The Critics

In his weekly chat, Todd Kliman offers some strategies for allocating dining dollars. "In general, it pays to operate at the extremes. To save your hard-earned coin by eating out, primarily, at the kinds of [cheaper] places I'm talking about and then, with the savings, spending it on the really fine meals at restaurants that are rewarding — restaurants where consistency is seldom an issue. What you want to be careful about, if you're a food lover without means, is too many mediocre $120-$140 meals." [Washingtonian]