If you live in a major city, you probably know about Restaurant Week. If you’ve never heard Restaurant Week, let me share with you the greatest idea in dining history. Restaurant Week is an event that occurs twice a year, where depending on where you live, 30-50 restaurants in your city offers select dishes for a fixed price. You can choose to go during the winter or summer months. The best time for restaurant week is in the summer months. The weather is warm enough to enjoy lunch or dinner on the patios or outdoor seating that the restaurant provides.
Some restaurants offer lunch only and others offer lunch and dinner. Some restaurants offer a discounted menu throughout the week, some have restrictions regarding which day of the week you can visit. Restaurant Week gives you the option to dine at some of the city’s finest restaurants for $30.95.Lunch usually runs around $20.95. $30.95 provides you with an appetizer, an entree, and a dessert. That’s the best deal anyone can get when it comes to eating at a great restaurant. Especially if you are on a budget.
Restaurants that have a five star rating are the best to visit. It may be the only chance that you can visit a five star on a budget. Because I live in Baltimore, MD, I participated in restaurant week in Baltimore and Washington, DC. I visited B. Smith’s, Georgia Brown’s, Ruth Chris Steakhouse, and The Capital Grille. All very prestigious restaurants in the Baltimore and Washington, DC region. If fine cuisine is too rich for your digestive system, restaurants such as The Melting Pot, M & S Grill, and Phillips Seafood are a good choice as well.
All reservations are made through a website called opentable.com. This website provides restaurant ratings, links to the restaurant’s website, and available dates and times to make a reservation. The best thing about opentable is the point system. When you make a reservation and honor it at the restaurant you chose, you can then redeem those points for discounted meals at any restaurant in the city. Sometimes, you can even receive a free meal.
Check your local city promotions website or city paper for information on restaurant week.