I've experienced something similar though not quite the same. I call it the mediocre $80 dinner for 2. There are several places in our area where we can get an excellent meal for 2 for $100-125. There are also quite a few places where we can get excellent ethnic food - Chinese, Japanese, Mexican, Thai - for about $50. But then there are a whole bunch of places that serve ordinary mediocre same-o same-o dinners for $80. I try to avoid that middle ground.