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Depends....sometimes I want the whole in the wall Thai...sometimes I am looking for the upscale (which better include damn good food, but I am also interested in the plating, the ambiance, the exclusivity). I think there is a place and time for a variety of dining experiences. So, not exactly with you on this one.

Don't have a problem playing the dressup game once in a while for good food and good service. However, living in Florida does present problems. When a restaurant wants to portray an upscale ambiance, how much is accomplished when everyone is DRESSED nice but wind up looking like used dishrags by the time they are seated? This has happened to us numerous times. I bet the food and service would be just as good in a less formal setting. Also, I think the statement "Can we get a damn drink here!" would not be the standard greeting for many servers. Happy customers will spend more and tip better (for the most part). In Florida happy customers are not sweaty messes living up to restaurant owners idea of what constitutes an upscale dinning experience.

Sure, some people eat at upscale restaurants to try to prove something, and those people are probably like that in a lot of ways. Other people eat there because the dining experience - both the service and the food - is rewarding in a different way than the hole-in-the-wall Thai place; both dining choices are valid.

It's hard for me to imagine paying so much for food given how many people don't have anything to eat on a daily basis, but I also couldn't imagine buying expensive designer clothing or renting a luxury apartment for the same reason.

Everyone has their own preferences, and it doesn't do any good to ascribe motives to strangers when they make choices different from our own. But I do have to say, based on my extremely minimal experiences with fine dining, that the atmosphere is not always cold and severe, and the meal can be very satisfying.

Trust, Pumpkinbear. On the few occasions I've dined upscale (ahem, when I worked for generous companies and the economy was better), I was so, so disappointed. So mediocre it almost seemed like a farce. And, to boot, I felt a little guilty that so much money was spent on food and beverage markup that could have gone to feed a cafeteria full of kids. I don't judge other people for enjoying it, but even the most impeccable atmosphere and service do nothing for me in terms of what I would equate with a monetary value, and let's face it, even when the food is amazing (have yet to experience this) it's probably incredibly marked up.

My hole-in-the-wall place is a sushi place in Midtown that consistently has the best food, value, comforting atmosphere, and really friendly, excellent service. And, it's difficult to spend $40 between two people unless we're drinking sake.

Some upscale restaurants are definitely BS, and nothing is more frustrating than paying through the nose for food that wasn't that satisfying (at least not for the price). But done well, upscale food isn't wimpy-portioned, delicate glitter. Portions most people eat at home are often way too big, and I have yet to eat a nice meal at an upscale restaurant and truly be hungry when I was done due to portion sizes. Besides, if you're paying a bit for food, the goal is to enjoy something delicious, high quality, and probably at least somewhat creative, not to just stuff yourself to the gills.

I've definitely felt ripped off, like I was paying for glitter and an annoying waiter's accent and attitude before, but more often than not the higher price gets you better quality ingredients and a higher quality of service. It's unfortunate that so many 'upscale' places aren't that good - just don't go is about the only thing you can do. There's about 3 NICE places where I live, but I'll only go to one since the others ARE overrated bs.

The reason everything looks so "delicate" is that after someone with a lot of skill goes through a lot of effort to cook a tasty meal the right way every time, it would be sheer laziness to send it out looking like crap. I'm a fan of not plating or giving a shit about what food looks like in my own kitchen on a daily basis ... but do you really want to pay for food in a restaurant that is just shoved out the door by people who don't take a few seconds to make it look decent? I mean, if they're cutting corners on the food you do see, imagine what they're cutting corners on with things you don't see.

That said, I think it goes without saying that you definitely don't need to go upscale to eat good food. And good thing, since even though I have a pretty decent job and only my own mouth to feed - I can't afford that! Every once and a while, good upscale dining is just a really nice treat. It's not everyone's cup of tea, for sure, but to write it all off as BS? Nah.

I have done a bit of upscale dining, and it has always been an effort for me to afford it. For me, upscale dining is like academia or fine art. It might push the bounds, it might be so avant-garde as to be confusing, but it is both an experience and a luxury. It should taste good. It should be different. But for me, it has to be different, not just for different's sake. But because it is pushing the boundaries of contemporary cooking.

Like it or not, the ways in which these upscale dining chefs cook, the flavours and combinations that they use, do eventually trickle down to my and your everyday plate. Let's take a basic example. Even McDonald's has a chipotle sauce now. That would not have happened simply by virtue of more Latin American immigrants in the US, though to be sure, that was an influence. It happened because a number of fantastic creative chefs started experimenting with flavours that were not common on the mainstream American or North American table. That was then picked up by others, and so on down the line. First you would find it at a fusion cuisine restaurant, silly food towers and all, then it trickles down to a moderately placed restaurant, until somehow, finally you have chipotle bbq sauce in a snack wrap at McDonald's. IT is not just 'latin american' cuisine in North America, it is a particular new incarnation for NOrth American palates, and it begins, often, though of course not always at the upscale end. For me the fun is in the experience. I never walk away hungry, nor do I feel like I've put away enough calories for the week. I cook and serve family style at home, but I appreciate the visual aspect of food as art as well.

I think there is a difference between fine dining and molecular gastronomy, to lump all in with the most extreme form of experimentation is to do a disservice to both. I think charging 'elitism' and refusing to acknowledge any good from upscale dining is to be a bit narrow-minded. Certainly some go for the ego boost, and those people will enjoy snooty service. But in my experience I have found that better more personable service is often accompanied by higher quality, not necessarily more expensive, food. Good service at an upscale restaurant does require a level of knowledge and a willingness to teach gently and respectfully on the part of the waitstaff and learn humbly on the part of the patron. That is a difficult balance to manage.

Well, the portion question is not altogether accurate. While some upscale restaurants do give small portions, we here in St. Louis are known for generous servings, to the dismay of some but to the general expectation of most natives, and this holds true at nearly all of our high-end restaurants.It's much more a practice of an individual kitchen than an overall fact. Of course portions are shrinking in many places due to the economy, but on the whole, we saw lots of folks carrying doggie bags.

And the other factor is the whole concept of food as art, and paying for that ,as well as rent in certain neighborhoods, the amount of staff and how well an employer chooses to pay them (do they get paid vacations? health care?) , all those things.

At high-end restaurants, a dessert may well include four separate items to be prepared to go on the plate. A pastry, an ice cream, a sauce and a garnish that's more than a sprig of spearmint. That all costs money, both in supplies and in employee hours.

Now I do agree that you don't have to spend this kind of money to get yummy food. And I've gone from a world in which I could afford to take my kids to McDonald's once a week if it was a "good" week, to a considerably more comfortable one, so I do know both sides of the budget.

But there's room in the food world for lots and lots of options.

I want my food to taste good, but I don't want it to look like someone just picked the food off the gritty floor and slammed it on my plate like I've seen at some greasy spoons. Ok, bit of an exaggeration there...just a little.

Growing up, each night my mother served dinner, she arranged the food to look fantastic -- flowers from the yard, fruits/veggies in shapes, etc. Of course, much of what I remember was Japanese food so it's hard for it to not look great with all the side dishes, balancing color, texture, temperature, and flavor, and nutritionally. It *may* have helped that she went to a culinary school in Japan as a passing fancy when she was young and that she was absolutely anal about everything in her life.

When I was in intermediate school, I remember laughing hysterically as my mother once carefully transplanted a $4 plate lunch that we bought at Zippy's for my father's dinner, onto a pretty platter -- we had already eaten and were out and about -- down to the ice cream scooped scoop of rice (she NEVER served rice that way). We chuckled for days on that one.

Paying high prices for something like mac n cheese if they didn't do anything really $$ special is a bit silly. I realize you're paying for the name brand chef (who designed the menu but didn't even cook it), location, and eating at a place just to be seen. At some restaurants, I have felt it was worth every cent and some places I felt fleeced. Most of it was dependent on the service instead of the food though.

I'm not sure if it's a Cleveland thing or my luck (it's probably luck), but at high end restaurants here, I leave feeling FULL. My husband always leaves wanting to stop at Burger King. He always ends up ordering a platter with an artful dollop of this and a spray of that; whereas, my platter will be a beautifully arranged massive amount of food that I can't finish. His dish usually costs more too! I can see the steam coming out of his head some nights. I usually give him at least 1/3 of my food anyway.

I go into up(per)scale dining restaurants in jeans and a tshirt on a whim...some places, I've been surprised they let us in -- this may be an ok-to-do-in-Cleveland thing.

The restaurants we visit several times a week tend to be restaurants with great tasting food, comfortable, cool/nifty decor, consistently good service, nice food presentation, and inexpensive (~$10-15/person). Yes, they do exist!

I don't know if I would qualify it as BS necessarily but I do find that the meals, restaurants, and types of food that I am attracted to are the not so fancy.

Give me a good pub with a great burger and fries and it would make me just as happy as getting a 3 star dinner served to me in a nice restaurant.

I think this goes back to the fact that I am a stickler for the amount of money I spend on food. I am constantly thinking and wondering if I am getting my money's worth and therefore will sometimes over analyze the cost to benefit ratio rather than thinking about how good the food is/isn't.

Variety is the spice of life. Having said that I will say this, you are kind of young and what you have not eaten and have not tried is a lot. Some people love the fine dining experience. Service costs money. Running a restaurant is a business its not a food coop. There is no Santa Claus, the easter bunny is a guy in a costume and 3 raviolis on a plate sometimes cost 9 bucks.
You can call bullshit on whatever you want but sometimes I am going to disagree with you, like now, and say if you don't like upscale dining you don't have to eat there. For me a nice meal in a nice place with good atmosphere and dedicated staff is a treat. It is what you make of it.
I was raised with fine dining and I enjoy it. Just my 2 cents plus tip.

Hmmm..I think it all depends on what you want. When I was younger I never would have appreciated a true fine dining place. I am a big fan of immigrant joints and authentic food. However there are some fine dining palces that give you very creative fare made with exquisite ingredients...and others that butcher everything but the price. I have had $$ places that make me think I can cook better. I would say try it all PumpkinbBear. All the fanfare is real..there are fine places that will rock your tongue..and you know I love taking my girl out and enjoying the experience. Dont dis all fine dining places because of a shallow few; also give their menu a chance. The sea bass may such bu their Osso Bucco may be a showstopper. There is a time and place for everything.
That being said, some people will never like fine dining just like some do not like authentic ethnic foods. If you dont like fine dining, then you dont like it, however some folks do connect with it. it is just like wine...some see the dimensions of a good wine..others just taste fermented grape juice.