Restaurant week in January

[Tober138]

Originally Posted by rothbear

And apparently you still have to pay tax and tip on top of the $30.

Well of course. One cannot avoid taxes. And no $30 meal is going to come with tip included.



Speaking of the tip, I would ask people to remember that at many of these places, the servers will be busting their humps for huge crowds ordering dinners that cost a lot less than normal, so if the service is good, tip them well.

Originally Posted by trckn4life

Signed up for two places this year! One I've been to before Chima (it is Great!) and Capital Grille, want to try it out I've heard they are good.

Capital Grille is pretty awesome. Of all of the larger "chain" steak restaurants, CG and BLT are my personal faves, the exact opposite of Ruths Chris, who I see is also participating...I wouldn't pay $30 for a non-restaurant week meal there.

Originally Posted by Samana

I already noticed very limited times left for reservations during those weekends..if anyone is taking advantage of it, it'll be a good idea to start making reservations now.

Personally, while I love the concept, I find many places to be too crowded during Restaurant Week - places can be packed, staff can be overwhelmed and reservations may be seated late - so we'll be heading to Fig Tree (who does not participate) for dinner next weekend to avoid the crush.

[lillykitty]

For those in Lake Norman, I went to Campania last night, and it was terrific. The creme brulee cheesecake is insane. (It's a four course meal plus a glass of wine.)

[diertac]

Lucked into a reservation at McCormick & Schmick's last Saturday. They were basically turning away anyone who came in without a reservation - "If you can find a seat at the bar you can eat there, but there aren't any other tables available." I get the feeling this is common at many restaurants during RW, because I was calling around to make a reservation and every restaurant told me they were booked, and their dining room wasn't available for non-reservation dining.

I went to OpenTable and there were no reservations available at M&S for 6:30. Then I rechecked it about 15 minutes later and someone must have cancelled because there was ONE spot open and I snagged it. So if you've checked on OT and not found a table available, keep trying.

[diertac]

Originally Posted by Stella Artois

I will participate, but I have learned that $30 a person for a three course meal is more than I would normally pay at some of the places, ie. I have never spent $30 dollars for a three course meal at an Indian Restaurant or a few others on the list. Buyer beware!

This is very true. Check out the regular menu of some of these places before choosing RW to go. McCormick and Schmick's was well worth it, as their crab cake entree is $26 normally. So for $30 I got that (the full-sized dish, not a special RW version), a salad and apple pie for desert. Oftentimes I've gone somewhere for RW and dined off the regular menu instead because the RW menu was not a better value.