Nightly restaurant specials in Boston (Sandwich, Nantucket: house, buy, living)

[sobo16]

Does anyone know of any good restaurant dining deals anywhere in the city? I know happy hour is illegal in Massachusetts, but how about any type of discounted food: half-price burgers, discounted entree specials on certain nights of the week, etc.? I check Groupon and Living Social, but I was wondering about regular specials. Thanks!

[lrfox]

I'm not sure about too many nightly specials (unfortunately there's no "happy hour" in MA). Restaurant.com is a good one to use for discounts.

This Yelp list has some 10 cent wing places mentioned:
10 cent wings Boston

Pour House in Back Bay used to do 1/2 priced chicken and burgers. I'm not sure if they still do though.

[bostonbarney]

Heard a chef on a TV food show last week saying that you should <never> buy the special of the day, because the SOTD was the food that was about to go bad. Never thought of it like that before, but sure makes sense!

[Cantabridgienne]

Originally Posted by bostonbarney

Heard a chef on a TV food show last week saying that you should <never> buy the special of the day, because the SOTD was the food that was about to go bad. Never thought of it like that before, but sure makes sense!

That's not really true, at least not of all restaurants. If a chef is committed to local, fresh ingredients, often a special is because he/she saw a great piece of fish at the market, or wants to highlight something with a short season (Maine rock shrimp, softshell crab). It's also a good time to "audition" a dish for a regular spot on a future menu, depending how well it sells.

[Cantabridgienne]

Dollar oysters from 4-6pm at Marliave.

Dollar oysters at Myers and Chang on Sundays from 8pm

Tapas menu at the bar at Rendezvous on Mondays

$.50 tapas at the bar at Masa

Pretty sure McCormick and Schmick does something, but I've never been.

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by bostonbarney

Heard a chef on a TV food show last week saying that you should <never> buy the special of the day, because the SOTD was the food that was about to go bad. Never thought of it like that before, but sure makes sense!

I don't buy that as a general rule. I'm sure there are some restaurants where this is the case. In fact, I know of one UNO franchise that used to discount fish that's about to spoil (many chains just push an item going bad by saying something like "would you like to start with some lobster sliders?" or something like that). That was in Maine, not Boston, however.

Like Cantabridgienne said, many local chefs hit the market every day. Many specials are simply ingredients picked up at market on the same day. Most are only seasonally available and as a result, not available on the regular menu. A good one to keep an eye out for now is "Day Boat Scallops" which are in season the next few weeks. The Cape Cod/Nantucket Sound Shellfish are large like the normal Sea Scallop (harvested off George's Banks), but are not flash frozen. They're caught and sold within 24 hours of being on the ocean floor. They're sweeter than sea scallops and outstanding. You often get this type of special with local produce as well. Local berries (blueberries, strawberries, etc) inspire seasonal dishes, as do things like fiddleheads and New England potatoes. Anything like that is not only OK to eat, but typically better than the standard fare. There will be lots of Sea Bass, Bluefish, and Striper specials at New England restaurants this time of year too and most of that is OK (Bluefish is excellent when it's super fresh... it deteriorates quickly though).

I typically choose specials over the regular options for the reasons above. A good thing to look out for is a special using a primary ingredient that's also on the regular menu. I.E. if they have a "baked halibut" special with breadcrumbs on the specials board, and a pan seared halibut on the regular menu, the halibut may be going bad (there's nothing seasonal or special about the ingredients in a baked halibut except the fish). But other than that, the main menu makes me worry more than the specials because it's hard to get most ingredients "fresh" year-round. That's why I trust restaurants with rotating seasonal menus and lots of specials more than a place with the same menu whether it's December or July.

Oh, and I forgot about Marliave... their Oyster special is good. They also have one of my favorite Pastrami Sandwiches in the city for lunch.

[bostonbarney]

Thank you all for your home-town wisdom. Another reason not to watch TV. :-)