Restaurant deals

[Ready]

Lately it seems like restaurants are going all out to compete for business in our neighborhood. One of our favorite restaurants is Lucille's BBQ (they are only in the southwest so this thread may not be familiar to a lot of readers). We recently bought $100 gift cards to Lucille's at Costco for $70. We purchased $500 worth of cards (for $350). Then they sent us a $5.00 coupon to be used on our meal. And we always go during happy hour, where 22 ounce beers are $5.50. So with two beers, a 22 ounce cocktail, and two meals, our all in price after tax and tip was still effectively under $40.00.

Another favorite is Wahoos Fish Tacos (also a South West only chain, I think). Their food is relatively healthy and excellent quality, and they are within walking distance to our home. They offered us $10 in free gift cards for every $25 we purchased. We bought $300 worth, so I guess we'll be eating there a lot too.

We also found the web site www.localflavor.com, where local restaurants are offering 50% off the price of gift cards. And we found several restaurants that we routinely go to.

Our goal for next year is to enjoy lots of restaurant meals and never pay full price. We'll see how that goes, but so far they are making it pretty easy, and giving us lots of reasons not to feel like cooking any more.

Anyone else finding similar deals out there in your neighborhood?

[W2R]

We either eat something light, or split our lunch. So, my lunch bill is usually about $6-$8 including tax and tip. As we grow older, we find that we can't eat as much as most restaurants serve. This provides an unintentional savings I suppose.


One of our restaurants has a card that the waitress signs each time, and after 16 (?) lunches there, we get a free lunch.

[RunningBum]

Sometimes restaurants about to go out of business will offer these kind of deals to get cash up front, knowing they won't be around to serve those heavily discounted meals. If it's a place you're well acquainted with and you know they are doing well, the risk is probably minimal, but if it's a place you don't really know, I'd take a pass.


I've only personally seen it once. Someone knocked on my door offering pizza deals to a place I didn't know. I passed because I didn't want to lock in to a bad pizza place, and a couple months later I happened to notice they were out of business. I've heard of other cases.

[Moemg]

In Florida they usually offer all kind of restaurant deals before the snowbirds arrive .Our local seafood restaurant has lots of specials under $13 and they are huge so we usually split one . The happy hour drinks are $3.50 .We also frequent a sports bar that has great pizza on Wednesday for $9.00 . Drinks are $4.00.

[Senator]

I have been going to Outback a lot. Buy $85 of gift cards for 71.88. Use them with a AARP discount, or go on Wednesday's for their deals. I am also in their Dine In rewards club.

It amounts to about a 50% off.

Of course this time of year, lots of extra $10 when you buy $50 at many places. Or get discount gift cards (or e-gift cards) online for most any restaurant, at about 15% off.

Why does anyone pay full price?

[Sunset]

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R We either eat something light, or split our lunch. So, my lunch bill is usually about $6-$8 including tax and tip. As we grow older, we find that we can't eat as much as most restaurants serve. This provides an unintentional savings I suppose. .....

We do this for lunch special takeout at our local Chinese restaurant because the portions are large.
So lunch for 2 is $8 and a lot easier than making lunch myself.

[Sunset]

IHOP has a pretty good deal around here: between 3-6 pm it's BOGO meal if you are over 55.

[broadway]

One of our favorite restaurants offers a 20% bonus if you buy a $100 gift card or a 25% if you buy a $250 gift card. They only do it once a year on Cyber Monday. Because they are going through transition, we only bought $100 this time. Last year we bought $250. We're not sure whether they will be changing their menu drastically in the new year. They have hired a new chef and are talking about renovating the restaurant.

The restaurants we like do not show in up in the websites offering discounts. Their business are good without the need to offer the discounts, though the Chinese restaurants will advertise in the Chinese newspapers with 10% off coupons if you pay cash. Not going to play that game by helping them avoid taxes.

[Drake3287]

Like many of us, we have our typical favorites we visit often and of course over the years have gotten to know everyone that works at these. When we get coupons in the mail for these different restaurants I always feel strange about "getting a deal" and using a coupon when they already treat us so well including free food here and there.

I'm happy to pay full fare for these places.

[NYEXPAT]

We don't eat at chains, but I walk past a Chili's everyday and they offer a different menu item everyday for $4.70. I do not now if they do this stateside as well?

[MRG]

Other than the big 4-5 fast food restaurants there's no chains here. So we frequent local places with loyalty cards. Normally buy 10 lunches and get a freebie.

Problem now is DW is in love with the brewery down the road. Their food is great, sometimes unusual, but let's go somewhere else. Last week we went somewhere else, the food was different, we both didn't like it very well.

First world problem.

[CardsFan]

DW, and her friends, have become addicted to groupon. We get a big enough discount at the places we know, to not worry about some of the others. Frankly, our dining out bill is not that large, so it is not a big deal. But it makes her happy to save a few bucks.

[daylatedollarshort]

We rarely go out without a half price coupon or some kind of special because we have so many deals available locally for restaurants we like there is really no reason to pay full price. We just came back from a nice lunch using a Groupon bought on sale.

We use Groupons bought on sale, lunch specials, restaurant.com coupons, Costco gift cards, mailing list specials, Taco Tuesday, happy hours, entertainment.com coupons, buy one get one free birthday sign ups and anything else that comes along. I think this is a slow time for some types of restaurants because I've gotten quite a few buy one meal get one free offers in my email lately. I sign up both of us so we get two of each offer.

[Teacher Terry]

Just checked that site and nothing in our town at all. Darn! WE also use coupons, rewards clubs, etc.

[Koolau]

Most local restaurants offer some type of discount (peelers, Senior discounts, coupon books, coupon fliers, happy hour, AARP-15%, in-store promotions, kama'aina discounts - with State ID, discounted cards at Costco, etc. etc.) We rarely pay full price anymore - even at fast food places. When (if) the economy takes off again, I look for most of these to go away for a while. YMMV

Ready - We have a Wahoos Fish Tacos in Honolulu. I assumed it was local, not a chain - go figure.

[Ready]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Koolau Most local restaurants offer some type of discount (peelers, Senior discounts, coupon books, coupon fliers, happy hour, AARP-15%, in-store promotions, kama'aina discounts - with State ID, discounted cards at Costco, etc. etc.) We rarely pay full price anymore - even at fast food places. When (if) the economy takes off again, I look for most of these to go away for a while. YMMV Ready - We have a Wahoos Fish Tacos in Honolulu. I assumed it was local, not a chain - go figure.

I wonder if they offer the discounts on gift cards in Honolulu? I just came back from the Big Island, where drinks were regularly priced $22 each, and their happy hour Mai Tai's were $10. Kind of sticker shock for us out there, but it sure is beautiful.

[Ian S]

We've been getting the Entertainment Book for years and it still offers up some good BOGO deals on restaurants and other things too including some good deals on rental cars. Right now their 2017 books are $19 plus free shipping. We usually save that with only one or two uses.

[daylatedollarshort]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ian S We've been getting the Entertainment Book for years and it still offers up some good BOGO deals on restaurants and other things too including some good deals on rental cars. Right now their 2017 books are $19 plus free shipping. We usually save that with only one or two uses.

I buy at least two books for me and one for a good friend every year when they go on sale for Black Friday. We're seeing a play tomorrow and I got one of the tickets free with an Entertainment coupon, so I more than break even on the cost of each book with the one free play ticket.

[Koolau]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ready I wonder if they offer the discounts on gift cards in Honolulu? I just came back from the Big Island, where drinks were regularly priced $22 each, and their happy hour Mai Tai's were $10. Kind of sticker shock for us out there, but it sure is beautiful.

Wow! Surprised the Big Island would be so expensive. I suppose in the tourist areas (think hotel bar/restaurant) they might gouge the folks. But regular places, that would really be high prices. Not what I have seen when visiting - but that's been a long while.

Our Costco does have gift cards to a number of restaurants and most are discounted in the 20% range. YMMV

[Ready]

I try to avoid the tourist restaurants as much as possible and rely heavily on Yelp to find the best local favorites.

My family insisted on taking me to the Four Seasons for my 50th birthday, hence the $22 cocktails. And the Fairmont Orchid had the $10 Mai Tai's (only from 4-5pm).

The rest of the vacation we cooked all of our meals from food sourced at the Kona Costco. But if the restaurant deals there were as good as in Southern California, I might have been tempted to eat out a bit more.