Six Ways to Dine Out for Less

Here's a list of six ways to dine out for less from Smart Money and my thoughts on each suggestion:

1. Reserve a table. Planning ahead can yield significant savings, if you book the reservation through one of these two free sites.

Does Applebee's take reservations? ;-)

We hardly ever go to a place fancy enough to take reservations -- that's how we save on dining out.

2. Clip coupons. Scan your local Sunday newspaper, pick up the free penny-saver publication and sort through the coupon packs in your mailbox.

This works for us and my wife often has a coupon wherever we go. That said, we often have coupons for food we don't want, so we ignore the coupon in those cases (in other words, we don't let the coupon dictate what we eat just to get a deal.)

3. Join the club. Sign up for restaurant email lists and reward programs, which come with extra deals and exclusive coupons. Join [a] birthday club.

Generally, we don't do this. I get enough emails as it is and we don't eat out enough to justify any more. We have signed up for the birthday club at Bob Evans as my kids like to eat pancakes there and they give us a free kid's meal on each child's birthday.

4. Pay with plastic. Credit-card companies are offering more dining rewards as food prices go up.

We always put as much as we can on our credit cards to maximize our cash back, but we don't go out and eat just to run up the charges. Seems a bit counter-productive.

5. Mind the specials. Take note of when restaurants host promotional discount nights.

Sometimes a "special" is actually more expensive, but when there's a discount night or an "all-you-can-eat" night you can certainly get some good deals. Or go to a place that offers all-you-can-eat all the time. We have a good Chinese buffet that does this and we love it.

6. Give a gift (certificate). Save up to 50% by purchasing discount certificates online. The catch: Each has restrictions, such as night of the week or number of diners. Read up before buying.

Never done this, but it sounds like a decent idea if you can be flexible. Anyone ever taken advantage of this? How'd it go?

Comments

[David]

Six ways to dine out for less and they don't mention the biggest money saver of all:

Drink water, not soda!

Water is free, other beverages are not, but they all provide hydration. Not to mention water is healthier.

[Daniel]

Last Friday we ate out at a restaurant and we asked for water. It was served in a glass with no ice and when we got the bill we were charged $1 a glass for the water. They didn't offer free water.

Here is a website that I heard about awhile back for buying cheap gift certificates but have not used it yet. http://www.restaurant.com/index.asp?pgn=home
If anyone has tried restaurant.com I'm curious how well it worked.

[Kevin]

Qdoba and Quizno's have pretty good email coupon programs. I usually can get a buy one get one free burrito at Qdoba every couple months. We also eat at Taco Bell quite a bit for under $10 for 2 of us.

[guinness416]

We do number 6 all the time, buying gift cards for restaurants in our city through CAA (the car people, the canuck equivalent of AAA). They generally sell $50 gift cards for anything between $25 and $30. Never any issues and they have a good range of decent restaurants, no chains. They work great when we have family in town and we know we'll be eating out a lot.

[sahm]

We have used Restaurant.com for inexpensive gift certificates. They are typically your small, local restaurants. Watch the restrictions (like minimum purchases and when it can be used). You need to know the restaurants because some are outrageously expensive and it is a waste of money. BUT, there are some great deals. If you sign up for their emails, they will send you and email for when the certificates are 50% or more off of the "regular price". We just bought 3- $10 cert for our new favorite Cuban restaurant for only $3.60. We can only use one at a time- but they are good for a year! The prices are already reasonable, so this makes it a great deal!

[Jim]

I covered more about signing up for restaurant e-mail / birthday clubs in my post:
http://freeby50.blogspot.com/2008/04/saving-at-restaurants-2-birthday-email.html

I'd also recommend checking out the Entertainment Coupons, they usually have a ton of 2-for-1 coupons:
http://entertainment.com

I've also used Restaurant.com and it works just fine in my experience. BUT the selection of restaurants is limited and they have restrictions. For my area only one restaurant works for us and it has a $50 minimum to use a $25 certificate. Its a steak house so it works out OK for a nice steak dinner, but you're still spending minimum $25 after certificate so its not especially cheap overall. Also Restaurant.com does have bargain rates frequently. I got $25 certificates for $4 each recently.

I've used OPentable.com to make reservations too. But again their selection of restaurants is limited and they are mostly pricey places. I think its mostly just a convenience rather than a money saver. But they do 100 give points and with 2000 points you get $20, so it equates to $1 per use.

Jim

[Debra]

I have been a user of restaurant.com gift certificates for several years. Their normal price is $10.00 for a $25.00 gift certificate, but if you sign up for their e-mails, you get specials. Earlier this year, i got $25.00 certificates for $3.00 each. I bought 6. I have only had one bad experience where a restaurant had opted out of the program, but they gave me a discount equal to what I paid for the certificate, so I didn't lose any money.

Each certificate has rules. You must spend a certain amount, some don't include alcohol and some are not good on the weekends. Whatever, I can dine out at a very nice restaurant and sace $25.00 off the bill.

We also do a lot of shopping at Sam's Club. Buying a whole pork tenderloin at under $2.00 a pound gives us roasts and boneless chops at very good prices. Just need zip top bags. Bread and milk are better priced at Sam's also. We usually go once every one or two months and stock up the freezer and pantry. Sure saves on gas, too.

[Cheap Like Me]

I bought certificates on Restaurant.com and both restaurants closed before I could use the certificates! I converted one to a different restaurant but I can't remember if I ever used them. Honestly it was such a hassle (and I think I lost money) that I wouldn't bother again.

[Cheap is Good]

Two great sources for restaurant deals are:

valpak.com
moneymailer.com

Here's another, the back of register tapes at your grocery store.

Also, walk into your neighborhood coffee shop. Usually they have coupon books for local businesses that are full of buy one get one deals at neighborhood restaurants.

Sadly.... most small restaurants don't like to give out buy one get one deals because they feel like they're losing money. The Jewish Deli down the street from my house ALWAYS does buy one get one offers. ALWAYS. They've been in business for almost 30 years and the place is always packed! The owner told me it's a great gimmick, people feel that they're getting a deal and order another round of drinks or desert.

[Cheap is Good]

Two great sources for restaurant deals are:

valpak.com
moneymailer.com

Here's another, the back of register tapes at your grocery store.

Also, walk into your neighborhood coffee shop. Usually they have coupon books for local businesses that are full of buy one get one deals at neighborhood restaurants.

Sadly.... most small restaurants don't like to give out buy one get one deals because they feel like they're losing money. The Jewish Deli down the street from my house ALWAYS does buy one get one offers. ALWAYS. They've been in business for almost 30 years and the place is always packed! The owner told me it's a great gimmick, people feel that they're getting a deal and order another round of drinks or desert.

[FrugalMan]

We do a "round-robin" dinner every two weeks with 5 other couples. A couple hosts at their house and takes care of the food; everyone else brings their own drinks. Last week, we hosted and had T-bone steaks, baked potatoes, etc., and two fancy desserts. We spent a total of $125 to serve 12 people. Other times we've served lobster, crab legs, etc.

The biggest difference, I think, is that we can actually relax and talk to each other. In many restaurants, the noise from the crowd and the TVs are so loud that it becomes an unpleasant experience. I was traveling for business last week and went into a quiet seafood restaurant with no TVs. After getting my food, I heard some movie noise, and turned around to see a family eating at a booth. The younger son was watching a DVD on a portable player, annoying everyone around him.