I don't buy the argument that dining in Jax is as expensive as dining in NYC. For one, Jax doesn't have a tier of quality as high as you can find in abundance in NYC. NYC's mid-range/avg restaurant might be equivalent to an Orsay or Black Sheep, but another big difference is that outside of chains/fast food, NYC's cheaper corner mom and pop fare or cafe fare is going to be A LOT more expensive than what you'd seek out for quick/cheap/decent in Jax. This is because the rents are higher and the salaries needed to pay employees (even if that comes in the form of a tip on higher bill) are higher in NYC. It's the same reason my haircut in SF costs $87, whereas a top salon men's cut in Jax might be half that, or less (and my salon in SF isn't a "top tier" by any means).
NYC is way more expensive to dine out in than SF, and SF is way more expensive to dine out in than Jax. Period.
A final three factors is groceries:
Jaybird, you are the only person I've heard say groceries are the same in NYC. My experience there is similar to my experience in SF: you have a lot of higher end groceries to choose from, or very small corner grocers to choose from. Either way, you're paying exorbitant grocery bills, and sometimes it actually just makes sense to eat out.
Dense cities such as NYC, SF, Chicago, and Boston aren't "brown bag your lunch" cities. You are eating out every single lunch and paying "financial district" prices. Also, work hours are longer and then you either have happy hour or gym. When all is said and done, you are left no choice but to eat dinner out because you're too tired to cool it and waiting in a grocery line will take up just as much time.
And mega finally, who even has a decent kitchen for cooking in these cities???
Bottom line is that at least for single professionals, young couples saving up, cramped middle class families with working parents, etc etc, you're spending A LOT more on just about everything in the big cities, and NYC is the most expensive for just about everything except for rent (SF has very clearly overtaken it for the time being).
Silly argument. And I don't live in NYC, but I am on a plane leaving it now to go back to my home in SF. I can comment.
Pretty much this. Food in Jax, overall, is nowhere near as expensive as what it is in bigger cities. We just returned from summer in DC & it's at least $20 every time you leave your house to eat, no matter where you go. Also don't forget to include fees for riding the Metro BTW. Taking the family on that train ride & to eat too? Yeah, shit can get real expensive real quick. Sure, you can find dives, but even then its still not what I'd call cheap. Maybe cheap for there. Yet, the bars, restaurants, etc are always ALWAYS packed (which shows you how much money is flowing into that place & what it caters to to be able to sustain all that). Its easy to do if you're single, sharing rooms, semi-wealthy, etc. Not so easy if you're just a normal married schlub with kids (which is why they're not there). That city, and most others mentioned, belong almost exclusively to the single young professional. Believe that.
I ate out quite a bit, went to old hangouts, etc but mostly found myself just getting a build your own plate from the Giant's hot bar. Speaking of that, I did find groceries there were just as cheap (or cheaper) than here in Jax (Giant vs Publix). Also lots of Trader Joe's around, which is way cheaper on many things that here in Jax would cost more. In sum, I'd prob take the cheaper & decent mix of food options here in Jax any day, even if they're not exactly considered high end or cutting edge. You're not getting ripped off here.
It's the same price if you look at it objectively by food quality, was my point. What's considered a high end restaurant here would be considered middle of the road in a large city. If you compare apples to apples, instead of just by perceived tier of the restaurant, then the pricing is much the same. If you compare what passes for high end here to high end in larger cities, then yes the prices will be higher in larger cities. That's because so is the food quality and the cost of the ingredients, and by extension the wages of the experienced staff needed to run the place and produce that level of product.
I think this city culturally accepts mediocre food without complaint, the result being a lack of market competition that normally produces good restaurants. Not to sound like a dick, but if mediocrity sells then nobody needs to take it that extra step to compete, and then the next guy takes another extra step to stand out in the market, and so on and so forth. That natural process of competition combined with time is what produces a dining scene with great restaurants. And it's not a city size thing either, it's a culture thing. Memphis for example is of similar size and economic makeup but has great food. I've named multiple smaller cities with varying economic makeups earlier in this thread, all which have better food than we do. I don't know of another city where you go to a restaurant on the main drag and pay $8 for a drink and $100 for dinner and get wilted lettuce and rotten avocados, yet the place has been open a decade and is still on a wait list half the week. They're not even trying, because they don't have to.
I can't really argue with the business model, if they're making money then why do anything different. It's only logical. But I'm not going to sit here and do the typical "if you don't like it, delta's ready when you are" response either. Culturally we do have a lower standard here compared to what the market expects of restaurants pretty much everywhere else. I've also seen a definite trend where the owners of these mediocre restaurants will gang together and run around lobbying the council, zoning board, historic commission, the health department, and whatever else they think is necessary to prevent a competitor from opening. It often works. That's also a problem which is mostly unique to Jacksonville, and stifles competition.
