As reported by Carrie Havranek on travel site Frommers.com, restaurant diners can enjoy sumptuous three-course meals (appetizer/entree/dessert) for tantalizingly low fixed menu prices this summer as fine dining establishments across the country offer Restaurant Week specials. Some of these promotions are charity fund raisers, some are designed simply to attract more customers downtown—and some last more than one week.
If your summer travel itinerary includes any of the cities listed below you may want to look into these delicious deals.
Atlanta. July 21-27. $25 for 3-course dinner.
Atlanta’s restaurant week is now in its seventh year. Among the new participants are Maxim Prime, French American Brasserie, and Stats. Returning establishments include City Grill, Durango Steakhouse, No Mas! Cantina, Pacific Rim Bistro, Thrive, Room and Tringali’s. You can reserve through the restaurants themselves or through OpenTable.
Baltimore. July 26-August 3. $20.08 for 3-course lunch. $30.08 for 3-course dinner.
More than 80 restaurants will participate, and additional culinary events are planned, including cooking demonstrations, classes and wine pairings. Among the restaurants observing the 9-day event are the Bicycle, the Brewer’s Art and Amicci’s of Little Italy; other possibilities include Greek dining at The Black Olive, and La Tasca Spanish Tapas Bar and Restaurant located in the Inner Harbor. Visit www.baltimorerestaurantweek.com for more information.
Boston. August 10-15 and 17-22. $20.08 for 3-course lunch. $33.08 for 3-course dinner.
Boston’s restaurant week is actually a two-week celebration, and is observed in the city, and in Cambridge and the suburbs. The complete list of participating restaurants, expected to top 200, will be posted to the event’s website starting on July 18. Among those confirmed to participate are 606 Congress, the tapas place Toro, Union Oyster House, Rialto, the Blue Room and Icarus. For details, visit www.bostonusa.com/restaurantweek.
Chicago. June 27-July 6. 28th Annual Taste of Chicago. Free admission. Strip of 12 tickets, redeemable for food and drink, costs $8.
The Windy City’s outdoor food festival includes virtually all of the foods and restaurants for which the town is best known—among them Chicago-style hot dogs and deep dish pizza. The event takes place at Grant Park and also includes cooking demonstrations, a wine garden and live music from megastars including Stevie Wonder, Joss Stone, Chaka Khan, and Bonnie Raitt, to name a few. Visit www.tasteofchicago.us for more details.
Miami. August 1-September 30. $23 for 3-course lunch, $36 for 3-course dinner.
In Miami, they celebrate for more than a week. Miami Spice Restaurant Month actually lasts for two months, extending from August through September. More than 50 restaurants are participating, including B.E.D., Cioppino, Emeril’s Miami Beach, Food Gang, Shula’s Steak House, Spiga, and Wish. For more information, visit www.miamirestaurantmonth.com.
New York. July 21-25, July 28-August 1. $24.07 for 3-course lunch, $35 for 3-course dinner.
New York offers this promotion twice a year, in winter and in summer. Some of the restaurants participating this summer will offer both lunch and dinner, while some will feature only dinner. More than 200 NYC restaurants are participating. Reservations for American Express cardholders are now being accepted, and the general public can reserve starting June 26, using either OpenTable or the restaurants themselves. For more info, visit www.nycvisit.com.
Toronto. July 4-20. $15 or $20 for 3-course lunch, $25 or $35 for 3-course dinner.
If you’re going to venture across the Canadian border this summer, you’ll find more than 130 fine dining restaurants that will offer special deals for lunch and dinner during the city’s sixth annual Summerlicious promotion. Specific regional wines from Niagara’s Jackson-Triggs and Inniskillin will be featured with select menu pairings. Among the participating restaurants are Host Fine Indian Cuisine, Amaya, Jaadu, Autogrill, the Citizen and Greg Couillard’s Spice Room and Chutney Bar. To learn more, visit www.toronto.ca/special_events.
Other Cities. Taste of the Nation. Through September 28.
Now in its 20th year, Taste of the Nation takes place in many cities across the U.S. this summer. Top restaurants and some of the nation’s most celebrated chefs join together to fight hunger and donate their proceeds to Share our Strength, a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending childhood hunger in America. There are more than 55 events scheduled, including one at the Ritz-Carlton Key Biscayne in Miami on July 24; at Salt Lake City’s Solitude Mt. Resort on August 3, at Trump International Hotel and & Tower on August 4, and at the Silverado Resort in Napa Valley, Calif., on August 25.
The Great American Dine Out will be held September 21-28. Sponsored by American Express, it’s a new national campaign that rallies the nation’s entire restaurant industry and consumers across America to eat out and make sure no kid in America grows up hungry. Restaurants across the USA will donate a portion of their proceeds to Share Our Strength. To find out more, visit www.tasteofthenation.com.