High end restaurant shop

There is a high end steak restaurant in need of a shop. This would be a 90 minute one way trip for us. A guest is required. This shop requires drinks at the bar as well. There is no additional pay for this shop, at least not at this time. The max pay out is $120 and can include tips and valet parking. I saw some of their prices online. Their lowest price meal is $30 and their lowest priced appetizer is $15.

It seems that fast food and casual restaurants are willing to give more to mystery shoppers. Don't get me wrong, $120 sounds like a decent chunk of change until you start figuring in a required trip to the bar for required drinks, tips for the bartender, tips for the waitress, tips for valet parking, and parking fees.... $120 may not cover it all.

Percentage wise, a fast food shop gives more than this swanky place.

Question: Do these high end shops ever get bonused? Are they popular shops? Any tips for doing them?

Thanks!

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I think the "opportunity" to eat in such a "swanky" spot is included in your reimbursement and measly fee (if there is one). Let the shop sit on the board if you're unwilling to pony up a few bucks out of pocket.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/12/2015 05:21AM by bestofbothworlds.

That is the kind of shop you do when it is near you and you want a change from the burger and fries or regular chain restaurant shops. I try to find a special shop such as this for a special occasion from time to time. Generally I don't want to be bothered writing the report on such. When a high end reimbursement generally covers the expense and the restaurant is not a dog, there usually is little problem getting them taken without a bonus.

Some of the things I do to keep under the reimbursement are:
1. get to the bar at the tail end of happy hour which sometimes coincides with the start of the shop time...Save a few bucks there on your bar drink and have only one or if you and your guest like to have two drinks, get another at happy hour price and carry it into the dining room and sip slowly until your meal comes so you only need to purchase the required minimum of dining room drinks at full price
2. Ask the msc if it is okay to order a soup for the appetizer requirement..save $7--8 there if it is allowed
3. Order one of the mid priced meals and another lower price chicken or pasta or whatever it is and then share with your guest so you can both have some of the better meal.
4. Sometimes the online menu does not show some of the less expensive desserts they have like a scoop of ice cream for a savings over the fancy dessert offerings
5. Just splurge if you are in the mood for something else and have some $$ to do that.
6. See if you can find discount gift cards either on line or if they sell them at your costco type store for generally $79.99 for $100 worth...or stock up at christmas deals for next year.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/12/2015 05:59AM by sandyf.

thise are some great tips given above. also, it never hurts to ask for a $25 bonus for gas if the msc is up against the deadline. even ACL has given me this type of bonus in some situations.

Many MSCs will allow to you order coffee as a dessert item as well.

That said, where I live, $120 will not cover a steakhouse dinner. $180-200 is more like what's required for an enjoyable meal.

I shopped a steakhouse on Sunday night with a single shared appetizer ($17) and entrees that were on the low end of the price list ($34 & $48). I could have saved $10 total by ordering the lest expensive app and entrees, but who goes to a steakhouse and doesn't order at least 1 steak! With the bar component (1 single drink is $12), tax, tip dessert, side dish (items are a la carte) and wine, the bill was $211. Luckily the restaurant had half off bottles of wine on Sunday nights because two glasses of wine would have been more than the cost of the bottle we were allowed.

Going through the work of writing the narrative, ordering chicken and not getting wine with dinner in order to stay near an unreasonable reimbursement limit is just not worth it to me....and definitely not worth a 90 minute drive IMHO.

I agree with SteveSoCal.

I recommend that you "track" this shop for a month or two. See if it gets posted with a bonus. I would guess it is in a major city. It's unlikely that it will be bonused in my experience. More likely, a shopper who could never afford such a place will take it for reimbursement only.

My policy in taking a reimbursement only high-end shop is I should really like the restaurant and, only for special occasions. I consider the reimbursement as my discount on my real bill. When I am in the mood for 'business only' mystery shopping shops, I stay away from them. I used to do them often when I was a rookie until I woke up and thought, "Hey,this is business."

I agree with both people above... personally I would never do a 90 minute drive to anywhere for a shop unless I was going there already but I live in a big city where I can find shops I want to do a lot closer. If you are rural or in a small town and can only get to a fine dining by driving a distance then that is what your chosen lifestyle includes. I on the other hand have to drive a big distance to get to peace and quiet! Too bad I cannot find US Parks shops! I might drive 90 miles for one of those.
.I am not a big steak eater so for my food choices we would get one steak and the other something not so meat and potato-ey. And I never eat appetizers or desserts when eating out so just ordering the least expensive choices would not be detracting from the dinner. It is very very easy to go over by a lot on these fine dining shops so it is important to know ahead of time how you would handle the reimbursement amount and whether or not you are willing to go out of pocket. Make these decisions before you have a drink! unless you will not be bothered if after feeling more relaxed you end up with a $100 extra outlay.

We occasionally do high-end restaurants that cost us money in tolls and parking, but I would never do one that didn't cover the meal itself. A $200 meal is not in our normal budget, so it's (sometimes) worth it. Make certain to check the restaurant's ratings on Yelp or TripAdvisor first -- we did one that was a complete disaster and I still had to fill out the lengthy report. Wasted gas, money, time and effort for a gross meal.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/12/2015 10:21PM by MrEToomey.

Even if you check it out you could be disappointed. I did one once at the starship location of a famous chef with a $220 reimbursement limit. It was difficult to eat under the limit but I did it. However, a half hour after eating I was hungry as the individual dishes held very small amounts.

I actually like most high end steakhouses, or at least the ones that I have been to so far. That being the case, I took my last high end steakhouse shop as a reason to take my wife out to a nice place and get a more expensive meal for the cost of a night out to Applebee's. It is certainly a challenge to keep the bill under the amount if you're doing it for the profit of the shop. I agree with risinghorizon in that respect. If it is for business, I recommend passing, but if for the pleasure of the steakhouse, why not? I was reimbursed $187 and my restaurant bill alone came to $211, but for me it was worth it.

That's the key, jdawg - it was worth it TO YOU. Nothing else matters. It sounds like a wonderful evening for you both.

@jdawg597 wrote:

I was reimbursed $187 and my restaurant bill alone came to $211, but for me it was worth it.

I was reimbursed $195 for my $211 bill at the steakhouse last week, so I understand that. I ordered the 40-day aged New York that was $9 more than a petit filet, and we opted to have a side of potatoes for $10 that was not required, but that $16 I spent made it an amazing meal, so it was worth it to me as well.

@jdawg597 wrote:

I actually like most high end steakhouses, or at least the ones that I have been to so far. That being the case, I took my last high end steakhouse shop as a reason to take my wife out to a nice place and get a more expensive meal for the cost of a night out to Applebee's. It is certainly a challenge to keep the bill under the amount if you're doing it for the profit of the shop. I agree with risinghorizon in that respect. If it is for business, I recommend passing, but if for the pleasure of the steakhouse, why not? I was reimbursed $187 and my restaurant bill alone came to $211, but for me it was worth it.

Precisely why these are rarely bonused!

If your going to make it to the table at a $100 per person steakhouse, don't be so cheap that you eat a chicken pasta dish to save $15 over getting a steak. You can make that back by doing a single ff shop. The report takes the same time to write if you get the cheaper items as it does to describe that the lobster tails were steamed to perfection. I'd do a shop like this once a month and be happy to go over $30 or so and allow both people to order what they really want on the menu. To nickel and dime the menu to be careful to not go over will ruin the meal. Besides, you know you want a bowl of Lobster Bisque and not a cup of clam chowder. It's only another $7.

The only problem with high end restaurant shops is that I've found the report requires a great deal of description of flavor, texture, etc. for each item, as if you were a food critic writing a review, and more narrative than other dining shops. For me, right now, the length of the report makes it not worth it.

If you find yourself writing like a food critic, you may be heading the wrong direction with your narrative and doing too much work.

Clients are well aware of the fact that mystery shoppers are not food critics...and many are offended when the narratives head that way. When I was an editor, I was constantly removing opinion about food items at the client's request.

If it's a high-end restaurant, chances are there's a notable chef involved who feels very confident about his creations and only needs a few pieces of information from the shopper. They mainly want to know if items are fresh, served at the right temperatures and have an appetizing visual presentation.

If the sauce spilled over the edge of the plate, the ice cream was melted when it arrived or your steak was served well done after you asked for rare, those are important points. If you were served 3 pieces of something and a neighboring table received four, that's also important. If you felt the balsamic reduction didn't pair well with a fruit topping, that's probably something you should leave out of the narrative.

I've submitted well over 1,000 high-end restaurant narratives and don't think I've ever offered more than 5 sentences about a particular food item.

I spent 6-7 hours on my first high end eating report. I liked the restaurant a lot so I'd like to do it again when I am more experienced. I haven't checked what the rotation is on that one.

There is one msc who will reimburse valet tip and parking fee, as long as there is a fee for parking (receipt required, of course). However, if parking is free for the fine dining restaurant, then they will not reimburse the tips, even though you are required to use valet parking. What is the reasoning behind it?

Not my circus - Not my monkeys @(*.*)@

~Polish Proverb~

@cubbiecat wrote:

There is one msc who will reimburse valet tip and parking fee, as long as there is a fee for parking (receipt required, of course). However, if parking is free for the fine dining restaurant, then they will not reimburse the tips, even though you are required to use valet parking. What is the reasoning behind it?

If they can get away with not paying for it and the shops are still being accepted, then why would they?

I find that if the location has valet parking and is attached to an upscale mall or shopping complex that has other stores, then the valet is not part of the restaurant and does not need to be reported. This is where having a handicapped dining companion really comes in handy to get that coveted close parking spot and can be faster than the backed up valet at times.

@SteveSoCal wrote:

If you find yourself writing like a food critic, you may be heading the wrong direction with your narrative and doing too much work.

I've submitted well over 1,000 high-end restaurant narratives and don't think I've ever offered more than 5 sentences about a particular food item.

I'm glad it worked out for you. Sounds like a great report. Two of the last three I did I got a note from the editor saying there was not enough description of food. Perhaps it is this particular client.

Where do all of you go to find the dining MSCs? I've mostly been looking through the Sassie companies. There seem to be two main companies in my area, one casual and one fine dining, and then one or two that seem to pop up on jobslinger every now and then. Do any of you have suggestions of other places to find these companies? It's a really great way to enjoy eating out without having to empty my wallet!

A Closer Look has one client in my area, which is a fine dining restaurant.

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