Gift Certificate for Restaurant Etiquette

[Rei-chan]

OK, just checked out the website.....I have never been to this type of restaurant before:  am I correct to assume that for the $76, you get one choice of each category?

That being said, I don't really get it.  From the 360 tour on the site, the place doesn't look like much to me.....

I say the proper thing to do would be to just tell the boss "We haven't made it down there yet" Lather, rinse, repeat.  He'll stop asking  eventually, that or try the bar suggestion.

[Slartibartfast]

I don't think it's rude to give a gift card for a smallish amount - it's the gift that counts, not the price tag.  If the giver decides to do that, though, it's rude to keep enquiring when the recipient has ponied up enough cash to use it!  If you give someone $10 off a $300 skydiving lesson, though, you have to realize your gift card has a high chance of not being used.

I think if she and her DH would conceivably go there sometime before the gift card expires (maybe as an anniversary dinner or other special event?), they should hang onto it.  If not, they should go for drinks and an appetizer, as someone else suggested.  I would probably freak out at "using up" $75 on drinks and a fancy snack, but then again I'm not from New York, so my sense of pricing is decidedly Midwestern 

[ZipTheWonder]

"We're really looking forward to using it, but we've decided to save it for our anniversary.  It looks like a special place for a special occasion."

[Mammavan]

How about lunch instead of dinner?  Entree prices are somewhat lower.

[Cz. Burrito]

How about lunch instead of dinner?  Entree prices are somewhat lower.

The restaurant does not do lunch. 

[Athos_000]

I think the boss is the rude one in all this, not for buying the GC for less than two meals, but for constantly bugging her about using it (way to make somebody feel poor boss geesh!). I agree with those who suggested the bar ala carte option. I am one of those who would feel horrible about spending so much money on one meal that it required we "save up" for it, so I would go and enjoy some drinks and and snacks from the GC.

[Mammavan]

Replying to:  "This restaurant does not do lunch."  I now see from its web site that it does not, but the NY Times review listed lunch entree prices.  Maybe my Conservative friends are right about the NYT not "getting it right!"

[Cz. Burrito]

Replying to:  "This restaurant does not do lunch."  I now see from its web site that it does not, but the NY Times review listed lunch entree prices.  Maybe my Conservative friends are right about the NYT not "getting it right!"

Maybe they used to have lunch but no longer offer it. 

[pryncsskittyn]

If it were me... maybe I'd go alone.  A private night out for the girl?  It's nice to feel pampered now and again.  I would however mention to the Boss afterward, "Oh, since the certificate only covered one dinner I decided to go alone, and <insert opion of restraunt here>."

Might give the boss the heads up that such luxurious gifts, though appreciated, are not right for everyone.

Either that or go to the bar and have an appetizer and a couple drinks. Using the same idea when responding to the Boss. 

If this woman is the Boss' secretary, they probably have a closer relationship than most co-workers, he should know a "little" about the family budget, he knows what she makes!  It may have just been an oversight to the Boss, he may have thought that the gift card was for two meals and just never looked and did the math to notice otherwise.

[twinkletoes]

I have to say, I do think it's odd that the boss gave a gift intended for dinner, but it clearly isn't enough for both.  You wouldn't buy a gift card to, say, a movie theater, but only put an amount that will cover one ticket - especially if you're giving it as "a nice night out for you and your spouse."  That's just odd.

That being said, I wonder if they do have lunch, but it's not mentioned on the website?  It can't hurt for the friend to call up and at least ask. 

If they don't do lunch, then maybe she and her husband can get dessert one night, or drinks.  I wouldn't say anything to the boss about how it wasn't enough/she had no money for the both of them to go out for dinner. 

[fklwmn]

I don't think it's rude to give a gift card for a smallish amount - it's the gift that counts, not the price tag. 

You know, I am FIRMLY of the opinion that it is the gift that counts, not the price tag. That's why I HATE gift certificates. They negate this rule. The ENTIRETY of that gift IS its price tag. That's the whole point. And if the price tag is not enough to cover a reasonable expenditure at the place in question, then the gift is as good as money tossed down the drain, IMO. He could have given her a certificate at a more affordable restaurant for the same amount and it would have been a much nicer gift b/c it would have been one that she could have enjoyed.

It's rude to give a gift that requires the recipient to spend money they wouldn't have otherwise. That's why I didn't get my brother a satellite radio for Xmas, even though I know he would have loved it. No, the boss is not required to give her a gift at all, and CERTAINLY not required to extend the gift to include the recipient' husband. But it's just common sense etiquette, IMO, that if you want the recipient to enjoy the gift you get them then you make sure you give them something they are in a position to enjoy. For a restaurant GC, that means dinner for 2.

To the OP...I think your friend should tell her boss, "Oh no, we haven't used it yet. We are saving it for a special occasion!" That would keep the boss from asking all the time (hopefully). It's too bad there is no way to clue her boss into the situation so he doesn't do this to everyone he buys a GC for! "Oh we're very excited to try it! We're saving it for a special occasion so we can justify the expense of DH's meal (chuckle)"

*sigh* No, Not polite and I'm not saying she should do it. but it would save countless of this man's recipients this same headache in the future.

[NYGirl100]

UPDATE: My friend decided to go with the "saving it for a special occassion" route to her boss nd hopefully the boss will stop asking.  She hasn't decided whether she will actually go or not (whether by saving up the money or going just for drinks and appetizers or something). 

I agree that she should be appreciative that the Boss gave her anything at all, and she totally is.  It is just impractical or whatever you want to call it when the Boss wants this to be a nice night out for her and her DH at his favorite restaurant, he knows exactly how much she makes, and knows that this is not the norm for her, but yet she has to cough up so much money to go if they really want to experience it the way her boss obviously wanted her to do. 

Again, the boss isn't rude per se, but definitely lacking a little common sense. 

"Oh we're very excited to try it! We're saving it for a special occasion so we can justify the expense of DH's meal (chuckle)"

I told my friend about this and she said it would be very tempting to say this. 

[Bijou]

A friend of mine, Lisa, got a gift certificate to a nice restaurant in New York from her boss for Christmas.  Her boss told her to take her husband and have a nice night out, and that this was his favorite restaurant.  This is a much nicer restaurant than she and her husband would normally frequent.  When she checked the menu online, she found out that this restaurant has a pre-fixe menu for dinner, where there is already a pre-set price for 3 courses and no a la carte options.  The gift certificate only covers one person's meal, including tax and tip.  The amount she and her husband would have to spend for the other person's meal is more than what they would normally spend for a night out for the two of them and frankly way out of their budget right now.  This is not even including any drinks or wine that they would get. 

My questions:

1) Is it rude to give a certificate for a restaurant that a person would not normally go to that only covers one person, especially when you know how much the meal would cost there? 

2) What are her options? 

a) She can try to save up the money for the other person's meal, but it seems incongruous to have to save up for a restaurant that you normally wouldn't go to anyways. 
b) She can not go and lie to her boss that she went, but obviously lying is bad and in this case she would probably get caught anyway since her boss was familiar with the restaurant. 
c) She can not go and find some other excuse to her boss, but that sounds bad, too, since he was nice enough to get her the certificate. 
d) She can tell her boss the truth, but that would make her boss feel bad and sounds like she's asking for more money.

Edited to add: I know option d above is rude - I just put it there as an option. 

What do you think, E-Hellions?

If there were no way I could use the certificate otherwise, I would get the meal to go and share it at home. Some fancy people have their favorite restauant deliver food to them, so I read. 
As for saving the money for her husband's meal, I can imagine doing this.
I am amazed that someone would provide only a meal for one on a certificate. 

[CreteGirl]

What about going for dessert and coffee?  Or going there for cocktails, before heading off to a more affordable restaurant for dinner?

[caranfin]

She could always sell it on eBay...