For those of us without expense accounts or London financial careers, $85 is an insane amount of money for drinks alone for one person.

And $85 won't get you far on cocktails? Whistler/Scofflaw/Lost Lake are consistently rated among some of the best cocktail bars in the world, and you can drinks at any of those for as little as $8 (and they're stiffer than a rock). $12 is the high end. You could comfortably get a party of 4 sloshed on that amount alone.

Well, it’s $85 per person before the drinks. Let’s not forget that.

So it’s obviously cheaper than good seats at Wrigley, but more expensive than most good restaurants

add 30% for tax and tip though and $85 bucks is really only like $60 so yeah... 5 high end drinks or 7.5 low end drinks at your bar scenario... that won't get a party of 4 drunk at all...

Tax is baked into the price of the drink everytime I've been to one of these places. If you're throwing in 2 bucks tip on an $8 drink that's 10. Times 4 is...40. Times two is 80. Either way, were talking ballpark. Two of those cocktails and I assure you, you probably shouldn't be driving.

But the point still stands. You can do a lot with that amount of cash in Chicago.

We need a heated beer garden for the plebes across from the light shows at the mart.

Coletivo Coffee at Milwaukee and California has a large sidewalk facing patio with two year round fire pits. Great for a coffee in fall/winter!

I wonder how much someone with a London finacial career spends on a cup a joe?!

Outdoors all year
 

Ace Hotel

If I could predict the weather with 100% certainty, I'd absolutely book one of those domes for a client event on a night when the snow way flying. I'd think it would blow them away.

It's definitely a lot of money, but I imagine it's stunning to sit on the river during the holiday season while it's snowing with friends/family/clients

They serve food too. So the $85/person is not that outrageous. Anytime my wife and I go out to a decent restaurant it's $150 at least including drinks.

Just because you can afford to spend 150 on a single dinner, doesn't mean that the whole world is the same way :haha:

^ correct. to someone with some hot-shot $250K finance job, 85 bucks for several drinks is par for the course (and often expense-accounted anyway).

to someone with a $55K CPS teaching gig, 85 bucks for a night out is a special occasion big deal.

I never said it was for everyone. Most things aren't. My point was it is not out of the ordinary for a nice night out.

Agree - at least in 2018 when you want a nice dinner for 2 at a decent (but not super expensive) restaurant, it's going to be at a minimum $65 if you don't order anything but entrees ($25 per entree let's say - 18% tip and tax). Get an appetizer or two and just 1 drink per person and you're easily at $100+ all things considered. Even if all you got was 2 entrees at an average price of $25 per, and just one $10 appetizer, you'd be pushing $80 on that alone after tip and tax. So really, $85 if the food and atmosphere is good is not bad if you want a nice dinner.

My cousin and wife went to Next last month and spent a thousand bucks. But they're crazy and rich af so whatever.

Yes, there's many different levels of "nice dinner" - it's my girlfriend's birthday in a month and I am spending $700 for a dinner for 2 at Eleven Madison Park (well, already bought - from the Tock system that Alinea created where you pay ahead). That's without any drinks LOL. Pretty crazy. The other "nice dinner" thing though. It's always crazy to me whether in Chicago or NYC how "easy" it is to get your bill to $100+ for 2 with just a few entrees, an appetizer or two, and a few drinks.

This post is nothing more than a humble brag, but nice try at false modesty

"Ugh, these thousands of dollars keep evaporating from my wallet on luxury meals, why won't it stop??!"

Not my intention, but I admit reading it again it did come off that way. Sorry. Main point was that restaurants these days are a bit ridiculous I think. A nice dinner for 2 in a big city is going to be no less than probably $80 after tip and tax and easily over $100 if you just get a few drinks. So if the outdoor deal gets you dinner and a drink, and it's $85 then it's not so much out of the ordinary for somewhere like downtown Chicago. And it goes up to ridiculous amounts pushing $1000 which is pretty insane...most people only do that for special occasions. I've only met 1 couple in my entire life who would actually eat at places like this on a semi daily basis and they are essentially out of touch with reality. And no, I don't personally eat out all the time. The birthday is a "milestone" birthday meaning I'm going way out of my comfort zone for what I normally pay. We usually cook at home on a normal day in case you are wondering. I find the price tag rather ridiculous, but I know I'm probably not going to eat there again in my life or for many years. I was trying to exhibit the ridiculous prices that restaurants in 2018 can go to though I guess I did not have to include myself :)

You know how much food you can get at Taco Bell for $5.00?

Now that's crazy.

"Good food" is subjective. "Food" has a more rigid defintion. Remember when the USDA wouldn't let Taco Bell say ground beef because it was actually mostly ground up pig assholes? Yeah, me too. That's why I stick to the quesadillas :haha: