Entries Tagged 'Restaurants' ↓

My wife and I love the Cheesecake Factory’s cheesecake. She likes the banana flavored ones and I love the rest (and the banana one). So, when I told her about this celebration… she flipped.

The Cheesecake Factory is celebrating its 30th anniversary by selling any slice of cheesecake for $1.50 on July 30th, 2008, limit of one per guest. That’s right, a dollar fifty for a slice of yummy cheesecake heaven! Also, they will be offering a special limited edition cheesecake, the 30th Anniversary Chocolate Cake Cheesecake,”with $0.25 from the sale of each slice sold this year benefiting the national hunger-relief organization, America’s Second Harvest - The Nation’s Food Bank Network. Additional activities will be announced throughout the year.”

Guaranteed to be packed on that day, even more than usual because I’ve never seen that place empty, so be prepared to wait.

The Cheesecake Factory Serves up a Delicious 30th Anniversary Celebration [Reuters]

Ever curious what the average multiplier is on wines in a restaurant? According to the readers/participants at Chowhound, the generally accepted multiple is 2.6x.

So, if you can get a wine for $20 at a store, expect to pay around $52.

Now, why is that multiplier reasonable? When you buy wine, you’re actually buying both the wine itself and time seated at the table. If the restaurant expects to have X number of tickets on a particular night, that is X parties, then it has to turnover tables on a schedule fast enough to service those X tickets. For every table that gets a bottle of wine, that’s additional seating time they otherwise wouldn’t be taking if they didn’t get the bottle of wine. You sit longer when you’re enjoying a bottle.

That also happens to be the logic behind expensive appetizers. At least that’s how it used to be.

We all know that bottles of wine are ridiculously expensive at nice restaurants and so it’s not surprising that many of us have been tempted to bring our own wine to save a few dollars. However, there are unwritten rules about bringing your own wine that you should try to follow.

• Avoid bringing a wine that is on the wine list.
• Bring a good bottle of wine. It seems a bit penny-wise pound-foolish to go to a really nice restaurant, pay premium prices for food, appetizers, desserts, and then bring in a cheaper bottle of wine just to save a few dollars.
• Order a bottle from the house. It shows good faith (you’re bringing the other bottle because they don’t have it and you like it, but you bought one so it’s cool) and the restaurant usually waives the corkage fee for a bottle if you buy one.
• Offer a tasting sample to the sommelier or manager or chef, just a nice gesture.

Bringing your own wine is hardly tacky but it’s not a money saving venture.

(photo: j. star)

If you’re a fan of eating out, then you’re probably a fan of eating out at nice restaurants. The only problem with super fancy restaurants is not the price (which will be relatively high) but the fact that you aren’t sure if you’ll like what you get. While getting a bad $10 entrée isn’t a big deal (you don’t go back), getting a bad $30 or $40 or $60 entrée is infuriating. So how do you get to test try a fancy restaurant without shelling out top dollar on something you may or may not like? Restaurant Week!

Many of the major metropolitan cities have put together a Restaurant Week in which a collection of nice restaurants get together and offer a prix fixe (fixed price) three course menu that is affordable (in Baltimore, it was $30.07 per person). While the level of service you’ll get during Restaurant Week will be a little weaker because of the extra business, the food should be representative and give you an idea of the restaurants quality.

Here are a few Restaurant Week websites:

• Baltimore
• Boston
• New York City
• Washington D.C.
• List of major cities & their restaurant week websites

Famed Morton’s Steakhouse is running a Steak and Seafood for Two promotion where, for $99, you get:

2 Single Cut Filets
Choice of Two:

• Colossal Shrimp Alexander
• Jumbo Lump Crab Cake
• Broiled Sea Scallops

Choice of Two:

• Ceasar Salad
• Morton’s Salad

One Signature Potato to Share
One Fresh Vegetable to Share
Choice of Two:

• Morton’s Legendary Hot Chocolate Cake
• Key Lime Pie

You’ll have to sign up through that website to get a certificate you’ll need to take advantage of the promotion since it won’t appear on their menus (they also say it’s not at every location). This offer is valid until June 30th, 2008.

To locate the closest Mortons, use their restaurant locator.