Don't Get Shafted New York Restaurant Week Tips

Another season, another round of $35 dinners at expensivo restaurants. Restaurant Week manages to be a mixed blessing. Despite the financial aid, one often gets the feeling of being cheated. To preempt the sinking feeling one gets when one looks at a restaurant week menu and sees: chicken, chicken and salmon, here are a few tips to getting the most out of your $35. Restaurant week runs Jan 22-26th and Jan 29-Feb 2nd.

Book Early: Visit Open Table ASAP to get your reservations for plum dinner times. Most restaurants hold open only a limited amount of tables for restaurant weekers so if you tarry, you'll be eating dinner either at 4:30 or 11:00.

Go for Midrange Places: Sure, you'll see a couple $$$$ restaurants on the list but, take our advice and shy away from them. Since they're loathe to part with their pricier dishes, forget about the lobster remoulade or the truffled pork butt. Mark our words: You'll be eating Lemon-infused chicken breast with julienned vegetables. The closer the menu price point is to $35, the less of a deal you'll be getting but the more verisimilitude the restaurant week menu will have to the real thing. We recommend places like Lure
and En over Vong and One if By Land, Two if By Sea.

Visit up-and-comers not the old guard: Places with nothing to prove, usually don't. Places looking to improve, to draw clientele, to impress, like Hertz, put in the extra effort. WIth this in mind, try newcomers. Think Fig & Olive and not Aureole.

Beware of supplementals: Keep in mind: beverages, tax and tip are not included. Servers are instructed to try to tack on as much as possible. Would you like that burger with some berkshire pork bacon for only $4 or perhaps a side of kale $8. Also, since their tips depend on it, beware of the liquor upsell. A glass of wine, a snifter of brandy and that $35 has grown to $50.

Don't be afraid to look cheap: Sure the regular menu, which I'm sure you'll get with the Restaurant Week menu, looks enticing. Yes, so does the lobster mashed potato side. And, yes, that probably is a disparaging glare you got from the majordomo. But restaurant week is a war and you must stand your ground. Play by the rules and you, and your wallet, will come out sated and stuffed.

Previously: I Saw Cat Power Leap From Building to Building, Pillow Fighing League Winners Announced, Krucoff's Keroualking Tour, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Guide to New York