Beware of, But Don’t Ignore Restaurant Discounts
Internet based restaurant discounts are very popular these days. Here are the basics on the sites I have found that are offering the deals and how you can benefit most from these restaurant deals.
The Landscape of Restaurant Deals
1. The Group Discount - These group discount sites offer more than restaurant deals but you will find restaurant offers several times a week. You typically pay $15 – $25 for $30 – $50 off the check. This idea was made popular by Groupon. In recent months, some more have come to the market with thoughtful group discounts, including Scoop St and Living Social. Then there are others like BuyWithMe and Tippr that fall short by providing discounts on the leftover scraps. Gotta love when Tippr included deals to eat chocolate, workout at a health spa, and a visit the dentist in the same email!
2. Restaurant Only Deals – Blackboard Eats (BBE) offers free discounts (usually 30% off) for new restaurants and “hidden gems.” They send their emails at 8:30 ET approximately three times a week. If it’s a deal you like, just click the button and take the code provided to the restaurant for the deal. I find Blackboard Eats has the best deals at the best places most often. Another restaurant only deal site, VillageVines (VV) is “invitation only” and typically charges $10 to get 30% off. In my experience, the VV deals and restaurants are not as good as BBE.
3. OpenTable - Don’t forget about those 1000 points reservations on OpenTable. When you cash in the points, 1000 points is the equivalent of $10. The 100 point reservations also add up to valuable reward certificates!
Seeking out the Best Deals
With all these “generous” offers out there, I often wonder how can I resist paying $20 for $50, etc.
I have learned from experience that not all deals are the same. The key to getting the best deals from these sites is understanding that 7 out of 10 of the restaurants are offering a discount because they have to (please keep in mind 7 out of 10 is an estimate and is not scientific in any way).
Most of the restaurants offering deals aren’t getting crowds and they think that an influx of thousands into their already struggling establishment will fix it all. The way to figure out which 3 out of 10 are worth it is to do your research. Some suggestions:
- Don’t be fooled by the cherry picked reviews in the write-ups on these sites. The restaurants pay to offer the discounts and the websites offering them will write up whatever will make the restaurant look good to sell more.
- Do a Google search, look at what others are saying.Don’t buy a deal or make a reservation if the restaurant is not recommended by a friend or by seemingly credible reviews from others online.
- Do make sure you are not falling for one of the OpenTable “tricks” by reading my guide to getting the most from OpenTable.
Here are a few of the recent gems I have found:
- $20 for $50 Worth of Fine Mexican Cuisine at Crema - Groupon
- 58% Off Sushi & Shabu-Shabu at Shaburi Restaurant – Scoop St. (my review of Shaburi)
- 30% off lunch or dinner at Dinosaur Bar B Que – Blackboard Eats (my review of Dinosaur)
- $20 for $50 Worth of Cuisine and Drinks at The Orchard – Groupon
- $25 for $50 to Spend on Mediterranean Cuisine at Pera - Living Social (my review of Pera)
- 30% off brunch or dinner at Perilla - Blackboard Eats
On the other hand, I bought two $7 for $15 at Mantao Chinese Sandwiches and ended up asking Groupon for my money back because the food was inedible.
Happy searching! And, if you are not interested in working to find the best discounts for NYC restaurants, just keep following Jay’s NYC Restaurant Reviews I will always post the best deals!