I think burgers are a great fine dining "hack." Many fine dining establishments have a burger on the menu and it's often really freaking good at a price point significantly less than the other entrees. The best burger in my town is $15 from an upscale sushi place.

steak burgers are great, you pay less to get more, free bread and they've already done some of the chewing for you. Any other food if you asked for them to chew it for you they'd probably call the police.

I've had it both ways. Either the chef wants to put their own touch on the burger and create something amazing or they hate every customer that is too cheap or tasteless to try anything else on the menu so they serve something you'd find at a amusement park.

If you're at a higher end restaurant the burger is a way to put a cheaper, accessible option on the menu. It's there so that a party of 4 or more can show up and someone who's more price sensitive or less adventurous can still have a good time. (Roast chicken and an entree salad serve similar purposes.)

If it's an insult from the chef, that's pretty bad. Extremely snobby to put it on the menu without putting effort in. Burgers are good and a kitchen can outsource the only hard parts (baking a great bun, and grinding the meat) to their suppliers.

One of the best burgers I know was the vegetarian portobello burger with blue cheese at the Burger Bar in Amsterdam. € 5.25 a couple of years ago (I don't think they have it anymore). Quality was sadly variable, but when they get it just right, the taste combo was absolutely divine.

Same here, there is an Italian restaurant near me with normally $30-$40 entrees, and an absolutely fantastic $15 burger.

Where in the word do you live that a sushi restaurant sells hamburgers?

Another comment mentions an Italian restaurant making burgers. Yes I am aware that almost every kebab shack will put on menu pizza too, but come on people...

Vacations work the same :) visit Puerto Rico now because everyone thinks it’s destroyed by natural disaster and political problems. Yeah it’s destroyed, but stunning beaches, resorts, golf courses, restaurants, etc for a fraction of the price.

Best golf course and lunch I’ve ever had were at the royal isabela in PR. Absolute ghost town, but $90 all in. Stunning place.

This reminds me of a meme I saw a while back with a guy saying he makes vacation plans based on terrorist attacks, after which the tourist population and prices both drop noticeably.

I've heard this one too, but why does that happen? Surely the last place you'd want to do a terrorist attack is somewhere that just experienced one recently? Not only will everyone be on high alert so you're less likely to succeed, but your impact will be diminished since your attack is now getting mixed in with the previous one.

I guess it might be more of a psychological thing of not wanting to go there because it feels weird to vacation at the place of a tragedy, but from a safety perspective, it seems like the best choice.

If a terrorist attack happened there, it's actually more likely that it would happen again. It's not a random act, like lightning.

Lightning doesn't actually seem all that random either. I mean on a small scale, yes, but it seems like general areas are more prone to lightning than others.

Sounds like Garp: “The chances of another plane hitting this house are astronomical. It’s been pre-disastered.”

https://youtu.be/AyecklLMuI4

I’ve been considering a vacation in Sri Lanka for the same reason (plus the history!).

I’m like “is the smart or crazy?” And the US embassy is advising people to avoid travel because of terrorism.

And I’m still not sure if it’s smart or crazy, but my wife says “no fucking way” and she’s smarter than I am so she’s probably right.

Sri Lanka has had terrorist attacks - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Sri_Lanka_Easter_bombings but since it was conducted by ISIS inspired/supported terrorists. It was a one off event though.

US travel advisory lists terrorism as one of the risk factors for Sri Lanka https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/... but it does the same for Germany https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/... In fact Sri Lanka is at Level 3 (Reconsider Travel) and Germany is at Level 4 - Do not travel! The level difference is due to Covid though

Note that some of the food served in Germany counts as an act of terrorism, though.

Same with England.

The true “off-season”.

Odessa is a steal right now I hear.

Rather crowded with foreigners from what I hear

I prefer to avoid Russian tourists, very loud and quite pushy.

I escaped to St Martin during the lockdowns. Still damaged from hurricane but rebuilding. French side best side, best food, beaches and people, and extremely affordable. Plus a busy airport with lots of flights because it's where the billionaires park before hopping on their yacht to St Barth (I saw roman abramovich's plane on the tarmac)

Any other PR suggestions you have?

All the general touristy stuff is worth doing as it’s all quick and interesting! We stayed a couple days in the city and then almost a week in a tiny tiny group of houses a short walk from the beach just outside of Isabella and enjoyed the quiet. Isabella is basically an 80s tourist town that is now unpopular, perfect for my trip.

Other than that, if the Airbnb price near the city is too good to be true.. avoid it :) not everywhere has recovered well! You can pack light and just buy most of what you need at Walmart also. Very easy and approachable trip.

Here is their current lunch menu (via Google search): https://www.themetropolitangrill.com/wp-content/uploads/2019...

Page two, see "Daily Specials". If you only get one dish, then, yes, it seems possible to eat for less than 25 USD with a tip.

I love the Met but have never tried it for lunch. Will now.

sad. i just noticed it's no longer open for lunch