Yesterday, my wife and I took another trip to Atlantic City. This was my third trip in about 6 weeks, since my exam on November 3, which is the most often I’ve ever been to AC. But instead of just playing cheap with complimentary room and drinks, I decided to take it up a notch for variety’s sake and made reservations for dinner at Il Mulino at Trump Taj Mahal.
The restaurant experience was great. After they sit you down, they don’t give you the menu right away. First came fresh cheese, which was a bit too hard for my taste, then some type of zucchini/garlic/hot pepper dish, then came bruschetta and 4 pieces of pepperoni. Finally came bread and garlic bread. After all that complimentary food, we were given our menus.
Now, whenever we go to a fancy restaurant like this, we order at least an appetizer, dessert, or wine, along with our two main courses. I assumed this was standard practice and something that people are expected to do when at a restaurant like this. I did not want to look cheap ordering just two main courses. But I’ve read a few opinions online where people disagreed with this sentiment and that no one is expected to or pressured to order anything. So this time, we only ordered two main courses. No appetizer (easy choice, given all the free food we had before the meal), no wine, and no dessert. We also used a $25 in comps that I earned over the past few AC trips. Our total cost was $75 minus the $25, so $50. I tipped $15, so we paid $65. But I couldn’t help but feel that our waiter was not quite as friendly as he was when we first arrived. Well, this was just one time so I can’t be sure, but this made me think waiters at high-end restaurants expect high-end clientele, who like their high-end dinners with all the trimmings like bottled sparkling water, appetizers for each person, and a dessert even if main course was not finished. We are not those types of people, and do not like to order more than what would get us full. We also don’t like to spend more money than necessary, and enjoying just two main courses is fine with us. I guess these restaurants expect those who is not fine with just the main course and orders a full 3-course meal, and if we do not order the way they do, maybe we are seen as not being at their level. Or to put it simply, waiters just get mad when you don’t order more.
I would like to order whatever I want, but I do not live in a vacuum. Every society has unwritten rules to follow, and maybe each class of restaurants has its own unwritten rules – rules I am not aware of because I do not frequent them very often. Or maybe it was all just me being sensitive because I’ve never just ordered two main courses when dining at a restaurant of this caliber before. I guess I will do some research. I am still willing to try that restaurant again, though.
As for our trip, we were extremely lucky at the beginning, winning $210. But then we lost it and more, so we lost about $120. Not too bad, and we had a good time.
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