I’m fine with that, I just felt strange being chastised for assuming a poster here could afford something like a Gjusta sandwich.
In a certain sense, how are we supposed to communicate without some idea of the class of posters here? Should we refrain from posting experiences at places that cost more than a certain amount of money to eat at?
It seems like you are conflating “class” with “amount of disposable income.” If you’re considering what to refrain from doing, start there.
Why?
What is a better model then?
I haven’t seen the post that chastised you (maybe you could link to it?). So it’s hard for me to say what you could have done to avoid being chastised.
Well, for example, in the Animal thread, you can view many posts where people tell me I have committed a transgression of impropriety by recommending that people could have a great meal at Animal for $40 by ordering just their poutine + BBQ pork belly sliders because it’s ridiculous to assume that the posters here can afford $40 for dinner (this figure is including tax and tip).
That’s remarkably shocking to me to find out that my recommendation of dishes I find to be of exceptional quality are bad recommendations on this forum because they cost $40. I think the only time I left Animal for less than $40 was when I had their ramen and some Saki…
And it’s very confusing because the majority of posts seem to be about visiting restaurants where $40 will be spent VERY fast…places like Sotto, B.S. Taqueria, etc…?
To me, recommending an awesome combination of simple, classic dishes to eat at Animal for $40 was a very reasonable recommendation to make in a thread about dining at Animal, where the average person usually spends more like $100/person…
I’ve also been chastised for recommending things like Gjusta sandwiches which are “too expensive and out of the way”… but then most posts are happy to talk about frequent visits to Guerilla Tacos (where people regularly drop $20++ on tacos and such), and schelping to Langer’s, the most inconvenient place ever, to spend $20++ on pastrami and other stuff.
So it makes it very hard to figure out what kind of recommendations one should make on these forums? I don’t think price should be totally neglected in the discussion, but it’s also kind of crazy when extraordinary reports, or recommendations get torn down because of the prices of the food involved…
Idk what the guidelines are. Personally, I actually do like to know the cost of things before making a trip out to them. It seems to me like assuming people on a food forum are at least happy to sometimes spend money on high-quality food as it’s a passion of theirs… is that an unwarranted assumption on my part?
Ok, I see from this that you’re someone who flings the term “prole” around. So I’m out. Sorry I got involved in the first place.
Is that not the proper term to use?.. What is the better term?
No, it really isn’t.
Well, I am open to being educated. What is the proper term?
in general it’s best not to disparage people who are at a different socio/economic level than you
Who is disparaging anyone? I am certainly not. I believe it is the people here that refuse to acknowledge their immense privilege that are disparaging others. I’m just trying to highlight that fact.
I think it’s disrespectful, and truly disparaging when people here pretend they aren’t privileged personally. We all KNOW that someone in the lower class, or even a decent class working a min wage job, or even slightly above, cannot take a 3 hour lunch break to drive to Ricky’s Fish Tacos, or to stand in line for an hour at Sqirl, or schelp to Gjusta, Langer’s, or Guerilla Tacos (Wherever the hell they are on that particular day). I think it’s remarkably flagrant to pretend like being able to go wherever you want during the day, and spend most of an average person’s daily wages on sandwiches or tacos is not an incredible privilege to have, much less being able to order an endless supply of super expensive langostines, or whatever… to pretend like these things are just as open to everyone, and we have no privilege at all is ridiculously pompous I think.
Rather, I think people should recognize their privilege, acknowledge it, and be GRATEFUL for it. I’m pretty damn grateful that I can drive 1-2 hours in the middle of the day to get some Guerilla Tacos, or Gjusta sandwich, or hell, a Lupe’s #2, which even though it’s a $3 burrito, the ability to just drive out to East LA whenever I feel like it is still a ridiculous kind of privilege.
To sit back and pretend that everyone has these same opportunities, and not be immensely grateful for the fantastic position that you are in is the most disparaging thing I can imagine personally.
you shouldn’t assume that everybody on this forum has that sort of time flexibility or financial ability. many of us have 9-5 gigs (at a wide variety of income levels) and are either eating out @ whatever is the best local option nearby and may only be able to check out new and interesting food on the weekends (regardless of the price). i believe everybody on this forum is grateful for the dining/food options that we have here in los angeles (and other locations) at all price points.
Why are there so many reports of people here that swarm to the places I mention all the time then?
in los angeles, many people have flexible schedules (thus the packed coffee shops and yoga classes during the day)
You feel that is not a privilege at all, that genuinely everyone in LA has that kind of flexibility, and also the cash to dish out daily?
I put ketchup on hot dogs . And do not have a smart phone .
So?
Just talk about the food. If it’s expensive, maybe people who can’t afford it will skip the discussion. Clearly some people go out a lot. Maybe they’re rich. Maybe they have generous rich friends. Maybe they have expense accounts. Maybe they live in a bad neighborhood and wear rags so they can spend all their money on food. Who cares?
Speculation about the class or income of other posters is off-topic. Please don’t sidetrack discussions of a particular restaurant or other subject with meta stuff like that, that belongs in Site Feedback, if anywhere. Or Chowhound.
So should I report posts when people yell at me for making recommendations that are “too expensive”?
You can flag posts any time you think something’s inappropriate, off topic, or otherwise a problem.
Any general discussion of what makes a place too expensive or who can afford to eat where belongs in the “Restaurants meta” category.
In a discussion of a particular restaurant, that would be off topic. On-topic comments about expense might be, “The foie gras is good but they charge twice what other places do,” or “I’d eat there all the time if it wasn’t so expensive.”