Restaurant Week Summer 2009

It’s back! Every year, Bostonians celebrate the art of fine dining in four special weeks [2 weeks in March and 2 in August].  Restaurant Week is when us consumers get a break from the big guy upstairs.  Hundreds of restuarants [including those haughty totty 5 star gems] participate in a Restaurant Week special.  At a prefixed price of $15.09 for 2-course lunches for, $20.09 for 3-course lunches and dinners for $33.09, you can go all out and try those places you always wanted to.  This is a great initiative that allows Boston to show off its trendiest establishments and most talented chefs.

This month’s Restaurant Week is August 9-14 and 16-21.  The majority of these restaurants use OpenTable [which you should already be using already].  I would definitely recommend places such as Top of the Hub or Radius. These high end places usually book up pretty fast too.  If there is an absolute-must-proposing-to-your-girlfriend-time you can even try calling the restaurants as they sometimes keep a table or two open aside from online reservations.  American Express credit card holders get the sweet perk of making reservations earlier than others.

What I do not like about Restaurant Week is where some places will try to take advantage of you by adding extra fees. Remember, many of these places pull in way more than $40 per person on a regular basis.  They will try to offer shitty base meals and include more tastier and lavish options with add ons.  To avoid this, make sure you check out their restaurant week menus.  You will probably already be doing this anyways as you won’t be able to eat at 200 restaurants in 12 days. At this website there is a guide of all the menus.  It is an unofficial guide, so it may not be entirely trustworthy.  Another option would be to go to the particular restaurant website to search for menu postings. 

Don’t be afraid to spend your life savings in these two weeks. Just look at it as spending what would actually be your total career life earnings on sale.

Bon Appetit!