Friday, January 13, 2012

The Deception of Restaurant Week

A2's Restaurant Week (January edition) starts on Sunday and runs through next Wednesday; you can find more information here. Yet it's a bit of a misdirection to treat Restaurant Week as a rare opportunity to enjoy local restaurants at relatively cheap prices.

First of all, Restaurant Week tends to not be much less expensive than regular dining - and much harder to obtain reservations. Certainly some participating restaurants like the Earle or Pacific Rim do present more affordable options, but others - Cottage Inn? Jazzy Veggie? Sava's? - are pretty inexpensive to begin with.

Second, Restaurant Week can rely upon discounted food prices and high volume preparations to make Restaurant Week economically feasible. The most upscale places don't want to lose too much money during Restaurant Week, so they can cut corners in other ways. You may not be getting the quality of food or service that you'd have otherwise.

Even at the higher end restaurants, careful planning and menu choices (plus some saving up, of course) can make Restaurant Week unimportant in the scheme of things. But if you do decide to go, remember to tip beyond what the bill might say. Just because you're eating cheaply (or cheaper) doesn't mean the waitstaff has to lose the money, right?

9 comments:

  1. Chop house is positively skimpy on the portions and selection. Last time the steak was flavorless. Really Chop House? Two bites of mashed potatoes and a little carrot? Those veggies are cheap.

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  2. Where would recommend checking out? What restaurant is the best value or doesn't fall into corner-cutting?

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  3. @Chris I had a real good meal at the Earl last restaurant week.

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  4. @Chris - I had a good experience at Grange last year, though this year's menu looks less exciting to me.

    As for Sava's... keep in mind that it is 2 for $12 at lunch and 2 for $25 at dinner, so depending on portions, it could be a decent deal.

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  5. Just for anyone still planning - I went with a group to Vinology for dinner tonight; we were very happy. Good food. Didn't skimp on presentation or portions, either.

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  6. My advice is to do the math before you order. Last year, I went to Old Town with a friend. We ended up paying just about the same as we would have if we hadn't gotten the special. I love Old Town, so I didn't much care, but I'd still recommend doing the math first :)

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  7. Thanks for the pro-tips @sean and @TeacherPatti

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  8. Love Vinology! Ask to have the server pair a half (or whole) glass with each course. Delish! Logan was good last time. Webers is an awesome value with 4 courses and almost the entire menu available. Skip Main Street Ventures, poor select and little value, go on your birthday instead.

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  9. as the week progresses, I'll add that Pacific Rim was pretty good. The pork entrée was particularly good and enormously portioned.

    Agreed about skipping Main Street Ventures, though based on previous years' experience not this year.

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