Those are great restaurants but if you want the real experience, go any time BUT Valentine's Day.

Salt could also be a good option for what he's looking for.

I usually find Valentine's Day cheesy, but the idea of a "what-the-heck-she's-worth-it" dinner is very charming when you put it like that. He's taking out a lucky girl!

I finally thought of a good top 10 for Valentine's Day (really late, I know): top 10 restaurants that feature 2-person booths. Or will agree to seat couples in a booth of any size. I love booths and I wish more restaurants had them...

Louisiana!! Great spot for V Day

I had a hard-partying friend who would go out any night you asked except New Year's Eve. That night, he said, is for the "amatuer drunks." I share the sediment (sic) and feel much the same way about Valentine's Day. There are other days, about 364 of them, when you can profess your passion across a bird and a bottle without paying a substantial surcharge. Nothing against the restaurants that profit thereby. But fighting my way into a packed premises to pay twice what I would have for the same meal the night before somehow doesn't strike me as "romantic," More like sorta' dumb.

I haven't cared about Valentine's Day since I was in grade school. But Roland's post reminded me of a V Day dinner several years ago with my honey's parents, at PF Changs in Columbia. Good food, good company, good service - plus, the people at the table next to ours hired a Barbershop Quartet to serenade them, which we enjoyed gratis.

It was a wonderful evening. Thank you, Roland, for reminding me.

I debated over whether to post this here or in the "reasonable" Valentine's spots. For some reason unknown to myself, my partner loves The Bonefish Grill. She thinks the lighting and ambience are very romantic. I kind of think it's too loud and crowded but, that's only me. Anyway, you can eat there quite well for a reasonable price or you can get specials, appetizers and wine and really run the cost up. So, it kind of falls into both.

Totall depends on the person tho.

A really expensive dinner does nothing for me. I can think of only one that sticks out in my head that I would do again. And I'm going back since I was a kid and my parents would take us to insanely expensive places.

For instance, my bf and I are going to NYC and I was looking at all kinds of expensive places. But most of the time, "top notch" places are lost on us. We both leave hungry. Yeah, the food is "pretty" and good, but the portions are usually lacking. I came up with the idea for us to go have drinks at an expensive place, then have pizza :)

Thanks for all the great suggestions...and I couldn't agree more with Michael's post about avoiding dinner on V-day. We approach it as a concept rather than a day. After a particularly egregious Valentine's Day dining experience at a top-rated Baltimore restaurant many years ago, we made a pact that we would NEVER go out for dinner on the actual day. This year was especially tricky, since we have anticipated spillover crowds even on Sunday, so we're going to celebrate Monday night (with the downside being that a number of restaurants are dark that day of the week).

Go to Tersiguels, 8 course chefs tasting menu for 75 per person. He's better than all the restaurants mentioned and the service will be spot on