 

[dragon_nataku]

Oh, didn't realise we're naming names. Christy's is the awful place I was talking about. "The Ritz of the Gables" my ass. The waitstaff will practically throw the menu at you and good luck getting them to come back to your table for anything from actually placing your order to asking for more water. I'm not used to nor do I appreciate having to flag down a waiter like I'm trying to hail a cab in New York.

My two favourite restaurants here in Miami are Tropical (Chinese) and El Gran Inka (Peruvian). I used to really like Graziano's, which specialises in Argentinian parrillada, but the quality of their service has been declining over the past couple of years, which sucks cause they used to have really awesome steaks. I mean, the steaks are still good but the rest of the food has been going downhill and the waitstaff have become rude and not particularly interested in doing their jobs. Mum grew up in Argentina though so we still go once or twice a year so she can relive her childhood I guess. Apparently nostalgia will make up for a lot of crap. ^<__<^;;

 

[Cap'n Jack]

There's a two-story McDonald's here in Florida, it's pretty sweet.

 

[Lyrebird]

Restaurant 181 & Tantris in Munchen.

 

[Username19]

Fanciest restaurant I've been to in Oklahoma is probably the Melting Pot. Nice fondue place that about 50$ per person depending on the course set up you get. I always get the one where there's a cheese fondue to share, each person gets their own meat/seafood platter for the main fondue, and then a dessert fondue to share at the end. Really great food and the wait staff is super friendly (at least at this location).

Overall fanciest place I've been to would be this Japanese restaurant my Grandmother took me to in NYC about a year ago. I don't remember the name of the place but it was in a particularly upscale area and insanely expensive for their "authentic" Japanese experience. They were good but not any better then any of the smaller way less fancy places I've been.

 

[al_the_bard]

The one that comes to mind is The Peacock Room at the Davenport Hotel. It was the first stop in a friend's 21 run.

 

[TwinklingCupcake]

Probably Olive Garden.

I don't get to go to a lot of classy places, unless chez wedding counts.

 

[Zkat]

It probably isn't the fanciest one I've ever been to, but my favorite fancy restaurant is Hibachi. It's a Japanese restaurant and sushi bar where they cook the food in front of you on the grill. You get a lot of food and I like a lot of the stuff on their menu because I like seafood. Even though it's a little expensive (in my experience it's maybe $20-$25 per person?) it's worth it in my opinion. There are a few of them in the Mid-Atlantic area which is where I live, but I think other places have similar restaurants.