Dining Out - Pros & Cons

I love the fact that as an adult we still play dress up and have "tea party's" with our friends. We all enjoy going out to eat at a nice restaurant once in a while. The process for doing this includes dressing up and fantasizing about which yummy dish you plan to eat. Sure we don't wear jewelry that's half the size of our head or attempt wearing a slip as a dress--well, I hope no one does. And yet we still have this fantastical idea that we're royalty of some sort, beckoning our waiters to tend to our every whim. It's the one time that you're able to get practically anything you want without a consequence. Well, anything that's available in the restaurant.

Tonight my husband took me and a friend of ours to Don Pepe's in Newark, NJ. Mario and our friend used to work at the restaurant when they were teens so it was a little walk down memory lane for them. This was my first time eating at Don Pepe's and the food was sensational. Unfortunately, there was a group of people sitting at the table beside us who--as they were getting ready to leave--complained about how much money they had to spend when they could have gone to fill in the blank instead. Immediately Mario shook his head and said when he was a waiter he knew when they complained about the price the tip wouldn't be anything to brag about. Fortunately 15% is part of the bill for tips at most high-end restaurants so the waiters would at least make the minimal tip.

What I don't understand is why this group went to a 3.5 star restaurant if they're tight on cash? Honestly, if they didn't want to spend that kind of money they didn't have to go to the restaurant. Going there and complaining just interrupted our enjoyment in being there. Everyone makes their own choice in life and people should stay within their limitations. Don't go off and do something then complain about it. I guess some people don't grow out of the whining phase.