I've never seen anything like this before. Feministing points to a menu from (?) where the prices are different for men and women. The budget-concious broke-ass chick in me says "yes!" while the outspoken feminist in me says "ooohh...no."
Those who know me know I'm all about the hyperlinks, and "sailorman" pointed me to a New York Times food blog post about the all but dead phenomenon of the price-free (not to be confused with priceless) menu.
I've worked at two restaurants, and was asked quite frequently for price-free menus, either by people hosting large parties, or--yes--men who didn't want their dates to know how much they were paying. This question was particularly laughable at my places of business since, while they were still upscale, they were not the fanciest places in their respective facilities.
I was a bartender at a four-star hotel--and honestly, if I had known how much drinks were there, I wouldn't have ordered booze. (Wait, I didn't have to order. I just drank for free after hours.) But the food was bar food. Upscale bar food, but still burgers and quesadillas. Yes, there were some fancier entrees on the menu, but still at reasonable prices. We weren't the fine dining room upstairs, just a simple, cozy hotel bar. No price-free menus there.
I also waited tables at a country club. Again, we weren't the fancy place--that was a ways down the parking lot. We were the place members went to for coffee before a golf match, for lunch while their kids were playing ice hockey, for a break from the bowling tournament. A few fancy entrees, but mostly sandwiches and salads. People would host parties there, and ask for price-free menus (which we didn't have), and get upset when we couldn't provide one. But, really, I think their guest would have been able to figure out the price of a club sandwich.
Interesting analysis of the NYT price-free menu comments here.
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