Instead of sharing my thoughts of some of the great fish fries of 2022, I thought I’d promote one of the better marketing tools of the past 15 years or so. Back in the day, restaurants could rely on word of mouth and well written pieces in highly respected magazines and newspapers.
When taste in dining experiences changed and the laws of business expensing changed, restaurants were forced to change their business models in overcoming downturns in the economy and the industry.
For the next two weeks, several restaurants in Chicago will be participating in Restaurant Week (2023). If you have a little extra do re mi and want to try something new or different, hit the internet and find some joints you’ve never been to before. To be included, restaurants must offer lunch and dinner deals and not be able to pull out of the deal (no bait and switch).
The smarter folks take advantage of getting newcomers to venture in. They put forth their best effort, offering visitors a sample of the best they have to offer. Over the years, I’ve seen several restaurants go half-ass because they didn’t understand the concept. I’ve also been fortunate enough to get into places that I’d otherwise not try for various reasons.
Each city picks the slowest part of the year for them to hold the week. Some cities suffer because of seasonal attraction and weather (Like Scottsdale and Phoenix) others have lost a once prosperous convention business while others are in areas that are on the general decline.
It’s in your best interests to ask a lot of questions when you take advantage of a restaurant week. Find out if the items are representative of what’s usually served. Gauge the quality of service based on the faux demand. It’s also worth mentioning some restaurant week deals are no better than their usual bar menus.
It’s also worth noting that everyone participating isn’t a high-end restaurant. Quirky neighborhood joints or niche restaurants take advantage of the marketing to attract new customers and ride the wave of more popular establishments with larger pocketbooks supporting them.
There’s usually a standard 3-course prix fixe for both lunch and dinner. Often, suburban counterparts will offer a la carte specials.
Buon Appetite and tell them your friendly concierge sent you!
I'd rather be sitting in a ballpark. 
One response to “I care too much..”
You sure are right about the “deals” being no cheaper or better than the same items on that restaurant’s regular menu. LEYE is NOTORIOUS for this. But some brief research by yours truly shows that a diner will actually save $4-7 per meal during this year’s Restaurant Week. My theory is that inflation and the cost of food has caused an increase in their regular menu prices but that they decided to hold the line on the featured items for these two weeks at last year’s prices, more or less. One more point. You are correct that Chicago holds its RW in the middle of winter to entice people to try out these restaurants that normally would stay home in cold, dark and generally bad weather. However, my sister tells me that NYC holds their RW during good weather. Maybe it’s an attempt to draw even more customers than would normally dine out. Who knows the answer? And I am assuming that my sister knows what she is talking about which may or may not be true.
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