This is something that has always baffled me. I have numerous friends who spend up to 250 dollars for a restaurant outing on a regular basis. Usually, these friends come into town on their vacations and expect my husband and me to meet them at these extravagant places. Frankly, I don't see the logic in paying a hundred dollars for any single meal. What, exactly, could that lobster or steak do for you for a hundred dollars? Seriously.

How much does the typical night out run for you posters out there? Any lovers of fine dining who can explain to me the benefits of paying a week's worth of grocery money on a single meal?

Steak for a hundred American dollars? Wowee, that thing better be covered in gold leaf, and they better supply a stomach pump afterwards for that kind of price!

The thing is, I'm awfully reclusive. I don't often eat out, and I'm notoriously miserly with my money. I prefer to spend it on books, y'see. But books make for horrible eating.

If I do go out, however, from necessity, I'd spend between $AU10 -$20 ($US7.50 - $14.50) for one large course. That might be a big plate of some spicy Asian food, or a rack of ribs, or possibly contributing to the purchasing of a banquet meal at a Vietnamese restaurant, or tortillas, or an all-you-can-eat...

We have a lot of choices here. Keira Street, the road that bisects my mall's Crown St, has foods from all different nationalities. Italian, French, Vietnamese, Korean, Malaysian, Mexican, Indian, Arabic... And all of them aren't too expensive. For About $AU150, you could buy yourself a Vietnamese banquet for 10, where the staff will bring out a succession of dishes with steamed rice, and you could pick and choose what you want.

Interesting questions, MrsP. Mike and I are extremely miserly when it comes to the costs of food. It's too hard to justify working an entire day for the price of one restaurant made meal, when the same money could buy a week or more of groceries.

As one of those funny little things people do, Mike and I habitually make elaborate and delicious homemade meals (that's not the funny part...). Part of the meal's conversation always turns to how much we would have spent for a "meal like this" in a high quality restaurant and how much we actually spent. It's back-patting, I know, but it's what we conservatives do in our free time

The few occasions Mike & I do go out arise because we have a guest in town and want to introduce them to some of the cooking for which Savannah is famed. A Savannah experience isn't complete without either a lunch on Tybee Island or dinner on River Street. Those times don't come up too often, so we can pad our pocketbook to prepare for such occasions.

As far as the regular expensive meals go, I can't say from personal perspective, but I have been an invited guest to a number of very expensive meals by those who could afford it. Generally, the mentality of those paying are doing so because money shouldn't be an issue when it comes to food - no price is too high for a night of good family/friends.

I have also known a number of business owners and sales people who have company budgets/write-off privileges for meals that can, in any way, be related to business. That goes to the "because I can" mentality, I guess. <shrug>

I'm really just speculating here.

We love to go out to eat. Our favorites are Thai, Indian, Japanese, Greek, Mexican, and other places that offer a lot of choices for vegetarians. Sometimes we spend fifteen bucks for a meal (such as a simple tea shop meal of soup and mashed potatoes), sometimes we spend sixty bucks (for a fancy meal with appetizers, salad, entree, and maybe a glass of wine or a mixed drink and dessert.) Once in a great while, we have gone to a place that offers a "Chef's Table." For seventy-five dollars a person, minimum of four persons (figure $400.00 total bill with the tip, because we are good tippers and we get very special service with this very special meal.) When you arrive, you get a special table, special servers who serve only your table, and the chef has prepared special dishes for you, and comes out and explains them. Of course, we requested a vegetarian version. The chef prepared an amazing array of dishes, stuff we had never experienced before, using produce shipped in fresh that day from all over the nation. It was truly wonderful, and worth the very high price.

Spending a lot of money on a meal is ridiculous in my mind. Spending money FOR a meal is a whole other matter. There is a great Omakaze restaurant downtown (here in Toronto) that will run you about $90/person after drinks and tips. However the food is something that A) I could never think of making myself hard to find C)too complex and time-consuming for me to attempt. So once in a while my family goes out. Variety is the spice life. Every now and then it is crucial to get out and sample some luxury.

By the way, if anyone here is ever interested in coming to Toronto I know some great restaurants where you DON'T have to waste a lot of money.

I have been known to spend too much on a meal, but NEVER $250. When I wasn't watching my money I would spend, on average, about $50+ per meal (for 1) and would go out to eat about 3 times a month. Now that I have to watch my money I don't go out to eat very often. Being single when I eat at home I eat alone. Going out to dinner I am with a group, its social, and its fun. Plus since I don't cook, having a nice meal is a treat.

It is the alcohol that makes it so expensive. And when I go out with friends we always just split the meal equally so even if, say, I don't have an appetizer and 2 more drinks if the others do my price goes up. Even though I live in Jersey City, I have never been out to eat here so I have no idea what the cost is. I always go out to eat in Manhattan and there it can be pricey. BUT there are some less expensive and good restaurants in Manhattan. There is this GREAT Afghani restaurant (Afghan Kabob) that is a bring your own bottle kind of place. The food is delicious and cutting out the alcohol cuts the cost tremendously. Restaurants here, on average, charge 3-4 times the retail value for a bottle of wine. So just adding 1 bottle of wine can jack up your price tremendously.

I ain't gonna spend more than $20 per person for a meal. I'll grill my own steaks. Sorry UJ, I ain't spending $90 for raw fish for the sake of diversity. Give me fajitas for two and a couple margaritas and I am happy.

On average, I would say that dinner for two costs us between 35 and 50 dollars, and occassionally, we splurge on more exotic items like sushi or Indian food. I think the most that I've personally paid for a dinner was $125, and that was at a Morroccan restaurant where you sit at a low table on cushions, and they serve six courses and have bellydancers to entertain. It takes several hours, and you are mostly paying for the experience.

With my significant other's family, we occassionally have higher dollar restaurant experiences that I would say average about 400 dollars for four. It's not something that I would do on my own, but it is a pleasurable experience, particularly since my sigoth's father was a chef for many years, so with his guidance, I often get to try things that I have never had before.

Whatever floats your boat. Not everyone likes raw-oyster shooters.

I learned to cook from eating out in nice restaurants at one time when I could afford it, afterwards I became a well paid private chef so the money spent was actually worth it.

Now I make great meals at home, restaurants cannot beat what I can create here, except for the very best ones. Occasionally I like to go out and spend money like it doesnt matter, ( its only earth money) , and see what good chefs are coming up with these days. I think you have to have a love of food as 'Art almost. The more refined your tastebuds get the better you can appreciate culinary delights. I like to stay on top of food trends. Luckily with my present job I get invited out a lot and am not expected to pay, (expense accounts).

What I hate is eating and paying for a mediocre meal such as TGI Fridays or third rate restaurant, and I never eat fast food, to me that is the greatest piddling of money away on fattening and generally bad food. I despise putting empty calories in my body.

As with Mrs P.,I think its disgraceful to invite someone to a high end restaurant and expect them to pay, not really knowing if this is in their budget. It has happened to me before and I was shocked.

I love when I find a 'find', like a great Thai or japanese restaurant or my local
Indian lunch buffet at about $10-15. Great cooking at a great price and stuff I dont usually make at home.

Cyan, the Moroccan experience is something special, especially in a particularily fine restaurant in Marrakech!

Usually when I eat out it's because I don't have the time (or don't want to take the time away from America's Debate) to cook. In those cases, it's usually in the $10 range. Once or twice a month, my sig oth and I will splurge on something a bit more exotic - and if we invite friends along, we pick up the tab. In those cases - especially if drinks and/or a bottle of wine are involved - it'd be more like $30-50 per.

When we go for the more expensive meals, it is usually something which is in a fabulous setting of some sort and/or features something which we wouldn't - or couldn't prepare at home. A recent favorite is Boma, a buffet-style restaurant which specializes in African cuisine and features about six different soups - often with ingredients of which I've never even heard. The last trip (with two drinks each) ran us about $75 (though I have a 16% discount there). As we seldom "celebrate" birthdays or traditional holidays, dining out is one of our ways of acknowledging the fact that we've made it to this particular Thursday or whatever together.

Well I have been around fine dining all my life. May father was a chef..and a VERY good one at that! And later in life I was a server at four star restaurants. It is not just the food...it is the aperitifs, the wine, the appetizer , the ceremony of the palate cleanser in anticipation for the next delight, each course and it's presentation, the choreographed dance the servers perform for your servitude, the smells the tastes the conversation. It is a celebration of food and family and friends. I am ashamed at how Americans view eating as often something with as little ceremony and care as taking a poo. No offense to anyone...but in the American culture attentions and cares to food is definitely lacking!

I like to eat out and I do it a lot, but my budget doesn't allow for expensive places except as an occasional indulgence. I favor local places that offer good food for $10 per person or less. I'm fortunate enough to have a couple that fit that description within easy walking distance, one Chinese, one Greek/Italian.

I look at it two ways.
- When I get back into town, I don't want my friends or myself wasting precious time in the kitchen, especially when we could be out partying. (Most of them can't cook anyways ) Time is always a valuable commodity. It's not about showing off, it more of lets relax and enjoy a stress-free day of conversation, food, and plenty of drinks. In your case Ms P I would never invite a friend out, especially to a fine restaurant, and then expect you to foot the bill, unless you really insisted. You also don't have to worry about pleasing everyones individual taste.
- Yes money is a valuable commodity and could be spent alot of ways. I prefer spend like there is no tomorrow, because their might not be. Whats the point for working if your not going to have any fun by hording it. I know somethings are free, but the majority of them are not. As long as you have gotten retirement out of the way let the good times rolls.

When I was living in Florida I took my wife out to see Phantom of the Opera. We ate at Shula’s Steakhouse (Owned by former Miami Dolphin coach Don Shula) The meal alone, with no drinks set me back $127.00 plus tip. My wife did not care for it all that much but I thought it was the best dinner I ever had, well worth the money if spent on a nice night on the town.

On a typical night I spent upwards of a hundred dollars for my family of 5. Needless to say we don’t eat out often. However if it is just wife and myself we splurge a bit and try different nicer restaurants ($75.00), coupled normally by a play or movie.

Ah yes, I am probably the worst offender on the board when it comes to eating out. I was raised on a diet of what was cheapest on Saturday night. Blue laws prevented the grocery stores from opening on Sunday. Thus mother would bring home liver, heart, and tongue for meats; day old bread, wilted vegetables, etc. Neither mother nor dad were good cooks. I once ignored a Sulfur Monochloride leak (It breaks down, once in contact with water, into Hydrochloric acid and Hydrogen Sulfide.) because it smelled like my mother's roast chicken.

When I started college, I had a long break between my first and second classes. I found that I could get bacon and eggs, toast, and coffee for less than a buck. I then married my first wife and found that she "didn't believe in breakfast." If I wanted it, I was on my own. After 25 years of eating breakfast in restaurants, I never quite broke the habit when I married PE. On the low end, I can sit down still with coffee and a muffin, and read my morning paper for about 2 bucks. On the high end, Steak and eggs, coffee, juice, toast, and more potatoes than I can eat runs me a shade over 10 dollars.

On the rare occasions that we entertain visitors to town, it is easier to visit a restaurant where we know the menu, the wait staff, the proprietors, etc. We can order without referring to the menu, and leave the cleanup to someone else. Given my druthers, I pick a restaurant where I can eat breakfast, while PE prefers our favorite Chinese restaurant with all its eccentricities, and the introductory Chinese language lessons. Three of us can usually eat Chinese for 12 - 15 dollars.

We have friend with two plastic knees that she is getting used to. When we get together, she is delighted to kick in five or six bucks for her share, and we'll order Buffalo chicken Wings or a Pizza. She rarely eats out with her husband, although he knows the breakfast menu (and cost) at all his neighborhood restaurants.

If I go to the grocery store (even with a list), I tend to pick up sale items, things that I think we might need, etc. A couple days back, I dropped $84 at the grocery store, and came home with enough to fix one meal.


I do recall one time...

One of the supervisors had been "on call" for the Christmas weekend, when things broke down big time. He was in the plant for something like 72 hours straight, trying to get things to line out again. On Monday, the Superintendent told him that as he was salaried employee, there was no way to compensate him directly for his time. A few days later, at a dinner/safety meeting wrapping up a good year for the department, the supervisor suggested that perhaps the superintendent could spring for a bottle of wine for he and his wife. An unsuspecting superintendent said it only seemed fair, and signed off on a $3,000 bottle of wine.

I wanted to add more on this issue actually. My parents in laws who are coming soon ...eeeeek! Think I am a snob. Or more specifically a food snob. Because I like wine and not the kind you mix in the blender to make boozy smoothies, because I do not and never have had those food in the box items for a meal like hamburger helper and basically because I just care more about what I eat than most...and quality does count.

Many may find it ludicrous or snobby to spend what they consider to be an unreasonable and wasteful amount of money on just the sustenance of food. Yet food is what gives us life and some of us are really into living

I feel the same way about all of the many people I know (and love) who buy cars that account for half their years or more earnings. Or all the people in America that now consider a 3,500 sft home and a formal dinning room and master suite to now be a shelter necessity.

We all have our indulgences.

Slow down there bucket... cost and quality are not necessarily related. I know all sorts of wonderful recipes and meals that are very inexpensive. I believe in the best, not the most costly.

I guess I belong in the category of Americans who do not
appreciate the "experience" of fine dining. To be honest,
I'm a bit uncomfortable with all of the formalities that are
involved.

I prefer to eat at a restaurant that is child-friendly (if we
have the kids along), and serves delicious, high-quality
food. I can do without the fancy waiter handing me a
glorified baby wipe to clean my hands with. I don't mind
paying for a great meal, but I want a comfortable and
relaxed atmosphere.

I have two small children myself and dining out and my children are two things I enjoy very much but indulge in separately. I find family friendly and good food to be in fact a bit of a mythical thing really. I honestly am not trying to be inflammatory but I honestly do feel that most Americans do not know good food. I think the popularity of places like Red Lobster, Olive Garden, etc. (all of which I find to be a waste of money) attest to the truth of my statement.

I would rather dine with my children in the comfort of my own home where I can prepare far superior and healthier meals than anything available in my area under the guise of "family-friendly"





Well I wish that was true as much as you claim but it is the oddity of this issue really. I would be completely shocked if you have ever made a meal as wondrous as one you can get in the finest restaurants of our world. This is the lifestyle I was raised in..I am not extraggerating any of it..it is an art form and it takes a skilled craftsman. I am not trying to be pretentious or material about the whole issue either...I take great pride in this area of my life and I have 3 gourmet chefs in my immediate family. I have been truly blessed in the insight and experiences I have been able to live, breathe and taste throughout my life. In my family we dine every night in full regalia...good food, candles, wine and celebration.

Besides you do have to take care, time and money in order to feed yourself luxuriously in this world...and I mean luxurious in taste and nutrition. Apples cost more than doughnuts, whole wheat more than white, milk more than pop, manchego more than american and it costs me a lot more to feed my family at home a balanced meal than it does to feed us at Mcdonald's.

Hello, Bucket

This statement is not meant to be inflammatory either,
but do you live to eat, or eat to live?

I eat to live. Don't get me wrong, I love food, but it's
not an art form to me. If I'm going to spend upwards
of a hundred dollars it will not be to partake in
a fancy, pretentious meal, at some swanky, trendy
"hot spot", served to me by some hoity toity waiter.

To be ashamed of other Americans because they do
not share your love of fine dining is pretentious.
It's like calling someone primitive if he doesn't enjoy
the opera.

I enjoy dining out with my kids, and there are restaurants
that have excellent food, and also have patrons who happen
to be parents. (There is a favorite of ours in the LA area
called CPK - they have wonderful salads, pastas and soups,
and the atmosphere is perfect for folks with families).

I spend a lot of money at the health food store, buying organically
grown produce and foods prepared without additives, etc.
I'm no connoisseur of fine dining, but I know what satiates my
palate, and it doesn't have to cost me an arm and a leg.

I think this is a matter of how your dining experiences were when you were raised. Some people grew up in an environment where they were taught that only expensive meals were quality. They buy into the baloney that you must be a chef to cook a quality meal. For $100 I can buy 50 lbs of crawfish and enough potatoes and ears of corn and spices to feed 20 people, and I don't have to dress up and pay for valet parking, and quality beer is only 5-6 bucks a six-pack. When I feel like being a snob I will sniff the bottlecap and state " Ah, Heineken 2003 a very good year."

You know, there is nothing wrong with differing tastes... but telling people that they enjoy expensive cuisine because they're snobs is just as ridiculous as telling them they're low-brow because they don't.

It's very difficutl to ring up a dinner bill more than $50-$75 without adding lots of liquor to the tab. People that ring up that tab shouldn't expect others to pay for it. I used to travel a lot, and one of the few perks was being able to eat out every meal. We always managed to find very good restaurants for about $20-$25/plate. However, the liquor bill could easily double or triple that. One of the guys who went out with the group was a tee-totaler, who took exception to constantly having to pay for the others drinks (we usually split the check). This is annoying even if you are getting reimbursed--I can imagine it would get old very quickly otherwise.

Expensed or not, I generally classify meals as follows:

good, basic meal -- $10 -$15/plate or so.
very good meal -- $25/plate
Great meal -- $50+ (I don't have these very often).

Half the year I live in this city called New Orleans and I admit I do love eating out often.

But even here where one could dine in a different restaurant everyday for a lifetime and never visit the same place twice, I find myself visiting the moderate restaurants catering more to families and locals than actual 4-star fine dining establishments all the time. That's for tourists and rich folks.

On a holiday like Christmas Eve I don't mind going all out or perhaps when company is in town one time but that's about it. I can't eat that rich of food in all the creme sauces and what not that often.

The other half of the year when I live in Las Vegas and I used to hire a chef to come in and cook those gourmet meals at home for a bit but even that got old. How much herb crusted pork tenderloin, shrimp sardou, and bananas foster can someone eat in a week lol.

I do appreciate the fine dining experience and the service and atmosphere that comes with it but I also really appreciate a regular home cooked meal with family in the privacy of my own home too.

Who said I was ashamed because of American's lack of appreciation of fine dining? I never said that. I said Americans did not know good food and that the care they often have towards food is terribly terribly low. This is in regards to EVERYTHING to do with food. Go to an American food Market and go to a French one. You can not even begin to compare. I lived in Europe and I miss the days when I ate far better, nutritiously and richly and I didn't have to be barraged with the disgusting sight of McDonald's and all her many incarnations splattered all across the road side. Just look at Americans...anyone can see there is something very wrong in how they are feeding themselves.




I dunno if you are claiming this is my environment but you are very wrong. Expense was never an issue because my father was the chef of these restaurants. As I said already I was blessed by circumstance..I lived in some of the finest hotels and dined in five star restaurants..and it is all because that is the work my father did. I eat corn on the cob...crawfish and beer...good food comes in many varieties. Again tho I will say that many Americans know very little about good food and in this circumstance it would be in re: to beer...Heineken?...gah!
And the whole sniffing thing in case you did not know..your sense of smell is your greatest sense and if you smell what you eat or drink before you eat it it will add to the complexity and wholeness of the tasting.



None of my comments were meant to low-brow anyone. As I already said I would be surprised at anyone who could cook a meal and replicate the experience of what these restaurants are in their own home. Give these people credit at least. They don't go to school and suffer working in their apprenticeships as long as they do to be no different than you. I just want for you to recognize their devotion and skill of their work. They are much much better at cooking and know a lot more about it than you..honest.




Actually I do too clyde. I can not afford to dine like that on a regular basis. I am fortunate that most often it has been a relative's establishment and I have not had to worry about the expenses but still it is not something I partake in weekly or monthly. It is a terrible indulgence and one most reserve for very special occasions. In fact I do not dine out regularly at all as I am most often terribly disappointed. My father comes and cooks for me very often and he always fulfills my wanting for gourmet food. I don't even think I could get a meal for what it cost me to supply him with produce and I certainly know I could not get the quality in my immediate area. Yet I am driving distance to what is currently the number one restaurant in all of the US. Maybe someday I will be able to afford it

I guess I need to remember the smiley faces sometimes. When food is concerned there is nothing wrong with being either a snob, or a low-brow. Being a low-brow myself I save a few bucks.

Different strokes for different folks. I do believe apprecciation for the delicate tastes and textures in expensive meals has to be learned. Give a kid a choice between pizza and a fine dining experience, I'm betting pizza wins out.

My friends and I eat out rather often, but I generally stay within $10 per meal. Most times, with trips to such exotic eateries as Taco Bell and White Castles, I can easily stay under even that amount. As a matter of fact, those trips typically cost within the $5 range unless I'm tempted by a "sack of 10."

Other than the fast food joints I typically only eat at casual restaurants with steaks in the $13 to $20 range with accompanying sides and choice between soup or salad. While I don't like spending even that much, at least I can feel as though the meal was worth the price. Especially since I can't cook much.

The only time I eat meals of $30 or more is when I'm in a relationship (in which case I pick up both meals) or eating on somebody elses dime. I don't care to have other people spend so much on a meal, but if it's offered I won't turn it down. Even then, though, I typically try to choose the cheapest available option.

I can't justify spending the price of several meals on a single meal. It may be temporarily satisfying, but I've learned the lesson that momentary gratification is rarely worth the price to be paid for it.

Seriously?? Oh, wait - we're talking about food. Uh, never mind...

I have to agree. Sometimes its difficult to explain to people. I also find american values towards food and the pleasure of eating a bit lacking. Sometimes one doesnt know what they are missing until introduced. That could be in the home or out. I also learned this in Europe, the pleasure of food and its ritual.

In the past the whole family sat for a meal. It was the beginning and end of a hard days work. It was a time for bonding and conversation and the food was most likely really good, fresh and natural. The kitchen was the heart of the home. Somewhere we have lost this in our busy lives. Food is our energy source and a big health issue.

I spend a lot of time picking my foods at the grocery store, its important to me plus, I love it. I shop half at Sams for economy, but I buy from my gourmet grocer too, often what is on special, and look for the freshest fish. I have a belief that its important to eat well, colorfully, nutritiously and have harmony around meals.

I do not have children. That is a whole different story.
I hate spending on mediocre meals but I can see that with children Red Lobster is a great deal with the coloring books and all that, or Chuckie Cheese. I think its expensive but its entertainment and kids love it! Families have to go out too within their economic means.

My present partner was a fast food eater, who could not understand when we first got together why we (I) had to spend more on quality ingredients at the grocer and had trouble negotiating the perceived hike in his weeky food bill.
He thought a bag of frozen shrimp (at $12) was an uneccessary expense and the Sams initial outlay used to freak him out. That was until a bag of shrimp made 2 meals and a good lunch, and the Sams bill went for weeks.
Now, after a year, not only does he eat vegetables he never thought he could but never eats fast food anymore. He stops at the natural food market on his own and buys natural toothpaste and soap of his choice as well as other things.

Some of this is learning what is quality. Quality of life in small things can be important and add beauty to life, especially for those of us who cant afford big ticket stuff. A beautiful meal is something we can do for ourselves, our partner, whether in or out. Unless of course you cant tell the difference, then yes, its totally wasted money.

Great Food Movies:
Like Water for Chocolate
Babettes Feast
Chocolat, the new one.

I am into the occasional[I][U] fine dining experiance, I love seven glaciers resteraunt in Alyeska, will run me about a hun for me and the wife, it is where we spent our honeymoon, and the food and view is incredible (you have to take a tram to the top of the mountain, where you have the view of the entire cook inlet), dining on crab cakes, king crab, prawns and filet mignon. Takes us about 3 hours to complete the dinner.

Now, that happens about twice a year, so I am certainly not a junkie for this LOL

Hmm...maybe I should move to Alaska!? Am liking the show of logic from that region

I forgot to answer doomed planet's question...sorry not being rude just forgetful..



I most certainly live to eat. I also live to love, I live to run, I live to play, I live to walk in the woods, to laugh with my kids, to read a good book, among many many other things. To me it is one of my joys of living.

I must say that, from reading this thread, and from my experiences on visiting the USA - it is a lot harder to spend "a lot" of money on eating out in the USA than it is here in the UK (and the rest of Europe, at least the bits I've been to).

A typical Brit will therefore be more used to spending "a ton of money on a meal" than an American - it's often not possible to eat out in a restaurant at all (as opposed to a pub or bar with some food, and sometimes not even then) for much less than around £25-40 ($40-50) per person here if you want something that doesn't come with fries (or pizza). This especially true the closer you get to London.

IMO, this is true at all but the swankiest, most exclusive restaurants. Fast food and junk food are cheaper there, "family restaurants" are cheaper there, mid-priced quality restaurants are significantly cheaper there. Only at the most serious, gourmet type of restaurant that mostly only exist in the largest cities approach the type of prices we Brits would expect to pay for a restaurant meal, and only then when comparing to the same type of restaurant here. (Say, above $100 per person for the food alone. The sort of place with Michelin stars and a chef you've heard of before you go there because they have their own TV cookery show.)

Only a few of the most expensive places in Boston, NYC, LA & San Francisco that I've seen (and probably some of the other larger ones I haven't visited yet) are similarly priced (allowing for currency conversion) to the most expensive places in London or Paris. Almost every other eaterie I've seen in the USA is rather less expensive (after currency conversion) than a European place offering a comparable format or menu.

And, while the excessive farm subsidies paid to farmers to keep their food selling prices high in the EU play a part, it seems that the kind of fresh produce needed to cook quality at home is, if anything, a little more expensive in the USA than Europe - especially more gastronomically driven countries like France, Spain or Italy (rather than the UK or Germany, where the American attitude to food of quantity and price being at least as important as taste and quality seems to have been inherited from. I've never heard of any Romance country, and very few elsewhere in Europe, offering "all-you-can-eat" meals, for example, but every other place you go to in the USA seems to do so.).

So it often seems that it's actually cheaper to pay for someone else to cook for you, wait on you while you eat, and clean up after you, than it is to do all that for yourself, which is counter-intuitive. Given that the waiters, cooks and cleaners all get paid (even if there's a minimum wage violation) and the raw materials need to be bought in (even if there's economies of scale from being part of a chain or vertical integration), and that US supermarkets typically operate on rather lower margins than British or European ones (1-2% compared to the 3-4+% seen in the UK, which is why WalMart bought ASDA), how can this be possible?

NOTE:
I hold up my hand and say that this is anecdotal from my own experience of two trips or 2-3 weeks' duration to the USA. One to hotels in CA, NV and AZ in 1999-2000, and one to mostly motels (some with kitchens - hence the self-catering aspect) in New England and other North Eastern states on or near the Atlantic coast, including VA, PA, NJ and MD. (I don't know if they have a handy name like "New England", "The South" or "The West").
And I would also add that any differences in quality, especially quality of service, are almost invariably to the detriment of the European eateries when compared to American ones, even at the seediest fast food joint.