This idea is not mine. It is actually a friend's.
He got this idea drinking coffee. I do not know why.
Now, imagine this hypothetical situation.
You walk into that new restuarant that just opened, a fancy looking place. The food smells delicious, the decor is amazing; you can't wait to eat. They bring you the menu, and !!!!!
Everything is priced ridiculously high! Everything is overcharged by $50, sometimes even $100!!
The steak platter with fries, corn, and beverage is a whopping $118! The soup of the day is $68.50! An entree of chips and salsa is $72! What is going on!
You start to get up to leave, but the waiter stops you. He whispers in your ear "Please sir, don't leave. You will find the food is worth the cost; if it is not, you can get a full refund."
With that, you sit down, wondering. You order some chips and salsa to start ($72), some grilled chicken with sides ($98), some broccoli soup ($53) and a drink ($61). Then the waiter makes you pay even before they bring the food!
The total is a whopping $309.56 after tax!
You wait, eating your chips and salsa, which, although are supreme, are not worth $72. The waiter then brings your soup, and later, your grilled chicken and sides. The waiter urges you to save the chicken for last, as it is the best.
You eat, wondering throughout the entire meal, "What could make this food cost so much? It is great, amazing, some of the best you have ever had, but it is not worth $309.56!" You finished everything else and start on your grilled chicken. It is amazing! Tender and delicious.
Then, as your are eating, you find, underneath the main course, a small piece of opaque plastic.
Inside, you find all of your money, minus the real cost of the meal.-- DesertFox, Sep 06 2005 (??) ancient origin of AATERFYP Spontaneously_20Combustive_20Cocaine [zeno, Sep 07 2005] The point of high/over-priced restaurants is so that you can show that you can afford them. So you don't want the money back (if you are inclined to eat there in the first place).-- DrCurry, Sep 06 2005 This reminds me of last New Year's in Miami.
I look for a reasonable wine on the restaurant's somewhat pricy list. Find one that looks good at $60. The waitress says good choice, and strangely, a few minutes later, asks me if I want to keep the box.
"No, I wouldn't", I say, and remark to my friends that this is quite strange.
Later, when receiving the bill and realizing that the bottle was actually $500 (apparently I inadvertantly looked at a "glass" price or something), I ask for the box. "Sorry", she says, "we already threw it out."
To avoid embarassment, I insisted on paying the whole bill so that the people that were out with us wouldn't even know what I did.
Great wine, though.-- theircompetitor, Sep 06 2005 If you were to take this idea all the way to its conclusion, you would have a restaurant that serves an infinitely small portion for "all the money you have".
[theircompetitor], was the wine as good as you had hoped?-- sleeka, Sep 06 2005 I would ask for a full refund of my $309.56. :-) [-]-- contracts, Sep 06 2005 The Tax Office'd have a field-day! And the tip'd be astronomical, even if you leave a 2.5-5% tip...-- Dub, Sep 06 2005 Hmmmm tax would be confusing.
Though this isnt my idea, it's my friend's. It really is.-- DesertFox, Sep 06 2005 Put blame in the bin. We only seek solutions to (invented) problems here. No accusations... Well, perhaps a few.-- Dub, Sep 06 2005 Blaming your friend is no excuse as you still chose to post it onto the halfbakery. Not that it is an intrinsically bad idea. But between this and "Fortune Croissants", I'm getting a little sick of people wanting to put things in my food.-- hidden truths, Sep 06 2005 cool-- benfrost, Sep 07 2005 It would be packed with expense account diners every day. In fact this arrangement is extremely common on a less formal basis in many other businesses. All London cab drivers will give you a receipt worth double the fare (or often blank for you to fill in) so long as you give them a tip.-- wagster, Sep 07 2005 Ah,it's the old AATERFYP again.-- zeno, Sep 07 2005 My friend says he wouldn't go near the place.-- egbert, Sep 07 2005 My friend... wait, I don't have any friends.-- david_scothern, Sep 07 2005 A good place to take high-priced dates, too.-- sophocles, Sep 07 2005 *rimshot!* .... welcome back UB! After your PUNishment, you're giving us some, eh?-- sophocles, Sep 09 2005 random, halfbakery