I was just reading where Las Vegas has overtook New York City with the highest on average dinner bill in the country.

New York averages $40.78 per person

Las Vegas averages $44.44 per person

This is just for the meal and does not include beverages, appetizers and the rest.

Any thoughts on this?

I'd bet you get a lot more bang for the buck in Las Vegas. It's not hard to find a dinner at $100 per person. It's not hard to find fine dining meal for $25 per person. It's not hard to stuff yourself silly for $5.

It's kinda funny to think that every time I spend $10 on a meal, someone else is spending over $75. Averages don't always paint a clear picture. OTOH, I find those numbers you posted interesting.

I find it easy to eat cheap or eat high on the hog in both places. I can have a slice at Ray's pizza for $2 or I can have a 3 course meal for $200 in Manhattan. Same thing with Vegas of course.

I do find it interesting also. I think its an indication of the growth in the number of higher end restaurants in Vegas. NYC has always had 'em, and has always had the cheap and great eats too.

Very well put Kes, although I can only speak of one of those places since I haven't been in New York City since the 60s<g>.

It would be fascinating to know which places were included in the surveys since my DAILY food costs usually average less than the dinner prices quoted. I try to enjoy one "high end" steak and/or buffet each trip, and those steaks would hit that average, but my new favorite buffet (Mandalay Bay) was around $25-30 on my last trip. There is a lot of good Italian food around under $20/person, and I can find some good coffee shop meals and decent buffets for $10. I have to tout my favorite bang-for-the-buck breakfast which is still the Gold Coast buffet at roughly $5. LOL, I don't eat steak, crab, shrimp and prime rib every day at home, so I don't feel the need to eat that way on a trip - maybe I spent too long working on the road<vbg>.

That study had to be about high end expense account dining. There is no way the true average of tourist meals would be anything like that. Think about how many buffets, chain restaurants and fast food meals there are.

I have been to a fair number of the higher end places and $44 for entree only seems quite high. I would be willing to believe $44 for whole expense account meal not counting alcohol tax and tip.

There also is a bias if it is expense account, that there is much more day to day lunch dining in New York compared to put on the dog convention dinner in Las Vegas.