Restaurant Week - Winter 2008

[cheezepowder]

(I know, it's early and January seems ages away.) Going Out Gurus blog says that the next Restaurant Week is Jan. 14 - Jan. 20, has some info on participants, and says 1789 and Corduroy are extending. The full list should be posted here at some point.

For reference, the Summer (August) 2007 Restaurant Week thread is here.

[New Foodie]

It's baaaaaaack

[DonRocks]

If everyone posts their RW experiences in the individual restaurant threads, I'll link to them all here for future reference.

Cheers,

Rocks.

PS7's (rbh)

Cafe Mozu (lizzie)

PS7's (SVT)

Tosca (DPop)

Notti Bianche (collije)

Vidalia (AlexC)

PS7's (New Foodie)

Spezie (Tujague)

Farrah Olivia (giant shrimp)

Corduroy (zoramargolis)

Vidalia (monavano)

New Heights (MMM)

Mendocino Grille (Banco)

Corduroy (FoodRockzMan)

d'Acqua (jiveturk21)

Spezie (Sthitch)

Domaso Trattoria Moderna (cheezepowder)

Corduroy (lackadaisi)

The Liberty Tavern (Baccala)

Dino (bmcdonal6674)

Dino (shaggy)

Mendocino Grille (ol_ironstomach)

Domaso Trattoria Moderna (collije)

The Oval Room (jiveturk21)

Mendocino Grille (youngfood)

Vidalia (bettyjoan)

Corduroy (New Foodie)

Mendocino Grille (derekc)

Corduroy (bettyjoan)

PS7's (RWBooneJr.)

Farrah Olivia (Tweaked)

[Mark Slater]

If everyone posts their RW experiences in the individual restaurant threads, I'll link to them all here for future reference.

Cheers,

Rocks.

Without naming names, the participating restaurant friend I visited tonight after work told me that 2 tables of 2 had asked if they could split the Restaurant Week menu. Seriously. 30 bucks for a full dinner in a nice restaurant ain't cheap enough? I guess they didn't drink wine, either. Of course, in our business, it's looked upon as rude to say to someone in the face "You must be joking".

Comments welcome.

[legant]

Without naming names, the participating restaurant friend I visited tonight after work told me that 2 tables of 2 had asked if they could split the Restaurant Week menu. Seriously. 30 bucks for a full dinner in a nice restaurant ain't cheap enough? I guess they didn't drink wine, either. Of course, in our business, it's looked upon as rude to say to someone in the face "You must be joking".

Comments welcome.

Seriously. I've done it. As a pre-theatre meal. And, usually it is a full meal. It's not about the money; it's about snoring during Tamburlaine.

Theater on both Wednesday and Thursday nights; more than likely I will be splitting, rather reluctantly, my lamb steak. Stop by and say hi; code word is mussels.

[Heather]

Without naming names, the participating restaurant friend I visited tonight after work told me that 2 tables of 2 had asked if they could split the Restaurant Week menu. Seriously. 30 bucks for a full dinner in a nice restaurant ain't cheap enough? I guess they didn't drink wine, either. Of course, in our business, it's looked upon as rude to say to someone in the face "You must be joking".

Comments welcome.

Does that happen often? And do places allow it? I'd probably order from the regular menu if the RW choices were not to my taste, or if the amount of food would be too much.

I'm curious to know from a server's point of view if the number of tables served during RW makes up for the reduced costs of food.

[mdt]

Without naming names, the participating restaurant friend I visited tonight after work told me that 2 tables of 2 had asked if they could split the Restaurant Week menu. Seriously. 30 bucks for a full dinner in a nice restaurant ain't cheap enough? I guess they didn't drink wine, either. Of course, in our business, it's looked upon as rude to say to someone in the face "You must be joking".

Comments welcome.

Rather rude if you ask me. I can only hope that they tipped extremely well, but I doubt it.

[Halloween]

Without naming names, the participating restaurant friend I visited tonight after work told me that 2 tables of 2 had asked if they could split the Restaurant Week menu. Seriously. 30 bucks for a full dinner in a nice restaurant ain't cheap enough? I guess they didn't drink wine, either. Of course, in our business, it's looked upon as rude to say to someone in the face "You must be joking".

Comments welcome.

For some, 30 bucks isn't cheap enough (boy do I remember those days), but the solution isn't to split a restaurant week dinner. It's to save until you can afford it, eat something less expensive on the menu, or eat somewhere else. I rather enjoy a slice of pizza from Vace and a long walk on a spring day.

[Dave Pressley]

I'm curious to know from a server's point of view if the number of tables served during RW makes up for the reduced costs of food.

As someone who has participated in plenty of RW's, I can certainly tell you that the amount of tables served in most restaurants does not generally increase dramatically. You are, however, far more likely during restaurant week to have more tables in at your 6:00 slots, so you are able to get one turn in before the major push at 7:30-8:30, but that's it really (in my experiences). Since most servers generally work 4-5 table sections, they'll see about 2-4 more tables than normal each night--not nearly enough tippage to make up for the low sales numbers.

This is also assuming that RW guests are aware that the restaurant is trying to turn their table over quickly during the week to increase the number of guests served. Since this is generally not the case (and in a lot of cases, the tables stay LONGER than normal), servers will stand to wait on about the same tables as usual and walk with much less money.

I stopped doing RW years ago when they started charging restaurants to participate. I think it was $500, although I've heard that it has either increased to $1000 already or is going to this year. RW was always a headache for me and I certainly wasn't going to pay for it!

Edited to add: I know for a fact that other operators have much more positive experiences than mine and that the promotion really does help their business. If it was all negative, the promotion would have stopped a long time ago.

[Heather]

So for the servers, RW is more work for less money. Thanks Dave, that's what I suspected.

[edenman]

So for the servers, RW is more work for less money. Thanks Dave, that's what I suspected.

I think this conclusion assumes that the restaurant was already going to be full that evening. In many restaurants that may be the case, but for a random weeknight in early January, I could see many of the places that participate otherwise being dead.

[Dave Pressley]

I think this conclusion assumes that the restaurant was already going to be full that evening. In many restaurants that may be the case, but for a random weeknight in early January, I could see many of the places that participate otherwise being dead.

The restaurants that are popular and busy on a normal basis are exactly the ones that people flood during RW. Who wants to "waste" a RW reservation on a restaurant that isn't considered head-of-the-class? Restaurants that get astronomically busier than normal during RW are probably beneficiaries of overflow from the fully-booked first choice places.

I'm sure that servers whose tips dramatically increase during RW would rather that they made more consistent money for the rest of the year instead of a few spike weeks.

[edenman]

The restaurants that are popular and busy on a normal basis are exactly the ones that people flood during RW. Who wants to "waste" a RW reservation on a restaurant that isn't considered head-of-the-class? Restaurants that get astronomically busier than normal during RW are probably beneficiaries of overflow from the fully-booked first choice places.

I'm sure that servers whose tips dramatically increase during RW would rather that they made more consistent money for the rest of the year instead of a few spike weeks.

No doubt, although I think the overflow is considerable, especially since not everyone knows exactly which places are "head-of-the-class". You can just go by the number of dollar signs (and I'm sure folks do) to determine where to go.

I'm sure the servers would rather have consistent business, but so would the restaurant. A place like PS7 (just because it's been mentioned as a place that was busy last night) is normally not at all busy on a Monday night but, due to RW, they've got at least two customers who say they're likely to return. And I imagine a few of the other non-posting folks too.

RW can be good for both the customer and the restaurant, but it has to be the right kind of restaurant and the right kind of customer.

[Dave Pressley]

RW can be good for both the customer and the restaurant, but it has to be the right kind of restaurant and the right kind of customer.

Agreed.

[deangold]

So for the servers, RW is more work for less money. Thanks Dave, that's what I suspected.

For another perspective:

During Restaurant week, we get about half a turn early and maybe the same late on the typical slow nights. On the busy nights we get a few more tables on either end. But we wind up with a week of "Friday" and "Saturday" night sales volumes.

Last night we did over twice our normal Monday business (in dollars) and we had 5 waits instead of 3. So each wait walked with more than they would have on a "normal" Monday. I think looking at the reservation book for the rest of the week, that the servers will walk with significantly more on Tuesday thru Thursday (20% over normal or more), a little more on Friday, the same on Saturday. Too early to predict on Sunday.

Our turn time was pretty normal or a little better than normal.

Lastly, our single biggest source of new diners is RW. I had at least 10 parties last night tell me they would be back after that, their initial visit. On a normal night that number is 2-3. If 1-2 of those customers becomes a top tier customer once a month or more) and 2-3 become regulars(4 times a year or more) the return on the discount is pretty darned amazing. Off the top of my head, I bet that 20% of our most frequent diners made their first visit during a RW. And many RW customers also turn out to be above average advocates and send up more customers than the average regular).

[Heather]

OK, so it depends on the customer & what they order in addition to the RW offerings, how popular and/or expensive the restaurant is, how many times they turn over the table, and whether the restaurant feels like shelling out $1000 to begin with.

That's a lot of variables. I'll resume my dining experiences next week.

[collije]

Noticed on DCFoodies that they list which restaurants are extending their RW deal beyond this week.

Might be a sticky for me after this week!

[Waitman]

Without naming names, the participating restaurant friend I visited tonight after work told me that 2 tables of 2 had asked if they could split the Restaurant Week menu. Seriously. 30 bucks for a full dinner in a nice restaurant ain't cheap enough? I guess they didn't drink wine, either. Of course, in our business, it's looked upon as rude to say to someone in the face "You must be joking".

Comments welcome.

Rather rude if you ask me. I can only hope that they tipped extremely well, but I doubt it.

My experience as a waiter was that -- with exceptions -- people who are cheap in one aspect of dining out are cheap in all of them. People who carry coupons or split orders also drink cheap (if at all) and tip poorly.

[youngfood]

What is it that makes those who don't care for Restaurant Week feel they need to denigrate those who do? Maybe we should put a cautionary note in the heading of this thread warning folks who dislike RW that they should only enter with caution? Seriously, folks with wallets so big that they need not ever consider their budget when engaging in fine dining need to calm down about the rest of the world that does.

[Dr. Delicious]

I don't think it's fair to equate people who use coupons with people who are cheap. They are, after all, only taking advantage of a promotion put in place by the restaurant itself.

[Anna Blume]

My experience as a waiter was that -- with exceptions -- people who are cheap in one aspect of dining out are cheap in all of them. People who carry coupons or split orders also drink cheap (if at all) and tip poorly.

You are gracious enough to note exceptions. Mark Slater's example is extreme, true, and frankly, disrespectful if possibly, due to the ignorance of folk who do not dine out on a regular basis.

On the other hand, for those who are frugal out of necessity, Restaurant Week offers a rare treat if they cannot afford to become the regular patrons that participating businesses might be hoping to attract. Empathy dictates that those with generous hearts tip well.

ETA: To clarify, "disrespectful" refers to the patrons and not to MS.

[Waitman]

I don't think it's fair to equate people who use coupons with people who are cheap. They are, after all, only taking advantage of a promotion put in place by the restaurant itself.

OK. People who use coupons tend to drink inexpensively or not at all and tip below average. They are not cheap, they are frugal.

Same difference, though.

You are gracious enough to note exceptions. Mark Slater's example is extreme, true, and frankly, disrespectful if possibly, due to the ignorance of folk who do not dine out on a regular basis.

On the other hand, for those who are frugal out of necessity, Restaurant Week offers a rare treat for those who cannot afford to become the regular patrons that participating businesses might be hoping to attract. Empathy dictates that those with generous hearts tip well.

I surely do not mean to lump all RestoWeekers into the "cheap" category. I'm sure the majority are perfectly wonderful and number some of my friends and acquaintences among them.

(Last time I was at RW I didn't actually realize what was going on. "Pretty crowded for a Wednesday noght in August," I remember telling my friend, a little cluelessly.)

[Dr. Delicious]

OK. People who use coupons tend to drink inexpensively or not at all and tip below average. They are not cheap, they are frugal.

Well, you're the Waitman, so i guess you would know, but it still strikes me as an unfair characterization.

[xcanuck]

Perhaps it's time for restaurants to place notices on their RW menus saying "Please do not split RW entrees". Sorta like putting "Contents are VERY hot" on a coffee cup but it avoids hassles in the long run.

[mdt]

What is it that makes those who don't care for Restaurant Week feel they need to denigrate those who do? Maybe we should put a cautionary note in the heading of this thread warning folks who dislike RW that they should only enter with caution? Seriously, folks with wallets so big that they need not ever consider their budget when engaging in fine dining need to calm down about the rest of the world that does.

Who is denigrating the folks that enjoy RW? I was referring to the specific example posted above. I think RW can be a great way to try a new and perhaps more costly places.

[treznor]

(Last time I was at RW I didn't actually realize what was going on. "Pretty crowded for a Wednesday noght in August," I remember telling my friend, a little cluelessly.)

I did that exact thing last week. I walked into Butterfield 9's bar as I was in the area. After inquiring about a dinner menu I was handed the full menu as well as a RW menu. After a quizical look the bartender let me know that Butterfield 9 runs RW specials a week before RW in order to tune the menu. I had completely forgotten it was even the time of year for RW.

Regardless I ended up getting a gorgeously prepared roast pork chop that was wonderfully juicy and tasty.

[c_kadish]

Without naming names, the participating restaurant friend I visited tonight after work told me that 2 tables of 2 had asked if they could split the Restaurant Week menu. Seriously. 30 bucks for a full dinner in a nice restaurant ain't cheap enough? I guess they didn't drink wine, either. Of course, in our business, it's looked upon as rude to say to someone in the face "You must be joking".

Comments welcome.

I read this earlier, and it's bugging me a little. It just seems to fuel the attitude that RW diners (or anyone not ordering wine/cocktails) are cheap and miserable, and horrible to deal with from the restaurant's point of view. Was the restaurant that offended that they asked to split a meal?

I think this bothers me most because it lacks any kind of perspective. Were they allowed to split it? Did they complain if they weren't? What kind of tip did they leave in the end? Two tables asked out of how many that were served that night?

The restaurant here must have some positive reason for participating in RW. It seems almost silly if this is the biggest complaint to come out of it.

I realize not many can/would offer they type of information Dean has in his post above, but it would be nice to read more like this with actual information about what places gain/lose during RW.

[alan7147]

What is it that makes those who don't care for Restaurant Week feel they need to denigrate those who do? Maybe we should put a cautionary note in the heading of this thread warning folks who dislike RW that they should only enter with caution? Seriously, folks with wallets so big that they need not ever consider their budget when engaging in fine dining need to calm down about the rest of the world that does.

Agreed! It is true that some on here think that "they are too cool for school" when it comes to RW. Me, I am personally not a big fan, but I surely see the value in it.

[Heather]

Agreed! It is true that some on here think that "they are too cool for school" when it comes to RW. Me, I am personally not a big fan, but I surely see the value in it.

Not too cool for school. Just not willing to put up with the crowds and the rush, and the limited choices in order to save a few bucks. Plus I am not convinced that the waitstaff benefits from it at the places I usually hang out.

[Mark Slater]

I read this earlier, and it's bugging me a little. It just seems to fuel the attitude that RW diners (or anyone not ordering wine/cocktails) are cheap and miserable, and horrible to deal with from the restaurant's point of view. Was the restaurant that offended that they asked to split a meal?

I think this bothers me most because it lacks any kind of perspective. Were they allowed to split it? Did they complain if they weren't? What kind of tip did they leave in the end? Two tables asked out of how many that were served that night?

The restaurant here must have some positive reason for participating in RW. It seems almost silly if this is the biggest complaint to come out of it.

I realize not many can/would offer they type of information Dean has in his post above, but it would be nice to read more like this with actual information about what places gain/lose during RW.

I think you are reading too much in that's not there.

[monsterriffs]

I feel like this debate arises every time RW comes around and serves absolutely no purpose other than to help posters somewhat discern what income quintile people belong to.

[Heather]

I feel like this debate arises every time RW comes around and serves absolutely no purpose other than to help posters somewhat discern what income quintile people belong to.

I think you'd be surprised. It's perfectly possible to be cheap without being poor, and generous without being comfortable.

[porcupine]

My experience as a waiter was that -- with exceptions -- people who are cheap in one aspect of dining out are cheap in all of them. People who carry coupons or split orders also drink cheap (if at all) and tip poorly.

Please tell me, then, as a former waiter, what you think of this: since some restaurants serve very large sized entrees, Mr P and I will split an order. For example, we'll each have a soup, each have an appetizer, split the main course, and split a dessert. I almost always get at least one alcoholic beverage, but Mr P doesn't drink. Our tipping strategy is to calculate based on what the bill would have been if we had gotten two main courses and two desserts. Is that acceptable?

And no, we'd never do this during restaurant week or any other special promotion.

[Mark Slater]

Please tell me, then, as a former waiter, what you think of this: since some restaurants serve very large sized entrees, Mr P and I will split an order. For example, we'll each have a soup, each have an appetizer, split the main course, and split a dessert. I almost always get at least one alcoholic beverage, but Mr P doesn't drink. Our tipping strategy is to calculate based on what the bill would have been if we had gotten two main courses and two desserts. Is that acceptable?

And no, we'd never do this during restaurant week or any other special promotion.

Of course that's acceptable. Splitting a RW dinner, on the other hand looks like this: $30.08 + $3.00 tax + $5.00 tip = $38.08 for two instead of $76.00. Waitress gets $5.00 - 30% for bar and bus help - 30% payroll/SS tax, net is $2.00 in pocket. That, at least to me, is not acceptable.

Ask Dean what it costs to get linen cleaned.

[c_kadish]

I think you are reading too much in that's not there.

Probably true. This thread always seems to turn into a discussion bashing RW participants and how horrible RW is, and your comment seemed to set that in motion.

But from many of the comments here it seems it brings the least desirable customers, waiters are overworked and not happy with their tips, and on top of that you have to pay to participate. And there's a good chance a diner will be rushed because tables have to be turned more quickly. It sounds like a disaster.

What I probably should have just done in my last post was ask how RW has gone on for so long, and why so many places participate, and even extend it, if it's such a hassle.

It's got to have its merits, and I wish that was shown a little bit more in this thread.

[Waitman]

Let me be clear: cheapskateness is not necessarily defined by how much money you spend or how much you eat or whether you go to Restaurant Week. It's an attitude and it manifests itself in numerous ways and results in poor tips and bad karma. The defining attribute of a true tightwad is that they're more interested in saving a few pennies than eating well, and they often just don't seem to be having a good time, probably because they're always burdened by the suspicion that someone's out to cheat them of a dollar thirty-nine. Makes you wonder why they don't stay home and just eat gruel. Also, in my experience, it's not necessarily reflective of income or status -- Scrooge wasn't poor and most of the cheapskates I waited on weren't either. They were just, you know, cheap.

[MC Horoscope]

I feel like this debate arises every time RW comes around and serves absolutely no purpose other than to help posters somewhat discern what income quintile people belong to.

I belong to quintile 911, FTW.

[Roo]

My wife and I are not necessarily excited about restaurant week because we get to try new places that we couldn't otherwise afford. It seems for many of the restaurants participating in RW, $30 isn't that much of a deal -- perhaps a free dessert -- based on their normal prices. And generally the menus are much more limited. However, we DO get excited about RW because it seems like it provides a convenient excuse to invite friends or coworkers out to dinner and have them say yes. People seem to be generally more interested in eating out during RW even if little money is actually saved. So I look forward to RW simply because I know we can usually get some interesting company to join us. Now, maybe we just need to either remember to invite friends out with us on other weeks of the year, or develop more sparkling personalities but RW usually ends up being pretty fun.

[New Foodie]

Now, maybe we just need to either remember to invite friends out with us on other weeks of the year, or develop more sparkling personalities but RW usually ends up being pretty fun.

I think it's definitely your personalities that are the problem

[deangold]

Ask Dean what it costs to get linen cleaned.

We have concrete tables. 4-6 bar cloths at $.35 apiece from linens of the week. 6-9 on

Friday & Saturday when I have 3 bussers.

[jiveturk21]

However, we DO get excited about RW because it seems like it provides a convenient excuse to invite friends or coworkers out to dinner and have them say yes. People seem to be generally more interested in eating out during RW even if little money is actually saved. So I look forward to RW simply because I know we can usually get some interesting company to join us.

I agree with Roo on this one.

In most cases, I have avoided RW over the past few years because 1) it is crowded as hell, 2) the portions sizes seem to suffer and the menus, in most cases, tend to be limited and 3) the servers are often not on their game and the restaurant is pushing you out the door. So, for me, it is not worth it. I would rather have a great experience at a restaurant and pay for it as opposed to an average experience at a restaurant and save money.

At the same time, not all of my friends like to go out to dinner and spend $300 per couple, not because they don't have the money, but because they don't see the point of it. But, it is much easier to get them to go out during RW when they think that they are getting a good deal, even though they usually spend a ton of money anyway.

Three more points...

1. There must be a reason why restaurants participate in RW, so it can't be all all doom and gloom.

2. Some restaurants for an amazing job with RW and other do a crappy job, it sucks to have to sort through them, but if you do, you will have an excellent experience.

3. Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Do people tip crappy during RW because they are cheap and they are just trying to get a good deal? Or, do people tip crappy during RW because the menu is small and not seasonal, the servers are in a surly mood and the restaurant is trying to turn over your table in one hour? My guess is that it is a bit of both.

[DonRocks]

I've hesitated to chime in on this conversation, but I'll share a Restaurant Week experience from last night.

I had dinner at a restaurant where I've dined probably a dozen times in the past - a restaurant widely considered one of the places doing Restaurant Week the right way, and a restaurant generally costing much more than $30.08 for a three-course dinner.

THE POSITIVE

The full menu was available

The staff was energized and friendly as always

Upcharges applied only to the most expensive items

Portions were as large as ever

The meal was a tremendous value for $30.08

THE NEGATIVE

The staff was extremely busy

Desserts had to be ordered at the beginning

The bread, usually freshly made, was dry and cold

The cooking, usually excellent, was very off

The platings were very formulated looking

Ice cream, usually house-made, was purchased

The meal was the worst I've ever had here

My biggest concern with Restaurant Week is that diners walk away thinking they've had "the full experience," when, especially in the busiest, most expensive restaurants, they haven't. The only things that are the same as a "normal" evening are the restaurant space itself, and the wine list. The staff is often harried, the quality of the cooking is almost always compromised, and portion sizes are sometimes reduced. In my experience, the diner is generally saving $5-10 over what a regular meal would cost, essentially getting a free dessert.

There's nothing worse than someone pointing out a problem without offering a solution. So I'm proposing a "Restaurant Week In Perpetuity" thread, detailing self-composed three-course dinners that can be enjoyed for $30 or less, week-in and week-out.

Cheers,

Rocks.

[mdt]

I've hesitated to chime in on this conversation, but I'll share a Restaurant Week experience from last night.

And you don't mention the name because....

[DonRocks]

And you don't mention the name because....

....because I am mean.

(And because I know from personal experience that this meal wasn't representative of the restaurant, but it WAS representative of Restaurant Week.)

[Josh Radigan]

not to be pr#!k ,but they still charged you, right? And if this is not a representation of what they typically do during regular weeks, then why, as someone put it earlier in a question, do the promo of RW. If you are going to do RW and take a half-ass aproach in hopes of generating a lttle more revenue during a slow week, then maybe this is an indication of how you treat your business in the first place. Good restaurants are busy all the time, no matter congress in, congress out, summer, winter snow, they stay busy.

[Walrus]

not to be pr#!k ,but they still charged you, right? And if this is not a representation of what they typically do during regular weeks, then why, as someone put it earlier in a question, do the promo of RW. If you are going to do RW and take a half-ass aproach in hopes of generating a lttle more revenue during a slow week, then maybe this is an indication of how you treat your business in the first place. Good restaurants are busy all the time, no matter congress in, congress out, summer, winter snow, they stay busy.

Because I don't think the restaurants think of themselves as taking "a half-ass approach" to it. My guess is that they're doing the absolute best they can, given the circumstances. If you have X number of people on a "regular" night and 2X people -- most of whom may not eat out regularly and may not perhaps fully understand/remember/want to know how to be a good (or even sometimes polite) customer, and you're cooking the same 6 dishes for each and every one of those 2X people...yeah, it's going to strain the system. It comes down to the fact that you get what you pay for. If you want to eat a meal that is half the price of what a "regular" meal would cost, then it's only fair to expect it to be half the value of that meal. Of course, most restaurants are doing, I would guess, 70% to 80% of the value of the "regular" meal for half the cost -- some may be lower, and some may even be higher.

In short, if you want to experience "what they typically do during regular weeks," then you would eat there during a regular week. If you want the experience of what $30.08 can buy you -- and 2X the "regular" number of other diners at the same time -- you eat there during Restaurant Week.

Please note, I am in no way bashing those who choose to eat out during Restaurant Week -- just pointing out that it is, indeed, their choice, and they should understand that it is -- in my opinion -- impossible to provide the same level of experience to 2X people as it is to X people in the same amount of time.

[youngfood]

Please note, I am in no way bashing those who choose to eat out during Restaurant Week -- just pointing out that it is, indeed, their choice, and they should understand that it is -- in my opinion -- impossible to provide the same level of experience to 2X people as it is to X people in the same amount of time.

I definitely hear what you are saying (indeed my RW participation, which was once huge, is now de minimis), but didn't Dean say earlier that Fri & Sat nights are about the same volume as usual? Why is RW SO much harder than an average weekend night? Slammed restaurants are rarely at their best, but aren't a lot of the better spots in town pretty well full on Fri/Sat nights as is? A quick opentable search for next Friday suggests that Central, Proof, Westend and the Source are all already unable to take a party of 4 after 6pm. Again, not defending RW as perfect or suggesting that things should be perfect during it, but some of the talk about how impossible it is to perform well seems a little overdone. At minimum, I think the same criticisms apply with equal force to the other "amateur nights" such as NYE and VDay, when restaurants charge more and not less.

[Josh Radigan]

I am in no way bashing the concept of restaurant week, but another way to see it is this way. One makes the point of restaurants being busier than usual at the bookend times, meaning 530-6PM and 930-10PM, and saying that the volume is difficult to produce at the respected level. But, aren't restaurants open regulary at 530PM till 10PM? Are restaurantuers only expecting during regular business weeks to be busy at 730-8PM. Don't restaurantuers want to be busy all the time, not just one turn and done? So, why the excuses? Why do restaurants feel the need to explain their lack of performance based on being busy at times they normally don't expect to be busy? isn't that the same as if you went shopping around the holiday season and walked into a store and it was busy and the retail employee turned and said "hey sorry for the delay or lack of service, its the holiday's and we just aren't used to being busy." Restaurants know when RW week is, I used to work it all the time and guess what my bosses used to tell me "Staff up or sink with the ship."

[Walrus]

I am in no way bashing the concept of restaurant week, but another way to see it is this way. One makes the point of restaurants being busier than usual at the bookend times, meaning 530-6PM and 930-10PM, and saying that the volume is difficult to produce at the respected level. But, aren't restaurants open regulary at 530PM till 10PM? Are restaurantuers only expecting during regular business weeks to be busy at 730-8PM. Don't restaurantuers want to be busy all the time, not just one turn and done? So, why the excuses? Why do restaurants feel the need to explain their lack of performance based on being busy at times they normally don't expect to be busy? isn't that the same as if you went shopping around the holiday season and walked into a store and it was busy and the retail employee turned and said "hey sorry for the delay or lack of service, its the holiday's and we just aren't used to being busy." Restaurants know when RW week is, I used to work it all the time and guess what my bosses used to tell me "Staff up or sink with the ship."

But to take your own point, if you walk into Nordstrom's at 6 pm any workday the week before Christmas, don't you expect it to be a little more difficult and a little less enjoyable then shopping, say, at 3 pm on a random Saturday in April? Yes, stores -- and restaurants -- can and do prepare for busy times. But there is a finite level of preparedness that anyone can achieve. In a regular office job, do you really, honestly, expect the same quality and enthusiasm from someone at 7 pm on a Friday night as you would at 11 am on a Tuesday??? I can't imagine meeting those standards at any job in any industry.

[Walrus]

I definitely hear what you are saying (indeed my RW participation, which was once huge, is now de minimis), but didn't Dean say earlier that Fri & Sat nights are about the same volume as usual? Why is RW SO much harder than an average weekend night? Slammed restaurants are rarely at their best, but aren't a lot of the better spots in town pretty well full on Fri/Sat nights as is? A quick opentable search for next Friday suggests that Central, Proof, Westend and the Source are all already unable to take a party of 4 after 6pm. Again, not defending RW as perfect or suggesting that things should be perfect during it, but some of the talk about how impossible it is to perform well seems a little overdone. At minimum, I think the same criticisms apply with equal force to the other "amateur nights" such as NYE and VDay, when restaurants charge more and not less.

Sorry to keep going on about this, but yes -- "the same criticisms apply with equal force to the other "amateur nights" such as NYE and VDay, when restaurants charge more and not less." So why do some people seem to expect specialty service and food for mass dining events? And for even less money than normal -- not more!

I stick to my opinion -- there is a limit to what anyone can do to be prepared for a difficult, often unpleasant, and dull/repetitive week, in any industry. The restaurants and their staff members do the best they can. If you want the full restaurant experience, don't eat at a place during Restaurant Week. If you want the budget experience, do. And there's nothing wrong with someone wanting a budget experience -- just be prepared to accept that this is what you're buying. When I eat at Eammon's I don't expect Eve, the same way if I ate at KFC I wouldn't expect Eammon's.