Coupons and Deals

[The Chowhound Team]

Some people like posts about restaurant deals, and other people loathe them. We're trying a new approach that will hopefully help people on both sides by making deal posts easier to find and easier to ignore.

This thread is now the place to mention local restaurant deals and coupons from sites like Groupon, Living Social, etc. We'll sticky it temporarily until people who post deals are aware it's there, and then allow it to float freely.

A couple of guidelines to keep in mind:

- You may not post deals with a referral link so that you get bonuses or payments for referring people. We know that sometimes that happens by accident, since it's not always clear that you're getting a referral link. We suggest logging out of the deal site and visiting the deal page to get a clean link. Normally, we make it a policy not to edit the content of user's posts without permission, however, in the case of deal threads, by posting, you're giving us permission to edit your link if it contains referral information. We will not edit any other text.

- Our usual insider rules apply ( http://www.chowhound.com/topics/367605#2259233 ), so if you're associated with either the deal site or the restaurant, you may not post.

- Please don't post every deal indiscriminately. This is Chowhound, not Cheaphound -- pick deals that you think your fellow hounds will be genuinely interested in, because they're from restaurants worth visiting. And feel free to comment on your experiences with the restaurant or recommend dishes -- more chow tips will make the threads more helpful. And others should feel free to reply and discuss. If we end up with a good sub-thread with more than a few posts going about a specific restaurant, please just use 'report' to flag it, and the mods can split it out to its own thread.

- Restaurants and food-specific businesses only, please, no deals for gyms, spas, etc.

Unfortunately, we can't merge threads, so if people post deals outside of the deal threads, we can't move them to the thread. Please use 'report' to flag them for us, and we'll touch base with the poster to have it reposted.

If you have any questions or comments about these new threads, please jump over to the Site Talk thread: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/7941...

[lagatta]

Intermarché has the 750g Tre Marie (butter) Panettone until Wednesday for $8,99. Nice little special. I buy a couple of small ones as I don't do big groups for the holidays, usually. Nice traditional panettone.

[Jaetee]

Anyone been to Bistro Cocagne lately?

One going on now for 50$ for 5 course chefs tasting for 2.

[unlaced]

Coupon for M4 burritos on Living Social today

[captain_vegetable]

There's a deal today on CityLinked for L'Autre Version. $45 for a 7-course tasting menu plus a glass of champagne.

There's also a deal on one of the sites for Afrodeziac (although I found the food choices to be restrictive.

[superbossmom]

Groupon has a super deal for brunch at the Royal Phoenix presently.

[unlaced]

Went to the Royal Phoenix for brunch today (not with a Groupon) and would recommend it - something a bit different from the standard preparations (though they do have the ubiquitous pulled pork on the menu!), thanks to a nice included side salad, potato wedges instead of breakfast style potatoes, and a sweet treat of a chocolate coated strawberry at the end of the brunch!

[CookEatSleep]

There's currently a deal on Buytopia for Chowhound favourite Qing Hua $10 for $20. Even cheaper dumplings. SCORE!

http://www.buytopia.ca/deal/1734?ref=...

[nikkori]

I recommend against taking advantage of this deal. Qin Hua on St-Laurent were complete a**holes about redeeming the last groupon-style coupon. In a half-empty restaurant, they refused to honour our coupon because we hadn't "called to reserve". Disgusting service - I won't be back.

[unlaced]

The "fine print" part of the deal says that reservations are required, suggesting it is a condition of the deal.

[CookEatSleep]

Thanks for the heads up. I had seen that fine print but didn't consider it a condition of the deal. Now that I know, it's not a big deal to call and reserve before going.

[nikkori]

Yes, but this is standard on many of these groupon deals - a way for the resto to have an out if there is an issue. In this case they just didn't want to serve us on the last day of the deal - they preferred to take our $15 and run.

[chinitav]

Just stumbled on this website, linked from a blog post on "Midnight Poutine" reviewing Tasca Bistro (Portugese fare) favorably. They have a 10% off coupon for Tasca, good till 8/18 - not a huge amount, but might cover my gelato habit the next day... ;)
www.restomontreal.ca
They have hundreds of restaurant coupons there - most look like chains to me?

[catroast]

Garage Beirut today ;)
http://www.teambuy.ca/montreal/28138566

[catroast]

another great one today:

half off at le boucan http://www.travelzoo.com/ca/local-dea...

[Plateaumaman]

Some recent ones that look okay, Restaurant Au Tarot and Planete Poutine.
http://www.groupon.ca/deals/montreal/Restaurant-Au-Tarot/6925251
http://www.tuango.ca/en/deal/montreal...

[catroast]

If you didn't know, there is a deal for Decca77's brasserie at http://www.travelzoo.com/ca/local-dea...

We went last night and it was well worth it.

[Michel_my]

Anybody knows the Papillon Bleu ?
There is a coupon for 50% off
http://www.livingsocial.com/cities/54...

[kpzoo]

Papillon Bleu the Chinese place in Old Montreal? Mediocre Westernized fare. Would not recommend.

[mystikdrey]

Hi guys, there's actually that deal on Tuango "$29 for all-you-can-eat Argentinian grilled meat for 2 at Restaurant Argentino"... Sounds like a good deal but... has anyone ever tried that place?

[Michel_my]

If you like blood sausage, kidneys and sweetbreads you'll love the restaurant !

[meagain]

What do you do when you have a purchased coupon and the restaurant goes under (Cartel Street Food) will Swarmjam refund you?

[kpzoo]

Best to contact Swarmjam directly - [e-mail] or call 1-877-629-3976

http://www.swarmjam.com/waf.srv/sj/sj...

[meagain]

I took your advice and emailed them yesterday before the voucher expired today. Haven't heard from them. Read through their terms of use about 5 minutes ago which in the very last paragraph says they will refund the purchase price if a restaurant fails before the voucher expires. I'll let you know how this plays out.

[meagain]

Just got confirmation the refund is being processed. Kudos to Swarmjam.

[marblebag]

I had coupons for Troika with LivingSocial and they also refunded me in full when I claimed it before the expiration date. Supposedly Troika died April 30 and is replaced by "L'Avalanche".

[westaust]

L'Avalanche opened last week, it's another outpost of their Tremblant restaurant
menu: http://avalanchebistro.com/menu-montreal.pdf

As for your coupons, l'avalanche was also offering to convert it to use it at their restaurant on a second visit
http://avalanchebistro.com/troika-fr....

Which while not perfect, is good to see that they plan on doing something for people that bought coupons from the previous establishment,

[causeimhungry]

Living Social will definitely refund your money in full if you contact them before the coupon expires (I know from experience). From what I read on l'Avalanche's website, it sounded like you had to eat there once, then at the end of that meal they will exchange your Troika voucher for the same value to be used on your next visit. Definitely not as good of a deal.

[Michel_my]

The is a deal at Tuango http://www.tuango.ca/en/deal/montreal/20-for-40-delicious-Brazilian-cuisine-and-drinks
" $20 for $40 of delicious Brazilian cuisine and drinks at the new restaurant Le Milsa Montréal Nord "
Has anybody been at any of their existing locations ? Any good ?
http://www.lemilsa.com/

[naturelle]

I purchased the livingsocial deal for Le Mas des Oliviers, but have yet to try it. Has anyone bought this voucher? What was the result?

[Michel_my]

Check the review:
http://jarredreviews.com/le-mas-des-o...

[SnackHappy]

The Tasso mezze deal is back. I bought it last year and was very happy with both the food and the service.

http://www.tuango.ca/en/deal/montreal...

[Michel_my]

Never been at Le Vertige but intend to try iy out at the Soirée Tapas on Tuesdays / Wednesdays. They have a coupon (didn't see any expiration date) for free martinis ..
http://restaurantvertige.com/fr/wp-co...

[Plateaumaman]

Here's a coupon for Bistro L'Entrepot which is apporter votre vin. I haven't been but am posting it mainly because they appear to have kangaroo on their menu:
http://www.vieurbaine.com/Deal/646

[SnackHappy]

Here's one that might be worthwhile. Dinner for two at Ridi for $79. I've never heard or read any raves about Ridi. People seem to feel pretty meh about the place. Nevertheless, if the price is right...

http://www.tuango.ca/en/deal/montreal...

[hungryann]

I don't know if others feel the same way but I have given up on these deals. I've tried several and they're pretty much a letdown. The restaurants don't seem to get that by pushing low end, crappy food for the customers of these deals, they are getting bad publicity at the end of the day. I guess they feel screwed by tuango, or teambuy or whatever site and they "punish" the customer. The only memorable meal I had was at Su and that was when the coupon craze had just started and it wasn't widespread. We actually got served the regular menu and the food was great! Most of the deals now are preset menus that in my experience consist of sloppily prepared and not fresh food. I'd love to hear if you have had good experiences and at which restaurants.

[SnackHappy]

I was very pleased with the deal we got for Tasso: $59 for a set menu for two. The food was very good and there was too much of it. It didn't include as many luxury ingredients as the sample menu that came with the deal, but it was still great. The other one that was really worth it was for Cocagne. It was just a rebate and we ordered what we wanted. Great food and service, terrible decor. I got some other ok deals like Portus Calle. It was a good deal, but I didn't like the restaurant so I won't be going back. The Andiamo fish bar deal looked good on paper, but the fish wasn't that good. A fish restaurant that serves so-so fish? I won't be going back, either.

The way I use deals is to check out restaurants I've already heard of and want to go to. I never buy something for some Johnny come lately mediterranean, tapas, bistro, supper club, steakhouse, tapas, fusion, molecular, tapas place because it will most likely disappoint.

[hungryann]

I buy the same way but I've been so disappointed that I've given up. I went to Panama and it was a bit of a scam, very little food and you can tell no care went into the preparation. I also tried Thai Grill and the food was very bland, maybe that's how it is normally but the service was also rushed and made us feel like we were not welcome because we weren't paying full price. the worst though was Phaedra, where we had been before and found it quite good. When, we went for the deal, the cheaper menu options were being pushed by the waitstaff and the food was barely edible. I won't get into details but it was so disrespectful. I wouldn't serve that food to dogs much less customers I want to impress. I'm Leary to try anything again, it will have to be something I REALLY want to try.

[SnackHappy]

I think some restaurants don't realize what they're getting into with those deals, but it's no excuse for shortchanging customers. On top of that it's bad business because it affects word of mouth. I feel lucky to have never a had a truly bad experience. I do still have one unused coupon for Brasseurs de Montréal so you never know.

[Plateaumaman]

I think it's not a bad idea for new places. I picked up a coupon for the new location of Qing Hua dumplings and also was happy to use a coupon at Hakata Ramen, where I ended ordering more than I might have without a coupon. If you know the restaurants are good, why not?

[Plateaumaman]

My Indonesian friends say this is a good, new place in the city to have Indonesian tapas. I haven't been yet myself but thought some hounds might like a discount when they try it:
http://www.groupon.ca/deals/montreal/...

[SnackHappy]

"Le Resto de L'Institut" What an interestingly misleading name.

http://www.miabureau.com/

[marblebag]

Pikolo Espresso Bar on Parc and Sherbrooke posted a sign they will give samples of their espresso on Saturday Feburary 25 as part of the Nuit Blanche event, from 9pm to midnight.

[TheSnowpea]

Looks like the old deals were deleted.

Anyway, I believe this place has gotten some positive vibe on the Board. This deal came in today.

$48 for a West African Meal for Two with a Bottle of Wine at Restaurant Afrodiziac ($100 Value)
http://www.groupon.ca/deals/montreal/...