When eating out, do you choose by taste or price?

[Thegirlwhowent]

I'm curious - if you go out for a meal, do you just choose whatever you fancy, do you take prices into account, or are you totally driven by the cost?

Driven by what I fancy, with any dilemmas resolved by choosing the thing that would be more complicated to make at home.

When I was younger I’d always go by cost, now I go by taste

Taste. If we need to watch the cost, we don't go.

Taste.

Well, I wouldn't be on such close terms with that kind of person to be going out for a meal with them! Do you mean you regularly eat out with people who do this?

I know people who if somebody else is paying or the bill is being split will always choose the most expensive, if they're paying it will be the cheapest. Personally I choose somewhere in the middle for taste and price, I don't like being the first of a group to order and tend to follow the lead set by others, I'm not going to have the lobster (even though I can afford it) when everybody else is ordering burgers.

Only twats do this. Who wants to be a twat?

In the past, I tended to choose the restaurant based on what I could generally afford at the time. But we don't actually go out to eat much these days, so when we do we don't think as much about the price.

Don’t go out all that much so taste although mindful of the price to some degree, I wouldn’t pick the lobster!

The same person who after the bill has been split by the number of people doesn't put in enough, or puts in what appears to be more and retrieves it all as their change.. I've seen it loads of time, everybody chucks in the amount and some for the tip. Add it up at the end and we're short without any tip. The moral is only eat out and split the bill with a very small group of people you like and trust.

Neither. Health first.

Both. It has to taste nice, ideally have methods or ingredients I'm unable or incapable of recreating at home, and be good value for money. Quite hard to find the balance really.

I wouldn't go to a Michelin starred place as it's too fussy and above my price range. I did once and honestly didn't enjoy it. But I also wouldn't go to somewhere like Pizza Express or Nandos as it's not good value and too generic.

My favourite place is actually a greasy spoon caff that hasn't been refurbed since the 60s by the looks of it. It's got an appalling hygiene rating but the bacon rolls and chips can't be beaten!

No. I rarely go out to eat. When I do, it's usually to a place where we've already ordered and paid individually. Then we just leave tips as appropriate.

For me , Its taste. Id rather not eat then eat food which is over priced food that I could eat at home for half the cost

So we rarely eat out now tbh

We went for a meal out just last week, Indian, and whilst I can knock up a pretty good curry - its not the same - so I ordered with pure abandon , didnt look at prices, just ordered what I wanted as well as a few table dishes I thought others might like as well . I was paying for the group so it didn't matter

Same token, Im not going to either work Christmas do's , I hate mass produced over priced christmas dinner so even though I wouldn't be paying, I wouldn't waste someone else's money

Ha! Our favourite takeaway was shut down because of terrible hygiene. The food has always been delicious!

This

YES!
Years ago myself and another girl started a new job. The first work meal out, we shared in entree and had a light main each. Unknown to us, the bill was going to be split with the 8 others there, 5 of which were rugby players who all had a large entree and the most expensive steak/meat mains on the menu. Now I would speak up and just pay for my own.

To answer your question, I choose by taste and something I wouldn't often cook at home. Yes, I consider the price, but would only choose something of a lower value if say the in-laws were taking us out as a treat.

Omg! I won't eat anywhere with lower than a 4 star hygiene rating. Too many horror stories from a friend who was a health inspector.

Taste, but price does factor in. Sometimes I will say I am craving X, but given the price I am just not craving it badly enough and will choose something else that is also good.

Mostly I tend to eat out with my family and yes I take price into consideration. Often we're with PILs who always insist on picking up the bill for the table so I'd feel embarrassed to pick the most expensive thing. I usually pick something I like, but there are usually a few things I might like and I'd pick the cheaper one out of those.

If we're just eating out for convenience rather than as an occasion (because we won't get home in time for dinner) I usually pick the cheapest thing that will stop hunger pangs, just because I begrudge paying for it a bit, especially if it's somewhere I'm stuck in a long day trip like a theme park.

@7238SM Years ago when I had very little money, I went for a reunion meal with old school friends. I chose carefully to make sure I could afford it. They ordered with gay abandon - then split the bill. I was too timid and embarrassed to say anything. But I don't suppose they did it deliberately or even realized my difficulty.

I get whatever I want. But I don’t eat out often, a few times a year, so no need to think about cost. If cost was a worry, I’d be eating at home or bringing food with me.

I just order whatever I want. It's a running joke with DH that mine usually ends up being the most expensive thing on the menu (because it's often fish or seafood) but I genuinely don't look at the prices and just pick what I want.
At one meal out we decided to have "a glass of fizz" to start. DH ordered champagne which I just didn't fancy that day so asked for prosecco (as it's sweeter). The waitress was quite confused!

A mixture of both, i think there's a balance to be had between good quality food and price, i'd happily pay £20 plus for a steak as long as it wasn't in a chain restaurant, but i certainly wouldn't ever want to pay a la carte prices for the tiny portions they dish up, i'd only end up at KFC afterwards 😅

I've also had it the other way at a different company to one I mentioned up thread. About 15 of us, similar priced meals/drinks and all happy to split the bill as discussed it beforehand. One woman wasn't happy, so sat there for 30mins calculating everyone's bill to the penny. I think her meal ended up costing her more in the end!