Right. And I'll have a delicous meal at a wonderful place without the angst. For half the price!

If deliciousness is all you care about, you can get a delicious meal for much less than half of what it will cost to dine at a place like Next (or TFL, Momofuku Ko, EMP, etc.).

Delicious was just phone shorthand for "a wonderful experience." At the cost of El Bulli you can have a wonderful experience at Alinea for less without having to buy "season tickets."

I see what you mean. I guess it's just a question of what each of us values. I also want to try the Sicily and Kyoto menus (I'm particularly looking forward to Kyoto). Since I was unable to get tickets to Paris, Thailand or Childhood, I'm thrilled to have been able to get tickets to all three of this year's menus. Alinea is a great value, too, but it's only somewhat less expensive than El Bulli (which includes wine) and it's more expensive than Sicily and Kyoto.

Alinea is many things, but $500 for dinner for one is not a great value. It's just a high price.

It's $210 plus wine, tax and tip.

Which, according to my credit card statement, came to $469.61. For dinner. For one person.

Hell, even $210 for dinner for one is hardly "a good value".

Certainly, it's a unique and memorable dining experience. But don't confuse "a cool experience" with "a good value". They are independent things. :)

Anyone from out of town (or in town for that matter) looking to fill a seat or two for any of the upcoming menus (El Bulli, Sicily, Kyoto) please send me a PM. I tried to obtain tickets on Saturday but was too far back on the waitlist and got shutout.

Hoping to score tickets day of but with only one seating per night for El Bulli I'm not expecting much. At least I've been able to eat there once already (Thailand).

Congrats to all who got tickets!

A second was really all it took to make the difference between a ticket and no ticket. I was logged in already and signed up for the queue within 10 seconds of the season tickets going live. I was around 1400 by that point. I read today on Eater Chicago that you had to have signed up within 8-9 seconds.

That said, while disappointing, it's just how it works! I may poke around to see who is selling their seats. The Kyoto menu probably interested me the most only because I was just there over Christmas and absolutely loved the city and Japan.

That makes sense - I signed up within about 5 seconds of the Facebook post and got number 778.

Had my El Bulli dinner about 10 days ago and it was absolutely unreal. Worth every penny.

We had the opportunity to visit Next last spring when they were doing their Chinese menu, and we celebrated our anniversary at Alinea in November. Just as soon as tickets were released today for the current Tapas menu at Next, I was able to snag a two-top for my husband's birthday dinner this weekend. Two years in a row we'll be celebrating his birthday at Next ... he's so spoiled!

If anyone happens to try the Tapas menu this week before we do, I'd love a preview!

I'm so over Next. I went to every menu for the first two years it was open, then decided that I was just over it. Not always that good. Too much food. Meh.

After two years with a subscription (and going to several of the iterations before subscribing) I can honestly say I'm not missing it this year. If tapas has great reviews and a low enough price point I'd consider it, but otherwise I'm with you, Dave. I can't believe it'll last another year.

Me three. I loved that first year of season tickets, but it was a steady downhill after that, with a few exceptions. Combine that with the price and the inability to resell the tickets at cost if my plans changed, and I decided to give up my tickets this year. We did not go to Bistro, and we do not plan to go to Tapas, short of amazing reviews from someone other than Phil Vettel.

Well, Next is still a treat for me, as it usually requires an overnight stay in Chicago. I'll report back on the Tapas menu.

Didn't mean to rain on your parade, Liz! Let us know how it was.

(ETA: Curious to see that tables are available next Monday -- a day that Next isn't usually open -- and prices are as high or higher than Friday and Saturday night tickets.)

I'm guessing that they opened on Monday (and jacked up prices) because the National Restaurant Association is in town. I saw that Bayless was opening extra days as well.

I really enjoyed the menu. There were a few misses (patatas bravas and the shrimp/strawberry/bean dessert didn't do it for me), but also some home runs (steak tortilla, the blackened pork/romesco dish, olive oil candy bar). Surprisingly, I was stuffed when I left. I wasn't expecting that with tapas.

I wrote a full recap, along with terrible cell phone pictures, on my blog.