WOW!! I don't care if this is spam if the deal at the Prime Rib is for real! For that price, I'm thinking "Tuesday" is enough of an occasion. Off to check their website!

I think you answered the question with your $12 martini, EL.
While the martini alone can't fulfill the value relative to the price, ancillary intangibles, such as being seen among those who can overpay without blinking, the frisson of power that accompanies indulgence, exclusive ambience, etc., all totalled, can in flush times make that pricey see-through seem a bargain.
And if Mr. Summers is correct, then perhaps the cost of indulenge became too dear for our consumer psyches and we could no longer bear to ride the bull.

Mr. Summers's assertion that consumer expectations were declining before the economy went south is not entirely accurate. The Consumer Confidence Index hit its most recent peak of about 110 in June 2007. In that month, the subprime mortgage crisis started when Bear Stearns had to prop up two of its hedge funds. Since then, the drastic decline in consumer confidence (down to 47.7 in October 2009) has gone in lockstep with the never-ending bad news about the economy.

Consumers are more willing to keep up with the Joneses (whether by ordering high-priced meals or by buying that nice car or that McMansion) when they think that the Joneses are also to afford it. Once the neighbors stop wild spending, consumers are bound to get more realistic, and conservative, in their spending habits. Goodbye, McMansion -- hello, Mickey D's.

I think that's a great point and it explains why Belvedere Square is always packed, even though nothing there is what I'd call underpriced.

I far prefer value, but I'll settle for a deal. I realized this as I was eating my $1 meatball dinner at IKEA. I don't actually like their meatballs (although the lingonberry jam rocks). But, hey, a meatball dinner for a buck - how could I pass that up?

When I go out for a special occasion I am looking for quality, and I expect to pay for it. The Prime Rib is an example of such a place.

When I go out for a regular meal I am looking for value and or a deal at a lower price. Maybe Ocean Pride or Pappas.

When it's just a quick bite I want cheap, maybe a diner or 5 Guys.

Is a value meal a value or a deal? And does the answer change if I supersize it?

A value meal is neither, if you are talking about McDonald's, RoCK.

Was treated to dinner at a rural north Baltimore County restaurant last weekend and the bill was close to $800 for 10 people, drinks and tip included. I thought it was by far one of the best meals I've had in years. The food was sublime. Service was nonpariel. The place was packed. All of those observations are essentially meaningless because I paid nothing. Would I be more critical if I had had to pony up my $160 for my wife and me? Would it have been the same experience? Something tells me not, but here's the real question: How do food critics do it?

I want to know what the restaurant was. :-) EL

Robert Gourmet, I fail to see your point. There's a vast difference between between treated to a meal by a friend (presumably in your case) by by a boss (as in EL's case) and being treated to a meal by a restaurateur. Food critics for newspapers and magazines have long been able to turn in impartial reviews.

If you're feeling guilty about getting a free meal, pony up the $160 and send it to your friend. Then you can rave (or rant) as much as you like without guilt.

I'm having trouble thinking of a rural north Baltimore County restaurant that could fit that description. Maybe the Manor Tavern, although if so it's improved since I was last there decades ago.

hmpstd:
Let's leave food critics out of it, since they are acting in a paid, professional capacity.

I think you got my point exactly. (Food critics aside.)

You said: "There's a vast difference between between treated to a meal by a friend (presumably in your case) by by a boss (as in EL's case) and being treated to a meal by a restaurateur."

Precisely. A vast difference. But what is that difference?(Food critics aside.)

My point is that, in that instance, I had nothing to complain about. (Nothing ventured, nothing gained.)(Food critics aside.)

If I pay for the very expensive meal, aren't I naturally likely to be a LOT more critical of the food, service, film on the water glass, etc.? (Food critics aside.)

You acknowledge that fact yourself when you say that if I pay, I get to "rant... without guilt." (Food critics aside.)

It's all about degrees of perception...(Food critics aside.)

The old German proverb had it right: "Whose bread I eat, his song I sing." (Food critics aside.)

I can drink three or four $12 martinis...if somebody else is buying. (Food critics aside.)

I didn't want to come off as a shill, EL & Hal.
The initials are the The Milton Inn.

The Milton Inn

Ah, I didn't think of the Milton Inn. I don't really think of Sparks as "north Baltimore County", although it certainly is compared to Essex or Dundalk.

Oh, I'd consider Sparks to be in northern Baltimore County.

Anything north of the Urban-Rural Demarcation Line (URDL)at Hunt Valley falls into Northern Baltimore County.

Another definition for Northern Baltimore County is the Hereford Zone, which Sparks is a part of.

FLIRV, Prime Rib emailed me in early September that they were extending "Restaurant Weeks" into the fall. I made a reservation for our anniversary, 10/8, and we dined from the RW menu. It was absolutely delicious and a terrific value. The only sour note was that a Manhattan and a Dubonnet rocks cost $10 each, and my husband's post-dinner Drambuie was $12. Whew ... now I know where they make their money, and why they can afford to extend the RW menu.

Robert Gourmet, with all due respect, you brought up the subject of food critics in your 4:55 PM post, so it's a bit ingenuous for you now to claim that you wanted to leave food critics out of the discussion from the start.

I think you also also missed my point when I observed that you appeared to feel guilt about posting criticism on a blog merely because the meal had been paid for by a friend. Food can be good or bad, and service can be good or bad, regardless of the identity of the person who's paying for the meal. I believe a number of rants have been posted on D@L by persons who didn't pay for their meals (whether birthday honorees, business meeting attendees, or wedding reception guests).

If I were taking somebody else out to dinner, then as the host paying the bill, I'd certainly want to know if my guests were less than entirely pleased with the dinner. You ought to have no problem letting your host, or this blog, know the honest truth about your dining experience.

hmpstd: I was trying to be respectful of OUR host, EL, not (dis)ingenuous. Sorry.

We're apparently missing each other's points, then. It's a PERCEPTUAL difference, in my opinion. I had a great meal. I had a wonderful dining experience. We all did. We told our host as much. What was not to like? But your last paragraph proves my point: as the person paying the tab, you have a heightened sense of value vs. deal, the point of this blog entry...

Had I been paying, though, my gastronomic-consumer meter might have been a bit more sensitive. I'm just sayin'.

I think Robert Gourmet makes an interesting point about expectations. No doubt when I'm paying for a meal I'm working the cost-benefit analysis in my head. The food may be good, but is it worth it.

When someone else is paying, I'm able to judge the meal without having to account for the economic trade-off angle.

This reminds me of a great economics class I had in college where the teacher was trying to get us to understand the orgins of value and whether it is objective or subjective. It was far more interesting than just some diamonds and water analogy. He tied in everything from Plato to St. Augustine to Led Zepplin.

Like Plato said, "A good decision is based on knowledge and not on numbers." And I always ponder Augustine's views on original sin when buying a caraway muffin.

I was thinking Oregon Ridge. Maybe that's not rural enough?

The whole issue of "value" has come up before and it is so subjective because it is based on every individual's budget.

I'm really glad I didn't do Plato's taxes for him.

Which of Augustine's views on original sin, Laura Lee? He kept changing his mind.

Plotline for Nurse Jackie: St Augustine "make me good, god; but not yet."