How to Host a Better Restaurant Week and Get More Customers

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If your restaurant is in Chicago, restaurant week is officially over. The mad rush has ended, your restaurant week customers have left, and if you’re like most restaurateurs, you’re beating yourself up for every little thing you could have done better. Don’t be so hard on yourself. Channel that perfectionist energy into making next year your best restaurant week ever with these five easy-to-follow steps. 

And if you’re not in Chicago, use these tips to maximize your success during Restaurant Week.
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The 7 Most Bizarre (and Must Try) Picks for Chicago Restaurant Week 2015

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It’s that time of the year again! Chicago Restaurant Week is almost here, and it’s time to make your reservations for the best food Chicago has to offer. Restaurant week spans from January 30-Feb 12 this year, and with over 250 participating restaurants with lunch for $22 and dinner for $33-$44, I hope that you’ll be starting the week hungry. 

 

Because there were so many restaurants and because all the menus were making me drool, I decided to focus this year’s picks on items that were truly bizarre. From the last dinners of people executed in Chicago (!!!) to raw squash and alligator, I present the Uncorkd list of Chicago Restaurant Week 2015 picks. Read more

The 6 Places You Have to Try for Austin Restaurant Week

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Austin Restaurant Week is finally here! This twice-yearly event happens in the spring and fall, and the springtime event will be Sundays through Wednesdays, May 11-14 and 18-21. This year’s prix-fixe menus include $12-$17 for two-course lunches (though, I admit, I didn’t see any $12 lunches on the site), $17 brunch, and $27-$37 for three-course dinners.

Austinites like to do everything different, including Restaurant Week, so not only does this fine week of eating boast its own app, it also is primarily a fundraiser for Meals on Wheels and More, a service that cares for home-bound older adults. In the five years that Austin Restaurant Week has been running, the event has managed to raise over $72,000, so keep the trend going and eat heartily: for every meal you purchase, $2 will be donated to Meals on Wheels and More.

Not sure where to eat? Here are my 6 top picks. Read more

Top 5 Restaurant Choices for Dine Around Seattle

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Dine Around Seattle is a twice-yearly month-long restaurant extravaganza, in which  over 50 restaurants offer a three-course prix fixe menu that includes a starter, an entree, and dessert. This delectable time runs from March 2 to 27, but get your feast on during the workweek, because Friday and Saturday nights aren’t included in the deal. This year’s per-person prix fixe menus follow a flat rate: $30 for a three-course dinner, and $15 for a three-course lunch. The month-long event won’t be happening again until November so make sure to investigate Dine Around Seattle’s website and check out all the scrumptious bargains. I’ve listed my top five choices for this year’s Dine Around Seattle, so when you see that person at the next table who’s really enjoying their food, that’ll be me. Read more

Top Picks for Boston Restaurant Week 2014

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Boston Restaurant Week 2014 (now called “Dine Out Boston”) is coming soon and with 200+ menus, your choices are prodigious. I’m sure you’ve picked out a few places you want to go for restaurant week, but you should celebrate Boston’s two weeks of deliciousness by making sure to go out every night. Dine Out Boston runs from March 16 to the 28, but Saturday nights aren’t part of the festivities, so the official dates are March 16-21 and 23-28. This year’s per-person prix fixe offerings fall into three tiers for lunch or dinner, and the pricing is dependent on how many courses are offered. For lunch, you’ll pay $15, $20, or $25; for dinner you’ll pay $28, 33, or $38.

I’ve looked through all the available menus for this year’s selections and listed my favorite choices in each price tier for lunch and dinner. Boston, let the feasting begin! Read more

NYC Restaurant Week 2014: Five Sizzling Choices to Beat the Winter Blahs

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In New York, it seems like people do nothing but kvetch and kvell already, and the weather hasn’t been helping. No one wants to go out and traverse the slush lakes that seem to have formed this month at every single street corner of the city, but you must! Restaurant Week 2014 is already underway in New York City – rain, sleet, snow, or hail – so what are you waiting for?

From now through March 7, almost 300 restaurants in this dining metropolis of the world will be offering lunch and dinner at a deep discount. This means three-course lunches for just $25, and three-course dinners that are going for a mere $38. People! You can barely buy a bag of groceries for that at the corner supermarket in this town, so whatever you do, don’t “fuggedabout” this.

Okay, okay – here’s the hard part: the saying goes that you could eat at a different restaurant every day for the rest of your life in New York and never run out of new options. So how exactly does one choose? Well, here are five highly recommended picks to get you started: Read more

Top 5 Restaurants You Must Try for Denver Restaurant Week

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Denver Restaurant Week is almost here, and this year is the tenth annual event. 2014 boasts a staggering number of participating restaurants, so Denverites, be ready to satiate. The prix fixe is the same for every restaurant ($30 per person) which makes it hard to narrow your options, but we’ve combed through the menus to help you make your restaurant week decisions easier. We only had room to include five restaurants on our list, but we wanted to mention two bonuses: an intriguing restaurant that we figure must be wrangling alligators in the kitchen so they can hand-trim alligator tail for their guests (Bayou Bob’s), and a restaurant that must employ wild-snail catchers, enabling them to serve locally-sourced wild snail (Coohills). Denver, you’ve got some incredible menus. Read more

Top 7 Restaurants You Need to Try During Chicago Restaurant Week

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Everyone can agree that Chicago Restaurant Week is delicious and for adventurous foodies, the tastiest week of the year is a great time to splurge on exploring the exciting and unique food right here in our own backyard. We looked through the menus for this year’s Chicago Restaurant Week, and came up with seven of the most unique restaurants we could find. Some popular flavors this year included basil ice cream of two kinds and a ridiculously extravagant junk food dessert. There were also various pates, including a burger topped with pate which sounds so decadent that we have to try it. These menus are making us ravenous and our countdown has now officially begun for this year’s Chicago Restaurant Week.

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How You Can Make the Most of Restaurant Week

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Ah, restaurant week. Around the country it’s that magical time of year when everyone’s eyes and tastebuds are focused on your restaurant. According to Choose Chicago’s results from last year, Chicago area restaurants made $26.9 million during restaurant week, and served over 513,000 diners. Last year was the biggest year yet, and this year should be even better. But will it be a good year for your restaurant? Restaurants that make the most of restaurant week bring in some huge benefits, such as community inclusion, in-person and online buzz, and increased regular customers–but some restaurants still aren’t experiencing all the benefits that restaurant week offers. Make sure that you’re making the most of your week in the spotlight with these four helpful tips. Read more

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How To Make Restaurant Week Customers Come Back Year Round

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Restaurant week happens so fast. The crowds rush into your restaurant, they revel in your delicious recipes for a quick three (or four) courses, they gush about your restaurant online, more crowds pile in… and then, before you even have time to finish counting all your profits, it’s all over for the year and everything returns to normal. But wait, wouldn’t you rather have the crowd-rushing of restaurant week continue for the rest of the year? Don’t you think that your restaurant (since it is the best in the known universe and that it is the delicious expression of your heart and soul) should be packed every single day?

Yeah, we think so too. Restaurant week customers around the nation share their opinions every year on how restaurants can win their undying love, and because we’re here to serve you, we read all their comments for you. It’s a lot of reading, but we wanted to make sure to give you the absolute best tips we could. During restaurant week, make sure to do these four essential things to get your restaurant week customers coming back again and again, every month of the year. Read more