Food for Thought: Restaurant Weeks in Priciest U.S. Cities Can Save Hundreds

Okay, so you want to hit up some of the most toney zip codes in the United States —but will your belly break your piggy bank? Here’s how to pig out on the cheap with restaurant weeks featuring three-course dinner menus (some with two-course lunches) for about $35.

Everyone knows the Big Apple can take a big bite out of your budget. But there are two ways to get three courses of indulgent delights in winter and summer. Restaurant weeks are traditionally the last week of January and into early February; and, in 2018, summer was celebrated the last week of July through the middle of August. Dinners are around $40, and obviously this foodie city offers plenty of options, but one of the best is OneDine; the restaurant in the One World Observatory has stunning views and includes complimentary admission to the observatory during NYC Restaurant Week reservations.

Small but mighty, Providence, Rhode Island, has one of the country’s most-respected culinary and hospitality universities — Johnson & Wales — so there’s always plenty of genius percolating in small, family-owned restaurants. Gracie’s has been a mainstay for three-plus decades (don’t miss the bread basket!), and Café Nuovo has great views of the canal where WaterFire illuminates the river each summer. A road trip is well worth it for the outdoor festivals featuring music, gondolas and mid-July restaurant weeks.

You almost have to have a Brahmin budget to dine out well in Boston, but there are a few weeks here where you can afford more than a Fenway frank and Sam Adams. Each March and August, two-week spurts afford the luxury of $38 dinners or $30(ish) lunches at restaurants like Menton from James Beard Award-winning Barbara Lynch; one of the classics, L’Espalier, in the quintessential Back Bay neighborhood; or one of the city’s hottest new spots, Boston Chops, in the now revitalized Downtown Crossing area.

August may not sound the best timeframe to visit Washington, D.C., but it’s notoriously quiet at the end of the month — so there are plenty of deals to be had, in addition to some elbow room at free Smithsonian museums. Check out Old Ebbitt Grill for the crab cakes, the Occidental for a rib-eye around the corner from the White House, or Hank’s Oyster Bar at the trendy new Wharf district.

Besides the California sun, the beginning of the year is an ideal time to plan a California getaway thanks to San Francisco and Napa Valley Restaurant Weeks, both at the end of January. Save hundreds at Waterbar, or at Dirty Habit for cocktails, with a year-round, heated fire pit. In Napa, pair regional wines with farm-to-table cuisine at delightfully low-key Farmstead, where the menu celebrates local farmers, cattle ranchers and vintners.

Seattle is another city with two opportunities to savor the best there is to offer. The first, typically the first week of April, follows Taste Washington, a foodie extravaganza the last weekend in March. The nation’s largest, single-region wine and food festival celebrates 22 years in 2019, with food from the city’s hottest chefs and respected winemakers. There are events daily including a farm dinner and massive Sunday brunch. Restaurant weeks at the end of October and early November give diners a chance to sample different seasonal cuisine, and partake in some spooky celebrations — Seattle’s Underground is rumored to be haunted and numerous tours are just one way to partake. There’s also an Underground Halloween party, “boo” at the zoo and a children’s museum costume carnival.