Valentine's Day and New Year's Eve are the two biggest ripoffs in the restaurant business. The places are packed, it's generally a tasting menu (that's designed to be cheap to produce, and easy to bang out quickly), and the whole experience is just set-up to separate you and your money as quickly as possible, as there's another seating behind you.
Do yourselves a favour and avoid eating out on Valentine's Day like the plague. Tell your sweetie that you'd much rather go for a more relaxed dinner a few days before or after, when a restaurant can give you their best. Midweek in late February is pretty much graveyard time in the restaurant industry, and I guarantee you'll get far better food and service than you ever would on Valentine's Day.
If you are forced out on the actual day, just hit your local pub, with the promise of a real date in the very near future.
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