I went to four Winterlicious meals this year, which is a record for me, and spent a total of $282 including tax and tip. Not that bad, because if I were going for “quality” I would have probably went to 4 $35 dinners instead which would have probably put me closer to $400. I think next time I’ll try and keep it down to 2 meals.
I’m still quite on-the-fence as to whether *-licious is worth it for both consumers and the restaurants. *-licious seems like great business for the top restaurants since they can guarantee full houses almost every day, although their average bill will probably be less (but you know what they say about making it back on volume). I guess the smaller restaurants, like Arriba and Bb33 Bistro do get slightly more traffic than usual, but is it non-negligible?
For consumers me, *-licious is like fine dining frenzy, where you try and get as many fine dining deals as you can in 2 weeks. But remember the adage, you get what you pay for. Sure it’s cheaper to go to the best places, but even if you put aside the hassle of actually scoring a reservation, is it worthwhile to be waited on at a sub-par level in a dining room full of 20-top Asian kids? I’m not a big fan of dessert so while a prix fixe for three courses is generally a good deal, I wouldn’t mind just getting a (non-salad) appetizer and the main course. Next year, Winterlicious should have Wendy’s custom combos — I’ll have a drink instead of the dessert thank you very much.
I think *-licious would be improved if the restaurants in Toronto had a prix fixe menu throughout the entire year so there would be less rush and exclusivity to the experience. Maybe then the fine dining can be appreciated.
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