Many restaurants are competing for the coveted customer dollar and these six easy tips can save you big when dining out.
1. Have ice water for your drink. Restaurants charge anywhere from $1.99 - $2.99 for a soda. This may not seem like much when compared to an entrée, but every dollar saved adds up substantially over time.
2. Dine out for lunch. Many restaurants offer lunch menus that offer reduced portions at reduced prices.
3. Share entrées. Most restaurant entrées can be twice the size and three times the calories of a healthy meal. Your wallet and your waistline will thank you. A large salad at Samos ranges from $6.50-$8.95 and can easily feed two people. If you do not order a drink, your per person bill is $3.50-$4.50. Not even a cut rate drive through dollar menu can compete with that. Some restaurants, like Miss Shirley's, charge a sharing fee. One way to get around this is one person order an entrée and another person order a side. Since each customer has an order, no sharing fee will be charged.
4. Go for an appetizer instead of an entrée. Appetizers have become quite elaborate and sometimes they are mini versions of entrées and are closer to the size of an appropriate meal.
5. Frequent restaurants with BYOB policies. Restaurants charge excessive mark-ups for adult beverages and bringing your own will more than half the cost of drinking while dining However, some restaurants charge a corking fee. Thai Arroy and Mekong Delta are two examples of great restaurants with no corking fee.
6. http://www.600block.com/ advertises dining deals at many Baltimore restaurants. This site updates daily, so check it frequently.
If you have great service, remember to pass along a few extra of your saved dollars to your server. A friendly relationship with a well-known server can lead to more deals down the road.
If you have additional money saving dining tips, please leave comment or contact me at Samuel_Rienstra@hotmail.com.
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