“Fine” dining seems to be a huge industry these days, especially in major cities. It’s associated with culture, class, and sophistication. But is it all that it’s cracked it to be? I am not a big fan of fine dining at all, to put it mildly, for these three reasons…

1. It’s Overpriced

When you go to an “upscale” restaurant, you never get what you pay for. I don’t care how “amazing” any given dish you order is. Unless it’s sprinkled with actual diamonds or gold dust, it should never cost more than $35. This has nothing to do with being cheap or generous, rich or poor. When you don’t get the value for the money you spend, you can’t help but feel like you have been taken advantage of, even if that was voluntary on your part.

Whenever I have to go to one of those restaurants where I end up spending $80 – $100 or more per person, I can’t help but start thinking about the starving children and Africa and how much they would be hating me for such necessary and overrated indulgence. I know that it’s beyond cliche to say something like this, and if I really cared about those children in Africa, I would probably be there now saving lives along with Red Cross, Unicef and alike, but I feel that there is something morally wrong with paying as much as some of those “fine” restaurants charge for food that’s usually not that great anyway. I am sure that you noticed that the vast majority of upscale restaurants have one quality in common – they are overrated and consistently fail to woo you with either their food or their service.

2. It’s Extremely Unhealthy

I am not sure at all which one is more unhealthy – a cheeseburger at McDonald’s, that has been getting so much bad rap, or a heavy pasta dish at an Italian restaurants or a typical entree at a French restaurant full of all kinds of greasy ingredients. I can’t imagine how deep fried spaghetti with tons of sauces and cream at a typical French or Italian restaurant is any healthier than bread with some average quality meat, cheese and vegetables in between.  If you look at a menu of a high-end restaurant that attracts all those business people and compare it to the far more simple and less “sophisticated” menu of your local crepe cafe, you will find the latter to be so much healthier and so much more nutritious.

3. It Prevents An Intimate Connection On Dates

Going out to a high end restaurant for a date is one of the typical mistakes that guys make. Some guys do this to impress the girl they are going out with, but dining in a formal atmosphere where you are spaced far from your date will hardly be helpful to developing a romantic connection, even when the two people seem to like each other.

Some guys  think that they can make up with expensive food for what they are lacking in personality and sense of humor, or what the girl they are out with is lacking in the same departments. However, going out on a date to an expensive dinner will only postpone the inevitable decline of that interaction. If there is nothing there between the two of you, there is no wine bottle or exotic dessert in the world that will make your connection any better. The fact that expensive restaurants are notorious beta male magnets doesn’t help the romantic cause either.

I love eating as much as anyone else. Dining is a huge industry involving art and science. However, we should not make more out of it than it is, and we should remember that fine dining is by far not the best investment – literally, or into our health, or into our romantic interactions.

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