Chicago Restaurants Blame COVID For $100 Minimum Per Person Just To Get A Table

I've been to a few pretty decent Chicago restaurants where $100 per is not unheard of, I was always about the giant steak and a few good beers, so the bill was always much lower. The rents in some of these places along with cancellations is making it hard to stay afloat I imagine. Also some of the scale of eats there is just top shelf, so yeah $$$

Last time I visited I had the best 24hr braised shortribs in the world at the Mariot's fancy restaurant, I have dreams of them now

a reply to: pravdaseeker

They are just milking it no matter what they say they are BS'ing you. Just like when those factories where they produced the chips for PC memory had a fire. Those where up and running to full capacity within 2 weeks in which the prices went sky high and they kept charging those prices for over a year. Same happened with Hard rives.

In the EU Restaurants and bars kept their prices 1:1 when the euro was introduces which translated to a 120% mark-up. A year later they complained that customers stayed away. The same will happen with this now.

a reply to: pravdaseeker


Great article, thank you for posting. I believe the same may occur where flying and the airline industry is concerned. Let's hope not though.

What makes Chicago attractive to visit if you weren’t born and then stuck there? I can’t find one good god damn reason to go there. Are the restaurants there that much better why would I wish to travel to this place? So if they do this and it’s not for tourists it’s local businesses effing over local patrons. Wtf

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus
a reply to: Edumakated

Some of the 'I've eaten better at Red Slobster' replies are funny.

Pretty obvious someone these folks never been to a major city or aren't all that cultured in fine dining.

Capitalism. What the market will bear, right? If they can get capacity at $100 min per seat, then they'd be stupid to not charge it. Will they get it? Remains to be seen, but they won't get it from me.

a reply to: CptGreenTea
They are only paid low amounts(by business owner) because of the tips.

A worker that gets paid minimum wage will not have their income boosted by tips.

By LAW they have to pay at least minimum wage. If you don't tip them then the owner pays them.. it's a misguided knowledge.

The tips get spread among ALL workers, and the owner of the business makes up the difference to their paycheck. (Which is why some waitors don't even get a paycheck from their bosses at all, 100% tip funded)

If you stop tipping then the owner has to pay his employees. Until people open their eyes and realize that, the tip demand will go higher, because the business owner doesn't have to pay them. There are exceptions, like fast foods and Pizza delivery.

So do NOT think that your tip is only going to your waitor/server or even cook. Your tip in the end goes to the business owner as a way for them not to dish out the full expense of his employees.

Hope that clears things up for you.

I have no problem with this. Why? Because nobody is being forced to go there. Welcome to America. Either people will pay for it willingly and the business will prosper. Or people will not pay for it and the business will have to figure out a different business plan to survive.

originally posted by: ADAMandEVIL
a reply to: Edumakated

14 dollars for a side of bacon?
$575 bottle of Dom Perignon?
18 dollars for a cocktail?
$74 22oz ribeye?
$18 burger??

Some people are ludicrously low-intelligence
Not caring due to wealth is ignorant to the point of stupidity

If people have the money to spend on something they want, then everyone in the situation is a winner. What is wrong with this? Nobody is forcing anyone to do anything they dont want to do. This is called freedom and this is something we should all strive for. Its not like the customers threw the money away and nobody got anything out of it. They gave it to someone in return for a product.

a reply to: MichiganSwampBuck

Dear SwampBuck,

Interesting point you make...

A cross between "Hunger Games" and "Soylent Green" perhaps?

I also forgot about the increase in minimum wage!

Minimum wage when I was a young lad was $1.25/hour...Ha!

And a BRAND NEW VW Rabbit was only aprox $3500.00 too! That was a good car....

And when you order Frank's Flank steak.... one could wonder is it Frank's recipe, or a bite of Frank himself!

Pravdaseeker

originally posted by: BlackArrow
a reply to: CptGreenTea
They are only paid low amounts(by business owner) because of the tips.

A worker that gets paid minimum wage will not have their income boosted by tips.

By LAW they have to pay at least minimum wage. If you don't tip them then the owner pays them.. it's a misguided knowledge.

The tips get spread among ALL workers, and the owner of the business makes up the difference to their paycheck. (Which is why some waitors don't even get a paycheck from their bosses at all, 100% tip funded)

If you stop tipping then the owner has to pay his employees. Until people open their eyes and realize that, the tip demand will go higher, because the business owner doesn't have to pay them. There are exceptions, like fast foods and Pizza delivery.

So do NOT think that your tip is only going to your waitor/server or even cook. Your tip in the end goes to the business owner as a way for them not to dish out the full expense of his employees.

Hope that clears things up for you.

This is correct. And I'm willing to bet that waiters will receive a lot less tip if people are forced to spend $100 minimum. So they end up making less then they normally would.

a reply to: everyone

The gratuity is also built into the tab.

a reply to: BlackArrow

Unless the system is changed, not tipping is being cheap. The system is set up for tips and therefore expected. And not all restaurants or service jobs split tips.

I don't think you know what you're talking about.

Covid has been everyone’s excuse to be a dickhole a reply to: pravdaseeker

a reply to: Rob808

Hello Rob808,

I see where you are coming from, but there is another big factor is people's "angst" I think.

Deep down, even the brainwashed libtards, are getting tired of the bulls**t. Everyone is sick of the screwed over economy because of lockdowns that arguably don't help much. (There was a country that did not do the lockdown crapola, Denmark, or Norway somewhere "up there", and it didn't make a difference when compared to nearby countries that did...)

People are tired of not being able to take a holiday. Tired of not being able to mingle with their fellow citizens like at the pubs.

The supply chain disruption, subsequent inflation, currency value destroying, steady loss of freedoms, rights.

Frustration with an obviously stolen election, insane illegal immigration, frustration with an extremely broken justice system, the insanity of this Critical Race Theory shyte everywhere now, thousands of businesses destroyed, life savings depleted, and a F**kwit in charge, who needs a crib sheet to order breakfast, and the increasing crescendo of war drums beating away.... Everyone/country is in a frenzy of testosterone spraying "war-games".... epic and historic in scale, and number of vessels committed.

China threatening everybody and their brother now with a cracked skull and bloody nose. Russia saying they will sink the next UK ship sailing too close to Crimea, China-India border build up, 100 nuke silos going in by China, etc.

It is like dogs peeing on a fire plug. Hey look my "missile" is bigger than your missile... shyte going on here. War obviously brewing up. Nobody waking up and smelling the coffee that needs to be awake. We are "probably" already at war and just don't notice it yet, due to its extreme asymmetrical fashion of being deployed! The common man sees this, and the threat to his family and future. (They didn't call it the 100 year war, ten years into it, or call it WW2 on December 7th,1941, or Sept 2, 1939 for example)

The people are suffering from an "Accumulation of Everything".... all of the above listed cesspool floaters.

So, I think a lot of folks are just basically "agro" due to the accumulation of everything going on that is so screwed up, it is pathetic.

Then there are those who think they have to be "mask nazi's" and aggressively confront someone not wearing a mask for example.... even if they have a medical exemption, they shouldn't have to put up with "covid Karen's"....then they start yelling and demanding they produce their exemption paperwork, it escalates further.... someone is getting the shyte beat out of them.

I witnessed the above last week at the grocery store. (All except the beating of someone, although it came damn close!)

Yeah mate, it does seem everyone is in the mood for a fight, or to be an douchebag to everyone.... not good.

It just makes a war all that more easier to get started.

Cheers.

Pravdaseeker