You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
Dinner by ticket, now...
- Thread starter Jeff Grossman
- Start date
The concept of fairness is interesting because nothing is 'perfectly fair' and it is always a question of who we are choosing to be winners and losers.
Many of us like arrangements where the devoted fan gets price breaks/deals over the more casual consumer. Although I see how that punishes 'regular' people.
However, I also recoil at too much of this surge pricing across all areas of society because it seems like it punishes poor people the most. And they already suffer so much.
Many of us like arrangements where the devoted fan gets price breaks/deals over the more casual consumer. Although I see how that punishes 'regular' people.
However, I also recoil at too much of this surge pricing across all areas of society because it seems like it punishes poor people the most. And they already suffer so much.
originally posted by Jeff Grossman:
Dinner by ticket, now......with surge pricing: click
Crazy stuff. Chez Panisse downstairs was always more expensive on the weekend but they gave you more stuff ('course you did not have a choice).
Getting the same thing for a different price is insanity.
Jim Hanlon
Jim Hanlon
I'm pretty sure Alinea and a few other high end prix fix places have been doing this for a while. At Alinea the pricing changes based on day and time, so someone sitting down at 9:00 on Friday will often pay less than someone at 7:00.
As Rahsaan said, whether this increases fairness is very much in the eye of the beholder.
As Rahsaan said, whether this increases fairness is very much in the eye of the beholder.
originally posted by Jim Hanlon:
I'm pretty sure Alinea and a few other high end prix fix places have been doing this for a while. At Alinea the pricing changes based on day and time, so someone sitting down at 9:00 on Friday will often pay less than someone at 7:00.
As Rahsaan said, whether this increases fairness is very much in the eye of the beholder.
Not sure about Alinea but Grant Achatz's other place (Next) pioneered the ticketing model with differential charges for "prime time" and "off hour" dining. It seems to me that restaurants have done a de facto split pricing model for many years, with special deals for lunch or weekday dining. I'm sympathetic to the issues that Rahsaan raises, but this is pretty much restricted to a segment (fine dining) that targets people with disposable income.
Mark Lipton
originally posted by MLipton:
I'm sympathetic to the issues that Rahsaan raises, but this is pretty much restricted to a segment (fine dining) that targets people with disposable income.
Mark Lipton
Yes, at this level of consumerism it's not quite the same thing as giving away access to clean water/air to the highest bidder.
But the principle remains, how much are we willing to give away to the person who is able to pay the most for it.
Jeff Grossman
Jeff Grossman
The article rightly points out that the reverse has been done for ages... Happy Hour, Sunset Dinner (if you're near a retirement community), pre-theater, and other special discounts.
I'll tell you what up-pricing means for me: I'll eat home more often. I really only go out to dinner on Saturdays and some Sundays. Higher prices would cause me to hesitate more often, no matter what the chef is making.
I'll tell you what up-pricing means for me: I'll eat home more often. I really only go out to dinner on Saturdays and some Sundays. Higher prices would cause me to hesitate more often, no matter what the chef is making.
Time is a precious article, and once it is gone it won't ever come back. Unless you are Dr. Who, of course. And as Mark points out, this is why lunches are usually at a reduced percentage of the dinner menu. I see more fairness in time pricing because you can always adjust your schedule, whereas for physical items it feels more like retailer manipulation.
Jeff Grossman
Jeff Grossman
Heh.originally posted by Rahsaan:
But the principle remains, how much are we willing to give away to the person who is able to pay the most for it.
So... I used to run a restaurant that did this. We were actually one of the first places in the country to do it, back in 2014 - actually beta-tested the system for Next/Alinea before they commercialized it.
We noticed not a goddamn whit of difference in traffic patterns before and after. These restaurants just have really low price elasticity, so from the perspective of a place like Next, you may as well take the money, and from everyone else's perspective, well, you can do it if you believe in it (we did) but it probably won't change your business.
Something these articles overlook is that price differentiation of this sort actually implies a whole lot of other, more fundamental operational changes. You need to sell tickets (we got enormous pushback on this, but believed it was the right thing to do). Once you sell tickets, you almost certainly need to go from tipping to service included.
It's much less that the industry is resistant to change, and much more that diners are resistant to change.
We noticed not a goddamn whit of difference in traffic patterns before and after. These restaurants just have really low price elasticity, so from the perspective of a place like Next, you may as well take the money, and from everyone else's perspective, well, you can do it if you believe in it (we did) but it probably won't change your business.
Something these articles overlook is that price differentiation of this sort actually implies a whole lot of other, more fundamental operational changes. You need to sell tickets (we got enormous pushback on this, but believed it was the right thing to do). Once you sell tickets, you almost certainly need to go from tipping to service included.
It's much less that the industry is resistant to change, and much more that diners are resistant to change.
John Jansma
John Jansma
A friend once told me of a bar where drinks were listed on a ticker like the stock exchange; the more popular a cocktail, the more it cost. Every so often the market would "crash" and the bar would go nuts ordering drinks before the prices surged. Sounds like fun...
originally posted by John Jansma:
A friend once told me of a bar where drinks were listed on a ticker like the stock exchange; the more popular a cocktail, the more it cost. Every so often the market would "crash" and the bar would go nuts ordering drinks before the prices surged. Sounds like fun...
All this brings to mind the proverb: "a fool and his money are soon parted."
originally posted by John Jansma:
A friend once told me of a bar where drinks were listed on a ticker like the stock exchange; the more popular a cocktail, the more it cost. Every so often the market would "crash" and the bar would go nuts ordering drinks before the prices surged. Sounds like fun...
Not sure which bar you were at but thank you for starting me down an internet rabbit hole that wound up here:
Loading…
www.thedrinkexchange.com
Jeff Grossman
Jeff Grossman
Cool. We like tech.originally posted by twlim:
Not sure which bar you were at but thank you for starting me down an internet rabbit hole that wound up here:
Loading…
www.thedrinkexchange.com
And, I suppose, if I like drinks that aren't popular then I drink more cheaply?