NYC Restaurant Week 2017 Underway

NYC Restaurant Week 2017 is your chance to splurge on a gourmet meal in one of nearly 400 participating top NYC restaurants, serving specially priced three-course meals $29 at lunch and $42 at dinner.

NYC Restaurant Week is really three weeks – July 24th to August 18th.

Make reservations now for such such top-rated locally owned restaurants as Blue Smoke, CraftBar, David Burke Kitchen and Il Mulino, which also participated in NYC Restaurant Week in 2016.

This is the second of two NYC Restaurant Week programs each year.  The winter version is the last week of January and the first week of February.

This is the 25th anniversary of NYC Restaurant Week, which started 25 years ago as a way of beefing up business in the slow, dog days of summer, and has become a major culinary event.

As happens so often with things created in New York City, it’s been copied by cities across the USA and around the world, from Albuquerque to Warsaw, which now have their own Restaurant Week promotions.

The iconic I Love NY logo, designed by NYC graphic artist Milton Glaser, also has been copied around the world, but that’s another story. The logo was introduced 40 years ago, in 1977, as part of a national advertising campaign to build tourism to NY.

SEE ALSO

• Best NYC rooftop bars to beat the heat
• NYCOTC Cheap Eats page for deals from local restaurants and national chains.
• Best kid-friendly restaurants in the USA
• Where to eat in Times Square at local and family owned restaurants and avoid the national chains
• Where to eat in Union Square and Flatiron
• Best traditional Jewish delis for overstuffed sandwiches
• Where to eat in Queens during NYC Restaurant Week

Make reservations through Open Table directly with participating restaurants, where you can search by location, type of food, or whether you prefer lunch or dinner.  Of course, as always, beverages, taxes and tip are additional.

My recommendation is lunch.  Not because it’s $13 cheaper, but because dinners usually sell out first and you are likely to have more choice at lunch.

Here’s another NYC insider deal – If you have an American Express card (and don’t most of us) – register your card with Amex for this special event, and get $5 back on each $35+ spent at a participating Restaurant Week dining spot.

Tips for making the most of NYC Restaurant Week:

• Many restaurants do not participate during the weekends, so don’t expect a Saturday night prime time table.
• If your restaurant of choice is in the Theater District, don’t book dinner in the peak pre-theater hour, or  lunch on Matinee Wednesday
• Review the menu in advance, since Restaurant Week menu choices are more limited than the full menu. If you have eating restrictions, you may be limited even more.
• Reservations early in the week are easier to get than later in the week.
• Reservations for lunch are easier to get than reservations for dinner.
• Be sure to mention Restaurant Week when you make a reservation, and when you arrive at the restaurant.
• When you are seated, if you are not offered the Restaurant Week menu, ask for it.
• Tip the wait staff based on the regular price of the meal, not the discounted Restaurant Week price, especially if you’ve had good service.