Triad Restaurant Week - Deal or Dud?
A little while ago, I mentioned that some local restaurants were joining forces to organize the first Triad Restaurant Week in May. Well, things are coming together and the website now includes a list of participating restaurants. Area restaurants will offer a special three-course prix fixe menu for $30 from May 1 to 8.
The price doesn’t include tax, tip and libations.
To me, though, the big question is whether this is a deal or just a marketing gimmick. Though I confess that math was never my favorite class (loved geometry, though - all those words! - and I was a champ at word problems, too), I have done a little restaurant number crunching, though it doesn’t account for permutations such as side salads that come with entrees on the regularly-priced menu, or soups as appetizers, or even portion size.
So, with those caveats in mind…let’s do some math, shall we?
Take a casual, pub-like place such as Hutch and Harris. Looking at their online menu and running some numbers, the average cost of an entree is $17.47. Average app is $9.69, and average dessert, $5.38. Total average bill is $32.70 (minus all those tasty Singapore Slings you may or may not have had to wash it all down). So sure, you could make the argument that the Restaurant Week menu may save you a little dough here (enough to buy a gallon of gas, or perhaps get your Starbucks fix one morning). But it’s not enough to make me jump up and down and insist that you don’t turn this bargain down.
Now let’s look at the other end of the spectrum, say, Meridian. There, the average app on their April 21 online menu is $10.85; average entree is $23.38 and average dessert is $7.11. Grand total? $41.34.
OK, so without not knowing exactly what all these prix fixe menus will be, the value of Triad Restaurant Week seems to depend on where you eat. That might seem obvious, but it’s something to think about if you’re trying to choose a place to spend your hard-earned dollars.
I’d also go where the menus look the most interesting. Now, this is more fun than punching in numbers on your calculator, I promise. Not all the restaurants have their menus up, but they include this menu at Bleu, and this menu at Greensboro’s 223 South Elm.
Overall, they sound pretty safe. Pork tenderloin with potato & leek cake, roasted winter vegetables and roasted garlic vinaigrette, and grilled salmon with a grit cake, collards and warm pecan vinaigrette are among the choices for entrees at Bleu. Smoked corn chowder, sirloin with quinoa and chard and chocolate pot de creme with a peanut butter tulle at Noble’s is a little more intriguing. Oh, and at Green Valley Grill in Greensboro, you can get pork belly with preserved lemon and apple compote, or even more delectable-sounding, a blue cheese crostini with strawberry compote for dessert. Maybe it’s time to make reservations. Maybe I shouldn’t be writing this on an empty stomach.
Incidently, it didn’t take a promotion for a restaurants like Bistro Sofia in Greensboro to offer an affordable prix fixe. They have been offering such menus for a long time, and with the economy the way it has been, the folks there have only been extending their specials. Bistro Sofia is lovely, fine restaurant with a stunning patio - I’d take advantage of any deal you can get there. Right now, they have a $25 three-course prix fixe with lots of choices each weeknight from 5 to 10 p.m., and on Saturdays from 5 to 6:30 p.m.
