Question re steakhouses and sharing

Hi - long time lurker, first time poster.

I have a question regarding higher end steakhouses and sharing plates. My sister and I ate at Carnevino last year and shared everything - the lobster sashimi appetizer, another appetizer I can't recall, a pasta, the filet and a dessert. I think the filet was a larger size (12 oz?) than the 8 oz that I currently see on the menu. We did order our own drinks and glasses of wine. Sharing did not seem to be a problem (or at least, we were not made to feel like we were doing something wrong).

We'll be in Vegas next month and are considering trying either Delmonico's or Gordon Ramsay. However, I've been looking at their steak offerings and they seem so huge - even the 8 oz cuts are somewhat large for us on a per person basis, considering that we also like to order appetizers, salad or a couple of sides and dessert. I'm assuming that the bone in cuts, once you subtract the bone weight leaves about 8 oz. of meat.

So my question is that for either of these restaurants, is sharing frowned upon? We don't like to feel stuffed at the end of the meal, nor would we like to leave large amounts of food on the plate because we can't finish it. However, we also don't want to do something that's going to be frowned on.

It's not strictly a matter of trying to be cheap, though I guess money does play a factor because wasted food = wasted money. If you could provide some insight, I would appreciate it.

 

I see nothing wrong with sharing especially if you are ordering a lot of food (apps, entree, dessert) My sis and I ate at Mastro's and shared but the. Again the apps are shareable and sides are family style, we did order and share the Petite Filet...didn't want such good food to go to waste and wanted to save room for dessert. I don't think there was an issue and they split the meal for us which was still over $200. I say share and enjoy eating multiple items that was without going to waste

 

I absolutely agree. You do what works for you!

 

I think it's fine.. some places might charge you a shared plate fee though.

 

Thanks for the replies. We're fine with a shared plate fee (we kind of expect it, bonus for us if there is none).

We've decided to go with Gordon Ramsay's - I took a look at some photos of the bone in ribeyes that people have posted on Yelp and it looks more than adequate for the two of us to share. We'll also probably split an accompanying order of king crab legs, in addition to the apps, salad, side and dessert.

I'm really looking forward to it!

 

If you're doing this to be able to have an app, dessert, and drinks, don't pay a sharing fee... Those are to ding cheapskates IMO.

Only a few times I've seen it on the menu and it winds up onto the check. Most of the time it isn't mentioned or added because it is all discretionary by the waiter. I've asked and it is taken off the few times it was charged. The person I'm about to tip just decided to tack on an unnecessary charge that gets me nothing? No thanks.

This is a big pet peeve, perhaps ill post it over in the peeve list too!

 

We did it at The Steakhouse - they state a sharing fee, but they didn't charge us. At the Brand in Monte Carlo, I ordered 2 apps and 3 side dishes and1 enormous steak....and DH and I split it all.

 

Precisely what I observe 90% of the time... It's there but not used on me. The other 10% it's been removed. I've never paid one ever, I'm not paying extra for two people to eat the same amount of food, if I'm not Doing it to cheapskate. Which we aren't. I'm American but not trying to play the "who wants to be obese also" rat race. Portions are huge and we don't need them be like to waste food

 

This. Every place will allow sharing. Some just may charge an extra plate fee($10-15 is what I see most often).


I do this often with certain family if it is just 2. I prefer getting an app/salad/desert and just spliting an entree.

 

A share plate fee is a bigger rip-off dick move than a resort fee. Any time I come across a place with a shared plate fee I never eat at that place again. The one exception is the one or two places that we've come across where they give you a second salad and a full helping of sides on each of the two plates. At least then they gave me something. But to charge me more to eat the exact same amount of food because two people are eating it is total crap! It's not like they have a table for one so it isn't like two people is even taking up more space than one.