Day 118: Restaurant Week 2010

Raise your hand if you’d like some way to enjoy the late summer without breaking the bank. Is there such an opportunity in the Twin Cities? One that affords us the ability to enjoy ourselves, relax, and stick to a budget?

In a word? Yes.

Starting tomorrow, Sunday August 1st, Restaurant Week 2010 kicks off in the Twin Cities. You can enjoy a week’s worth of fabulous cuisine on a budget, with specials for both lunch and dinner at 50 participating restaurants until Friday August 6th.

Here’s how it works. Participating restaurants offer lunches at either $10 or $20, and dinner at either $15 or $30, not including tax, gratuity or beverages. Some offer wine pairings with the meals for an extra cost as well. The deals include two or even three courses for the price. Most offer choices. Some offer a lot of choices.

For instance, Joe’s Garage near Loring Park and downtown Minneapolis offers a three-course dinner for $15, with a choice of five different starters, five different entrées, AND three different desserts. Just choose one starter, one entrée, and one dessert and pay only $15. Sweet, huh?

Or how about Jimmy’s Food and Cocktails out in Minnetonka? They offer a two-course lunch for $10, which includes your choice of any sandwich, burger or lunch salad and a choice of one of four different desserts. For $10? Sign me up, I say.

Check out the full list of restaurants offering deals this week and you’ll see some of these are offering a pretty hefty discount. If you’ve ever dined at, say, The Oceanaire Seafood Room, Fogo de Chão or even The Melting Pot, you’ll know that $30 doesn’t go too far. These places are offering two or three courses for that price.

You can make reservations right now at OpenTable.com. Or use your mobile OpenTable app on your smart phone.

For more information and a complete list of all restaurants participating, and links to each venue’s offerings, visit www.mspmag.com.