Why there are no high end restaurants here
 

After seeing posts on other threat complaining that a burger @ $10.50 is too high and a person saying that 1/2 a portobello burger & a cup of soup is fine

I've got nothing more to say--but, you get what you don't want to pay for

High End Dining
 

Would you prefer a $20.00 burger? Does a higher price make it taste better?

You seem to have a misguided belief, that high prices make a good menu, or are you just a food snob. :mmmm:

No, but I would like a $50.00 cowboy bone in ribeye and a good bottle of Zinfandel, not the swill that most restaurants here call wine

High end dining restaurants to a great extent are reliant on business managers utilizing expense accounts. I do not really believe the like of The Palm, Morton's, Ruth Chris, etc. could maintain their business models without them. There is no shortage of money in The Villages. If there were, we'd not have three financial advisory firms on every street in every town square and most of the professional centers. I just think the majority of the residents, even those with significant personal wealth, came up the " hard way " and are perfectly happy to eat a $ 10.00 hamburger with a beer as opposed to a $ 47.50 Porterhouse with an $ 70.00 bottle of wine. " Been there, done that " for a number of wealthy residents, has to have some application to the lack of high end dining. With that said, I'd love to see a consistent high end steak/ seafood restaurant within the boundaries of The Villages. I doubt though, even if any couple were to eat there a half dozen times a year, and spent $ 275 to 400, it would stay in business. The demographics and geometrics simply do not work.

Build it & they will come

With all due respect. What we have here if we compare it to a old very popular television show is MASH. We have the majority of the Villages Crew in search of the balance of a reasonable price and a decent meal and then we have Charles Emerson Winchester III. :mmmm:

Zinfandel!!! They use that for cooking in the cheaper restaurants don't they? :wine: :sigh:

Hey, I was talking about a lunch with neighbors, not a dinner. And I said the restaurant was empty. What I pay for a casual lunch with dinner is a far cry from what I would pay for a good dinner. IMHO The only place in TV that serves a good dinner is Lopez. Plan on $50 pp. Not big city gourmet, but good. It's just food. BTW! Many places will allow you to bring your own wine for a mere $10 corkage fee. Even Red Sauce for darn. Just ask.

Go ask the people that live in the million dollar homes where they eat. They don't overpay and the don't eat crap...but you may have to drive a little.

Wow! What is up with some of you people? Food is food. I can eat a McDonald's burger and I'll bet you anything it will turn into crap and flush down a toilet just like a $10.50 burger or a $50 steak.

I like food, but damn, food is food. Fine dining is salmon patties, fried potatoes, collard greens, purple hull peas, cornbread and iced tea; I need to invite some of y'all over for "fine dining southern style".

kcrazorbackfan: Yep I call it peasant food.

What you are witnessing on these pages is an example of Oscar Wilde's "Some people know the price of everything and the value of nothing"

I think it's what happens between the lips and the other end that makes the deal for most people:1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl:

To-twoBills--there are two types of Zinfandel--Pink & Red--the pink is the cheap stuff sometimes used for cooking--an average good bottle of Red Zinfandel hovers around $20.00/ retail--which means it would cost at least $50.00 in a restaurant

This is about the fourth time you posted about your disappointment that The Villages does not have any high end restaurants. You may want to do a survey via local publications to see if there is a demand/market. You may want to speak with the District to see if the annual survey they do has indicated such a demand/market. And included in your inquiry ask if any high end restaurant have entered competition in this community.

Good Luck

I mostly eat at home. Thanks for asking.

We all know that one of the down sides to TV is lack of fine dining but that is sometimes in the eye of the beholder.

There are several restaurants near TV who have better dining options. I one for, don't seem to be too picky and enjoy most meals in TV.

It somewhat depends if one is willing to go outside the bubble to sample some of the other food choices.

To each their own.

I agree 100%. We all have our food preferences. What is important to me is enjoying food with my friends. And we all know the result of food after it passes through the alimentary canal. It's just not a big deal to most of us. Maybe you should have taken that into consideration when you bought here. A more metropolitan area may have suited you better. I doubt you will find what you want here, but it is only an hour or two away.

Chatbrat. Good heavens. Most people, even those with a few extra bucks, got here because they were careful with their money. Going out to a more expensive restaurant for most of us was a treat, not a nightly experience. The goal for a lot of us is to not outlive our last buck.

I find if I want a really good meal, I cook it.

Stop already. Bragging about money almost always ****es people off.

We're going to Bern Steak House and you are welcome to join us but the only seats available are in the back of our
golf cart:thumbup:

Whats for dinner?

Yes, we do too.

You are correct. The Rose Plantation is a new high end restaurant in Fruitland Park that is getting rave reviews, and is so busy you have to get dinner reservations way in advance.

Have found many good options for a nice lunch in The Villages. We mostly eat out at lunch and at home for a light dinner. When hubby and I want a really great meal, we cook at home. Valentine's Day, for example, we will again make a wonderful dinner at home with good wine and a sinful, chocolate dessert. We don't like the crowds of dinner out on that day.

I think the fallacy in your statement is equating price with quality. A good steak is a good steak regardless if you paid 25 bucks or overpaid 50 bucks for it. We are fortunate enough that we can pay 50 bucks for a steak if we choose to. We almost never do. My own steak off the grill is better.

Zinfandel......really?

Wish there was a 'like' button for your post! :)

Hey, I'd be more then happy to have you over for diner. I'll cook that $15 dollar steak and charge you $50 and I'll get the $20 bottle of wine and charge you $70. Sounds like a deal to me...... The best meals I've ever had were in places you'd think twice about going through the door. The only thing I've ever received that's high end in some of these restaurants was a high $$$$ Bill and little food.

The Rose Plantation is taking reservations-for two weeks out--again--build it and they will come !!

I think that the answer to your question is that they wouldn't succeed.

The ""Rose Plantation in Fruitland Park seems to be doing OK right now, but we'll have to see if it lasts. I think that it's way too much money for most Villagers except for a special occasion.

When new place like that opens, there is a lot of excitement and people want top try it. But the real test is whether it can survive for the long term. After the try out period is over, are there enough people here that will continue to go there on a regular basis?

No "high end" restaurant would survive because of the attitude of so many Villagers. The "entitled " attitude of doing things their own way.

Prime example - a group of around 8 ladies go to Glenview for lunch. They all ask for water and then stir in their Crystal Light lemonade. The server informs the manager who tells the ladies they will have to pay 75 cents for the water. They all get angry and are yelling about how unfair this is. Just plain CHEAP!

A couple will easily spend $175 plus tax and 20% tip at Ruth Chris. But how many times per month? Restaraunts have to be making a profit all the time and when snowbirds leave, the money stops being spent. 5 good months does not make a profitable year.

Why must some folks act like snobs. We dine out 5 to 6 nights per week. Tonight was $90.00 for two with drinks. Tomorrow may be $40.00. So give us a break

Why are there no Bugatti Veyron dealers, or certified service shops, near The Villages?

Why should I have to take mine to Miami to be serviced?

Personally I think the answer is...they're not acting.

In post #12 again "some people know the price of everything and the value of nothing" Oscar Wilde.

With 1st home in 1978 purchased an above ground pool. the neighbor behind me was keep up with the jones kind of guy. so he bought a pool also. He then coaxed his young son to say. Mr. rubicon we paid more for our pool then you did."I replied God I hope so".

In every publication I have ever concerning mistakes made in retirement planning "going out to eat"always seem to be in the top tier of mistakes.

I really was hoping there was a "white castle" in the area

Not necessarily true. There are plenty of successful businesses here that survive on 5 months of great revenue and then run specials to stay afloat in the off season. That's pretty much the same in many parts of the country. Golf courses up north really have about 5-6 months where they really have to make it. Tat same can be said for ski resorts. Some go to another type of business in the off season. I had a friend that owned a driving range in Massachusetts. He sold Christmas trees in December and then took a couple months off.
It is probably more true that a high end restaurant might have more difficulty surviving the summers, because I would say that overall the snowbirds have more money than the year round residents. I think that a lot of us, not all, would be snowbirds if we could afford it. Many of the year round residents simply cannot afford to own two homes.

Now we're talkin'.

My first sojourn to fine dining as a child.

YES.

Talk about rude! No class.

Same go for the big groups who use their own mini-bottles to freshen their drinks--happens a lot in the breeze ways

:agree: Oh, man, those belly bombers are great.