To most diners in town prix fixe multi-course meals have the dual appeal of making your choices easier and offering a bang for your buck. That is why people come back time and again to various restaurant weeks. But not all prix fixes are created equal and for every lunchtime prix fixe steal there are four or five over the top dinner prix fixes more than happy to drain your bank account. But whose fixe will cost you the most? Until now we hadn't seen anyone collect the worst offenders into one list.
But that's just what Bloomberg's Ryan Sutton has done, collecting the 18 worst offenders on the prix fixe front (which is not to be confused with the even more elaborate tasting menu option that many of these places also offer) and here's what he found:
1. Gordon Ramsay: $135 ($143 after bon bon trolley).
2. Eleven Madison Park: $125 (includes a billion freebies).
3. Del Posto & Le Bernardin: $115
4. Daniel: $105
5. Jean Georges & La Grenouille & The Modern: $98
6. Le Cirque: $92
7. Marea: $91
8. Corton (with [chef Paul] Liebrandt) & Gilt (post-Liebrandt): $89
9. Gramercy Tavern: $88
10. Lincoln: $85 (previously longer $125 tasting menu)
11. Aquavit: $84
12. Ai Fiori: $79
13. Colicchio & Sons: $78
14. SHO: $75
That any of the restaurants would be on this list shouldn't be much of a surprise to anyone who pays attention to the fine dining scene. But that doesn't mean some of the prices don't take our breath away. $135 for a dinner at Gordon Ramsay—a restaurant that hasn't even been affiliated with the famous chef since 2009? We thought that even those going to fancy restaurants were trying to be more discerning! Good thing another Restaurant Week is just around the corner.
