NYC Restaurant Week Returns July 19-Aug. 22

Foodies, rejoice.  NYC Restaurant Week is back, with five weeks of dining deals in more than 500 restaurants in all five boroughs.

Eat on the cheap, with multi-course lunches or dinners priced at $21-$39, depending on the restaurant, between July 19 and August 22.

It’s the largest and longest celebration of food in the 20+ year history of NYC Restaurant week, signaling that NYC is back, baby.

Which means NYC Restaurant Week is really five weeks, not one.

New this year, NYC Restaurant Week is offering a new Signature Dining Experience for $125, which includes three or more courses and “exclusive enhancements,” which may vary depending on the restaurant.

It’s the first in-person NYC Restaurant Week in 18 months.  Last year, it was revised to NYC Restaurant Week To Go, with take-out only.

Participating restaurants are across 75 neighborhoods,offering more than 40 different types of cuisines, so you are sure to find something to your taste (pun intended).

You can browse the participating restaurants and their offers here.  You can sort by location, type of food.

NYCOTC Tips for Reservations

• Make reservations through Open Table which lets you search by location and type of food, and a specific time.
• You can also make reservations directly with participating restaurants.
• My recommendation is lunch.  Not because it’s about half the price of dinner, but because dinners usually sell out first and you are likely to have more choice at lunch.
• You are more likely to get a reservation mid-week than on a weekend.

Additional Discounts with Mastercard

If you own a Mastercard, preregister for NYC Restaurant Week to receive a $10 statement credit on each transaction of $39 or more up to five times.

In other words, Mastercard cardholders can save up to $50 for on-site meals during Restaurant Week.

Plus, Mastercard cardholders can  enter to win thousands of American Airlines AAdvantage miles. Each time you purchase a NYC Restaurant Week meal with your card by Aug. 15, you will be entered for a chance to win 200,000 AAdvantage miles.  According to The Points Guy,  200,000 AAdvantage miles are worth $2,800. 

NYC Restaurant Week History

NYC Restaurant Week  began nearly 30 years ago as a way to drum up business in the dead days after Christmas, after NYC tourists went home and NYC residents stayed home, and in the summer doldrum days.  There have been two sets of NYC Restaurant Week each year since - Jan./Feb. and July/Aug. - except, of course for 2020.

The idea of celebrating local restaurants has expanded to hundreds of cities around the globe, from Albuquerque to Zagreb.