Frugal Family: Dining Deals for the Thrifty Heart

When money is tight, one of the first things we eliminate is eating out. However, with a bit of frugal wrangling you can enjoy a nice night out.

We wrote about the last week, which includes Chewpons, a daily offer of food and drink deals. This week, we’ll look at The Mother of All Dining Deals: Restaurant.com.  

The concept is simple. You buy a certificate in “x” denomination—usually $10, 25, $50 or $100. While a $10 certificate costs $5, a $100 certificate costs $40. That’s already a lot of savings. The amounts vary depending on the restaurant you choose.

The restaurants aren’t declining shells, and they’re not located in Siberia. Choices at Restaurant.com include The Glass Grill (6804 Eastern Ave.),  Jimmy’s Famous Seafood Restaurant (6526 Holabird Ave.) and Al’s Seafood (1551 Eastern Blvd.),  all within about five miles of Dundalk.

First note that each restaurant can set restrictions, but you’ll know them before you buy a Restaurant.com certificate. Jimmy’s Famous Seafood Restaurant, the restaurant I chose to illustrate for savings in this column, offers daily specials (an integral part of frugal shopping), so I called to be sure I could use my certificate in conjunction with the regular daily specials. I was assured I could at Jimmy’s. However, you should check with each restaurant on its restrictions before you buy the certificate.

For most, you can’t use the certificate with other coupons or when the restaurant has a special promotion, as many did for Valentine’s Day.

Once you verify what restrictions apply and purchase your certificate, check for an online menu to see what’s on special. Don’t stop at getting a good deal. Do the research to get a great deal.  

I settled on a Thursday dinner date at Jimmy’s—when Surf and Turf is on special for $19.95. You get soup and a side vegetable with the deal. You can choose items to make up the actual surf and turf portions of the dinner, too.

If we go between 4 and 7 p.m., we’ll stop at the bar for ½ price appetizers—crab balls and mussels nirvana (each normally $13)—as well as a martini for $5 and beer for $1. We’ll settle the appetizer/bar tab for under $20.

At dinner, we’ll choose the special (normally $35 each for a 6 oz. filet and 8 oz. lobster tail), two desserts—Oreo cheesecake and chocolate blackout cake ($5 each)—and two cups of coffee ($2.50 a cup). If we had gone at another time, the entire meal from first drinks to dessert would have run $120+. Since we took advantage of Jimmy’s deals, we’ll pay only $75…if we didn’t have the Restaurant.com certificate.

My $25 Jimmy’s Restaurant.com certificate cost me $17.50, so we’d save another $7.50 off that bill. I’ve now pared that special night out down from $120+ to about $67.50. (None of the amounts include tax or tip.)

Take it a step further. Pay for your certificate and the remainder of the meal with a credit card that gives rebates on dining out. My American Express card awards me cash back for every dining purchase. So, I’ll buy a discounted product and I’ll get some cash back after I pay the bill. Granted, it’s not a lot, but the savings would have bought two beers during happy hour at Jimmy’s.

As an aside, I won't be paying that $67.50 discounted price for my dinner at Jimmy's. At Christmas I bought a $100 Restaurant.com certificate (which can be broken up into smaller amounts) for $15 on ebay. So, $25 worth of food is going to cost me only $4 rather than $17.50, so I'll be spending even less on my night out. 

Lucky deal? When it comes to money, I don’t believe in lucky deals. A frugal shopper researches and pins local specials to other discounts…then splurges on things that would otherwise be out of bounds for the budget.

 Other Good Deals in Dining

Mustang Pizza and Subs, 7712 German Hill Rd., 410-284-5070.

• Super 8” sub combo: $7.99 (includes sub, super fries and 20 oz. drink)
• $5 lunch specials: choice of 25 items

Caddyshack Express,  7620 German Hill Rd, 410-282-0902.

• Liver and onions, grilled calf’s liver with fried onions and gravy: $8.99
• Steamed mussels with garlic butter: $7.49