Summer Restaurant Week 2012

[littlecmad]

Now that we know when it will be, who will be participating?
When you find a restaurant that will be participating, please post the name here and maybe when/how you heard they are.

I will begin with One If By Land, Two If By Sea. It's on their website.

Thanks!

[kathryn]

The list is up.

http://nycgo.com/restaurantweek

[cazique]

Are any of these well-known for particularly good (or, I guess, particularly not-good) RW offerings? I.e., anything to jump at or not bother?

[kathryn]

The better ones are the ones that usually have a weekday lunch prix fixe year round or something similar on the menu (Aldea, Maialino, Bar Boulud, Boulud Sud, Gotham Bar & Grill, Tulsi, Junoon, etc).

Are you interested in lunch or dinner? Are you available to dine during the week for lunch? If so, that opens a LOT of options.

In the past I've heard raves about Riverpark, Quality Meats, and Park Ave Summer. I'd personally say that North End Grill may work as well -- Danny Meyer restaurants usually do a good job when they participate (many of them no longer do).

See also:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/826552

[cazique]

Special occasion dinner on a Saturday night - doesn't have to be super fancy but should be good. Maialino came up on an OT search which, as did One If By Land (never been, only heard about it, but I guess RW Is the time to try it.).

[tex.s.toast]

im a little confused by your post but i just looked at the RW menu for Maialino and if it looks good to you, by all means, check it out, but its not, in my opinion, a place that requires RW to check out - its not cheap by any stretch but its pretty easy to get a great meal at not too much more than the RW price.

we had a celebratory dinner a few months ago for two that cost maybe 100 total (a bit more than restaurant week but not that much more) where we shared a few apps, split a pasta and they split a mailaino al forno for one - it was the perfect amount of food and, we felt, remarkably reasonable for the quality.

[kathryn]

Restaurant Week specifically excludes Saturday dinner. Call to confirm that you can actually get the $35 menu for Saturday dinner. RW is designed to bring in customers when business is slow (i.e. weekday lunch), not Fri/Sat dinner..

I would post a new thread with your parameters (exact date, cuisine preferences, neighborhood preferences, price you're willing to pay per person BEFORE tax, tip, wine/drinks (maybe you can go above $35?).

[ellenost]

I was dragged to Le Cirque for RW in the winter, and I was very pleased with the dinner.

[littlecmad]

I think Barbetta's always does it and I've always heard good things about them. I also love Orso's regular menu. I have done also done Bice, regular menu and restaurant week. They are always great! I have to compromise with my husband though so we'll see what we pick. I want to call tonight or tomorrow morning!

[benn2009]

Thanks for the link! You beat NYCGo's email, which just arrived in my mailbox.

I am curious as well as to what is and isn't worth my time and money during RW. I have an anniversary that is smack dab in the middle of RW, and would love to take advantage of the timing, but I always read about terrible service and sub-par food. I also have no idea how to pick one restaurant from the list...my pickiness and Yelp searching has led to just one restaurant seemingly worth going to - David Burke Townhouse.

[sgordon]

David Burke Kitchen is even better for RW. They offer a much wider cross-section of the regular menu as RW options - all the apps, seven of the eight entrees. Burke is one of the few restaurateurs who really does RW right.

So many other places offer menus of dumbed-down or blah dishes that they'd never put on their normal menu. As one example I pointed to in another thread, Cafe Boulud's RW lunch is generic bistro stuff like Trout Almondine and an uninteresting hangar steak, nothing with any creativity, nothing that you'd ever dine at Cafe Boulud for. A shame. It's like - why even bother having your restaurant do RW, then?

[benn2009]

I did notice that the Kitchen's RW menu is a bit more substantial than Townhouse's, but from the pictures the former seemed much more casual. Since it's a special occasion, I thought the Townhouse might be more appropriate. Also, Townhouse is a much more convenient location for us. I would love to do Barbetta for the garden, but Yelp doesn't really give it very good ratings during RW.

[sgordon]

True, DBK is more casual in ambience than DBT - the food is about equal at both, I think. There's also Burke's Fishtail - haven't looked at their RW menu yet, but it probably follows the same pattern.

[littlecmad]

Anybody know what Orso's or Gotham Bar's Menu will be? I have an interview on Monday so I am going to try to lunch somewhere. Any recommendations? I am not liking some of the menus.

[kathryn]

For Orso I might call and ask, sometimes the host can email or fax it to you.

For Gotham Bar & Grill, probably really similar to their regular lunch prix fixe.
http://www.gothambarandgrill.com/cont...

[hcrowds]

I know DB Bistro is participating. Someone that works there informed me.

[benn2009]

i just got an email from NYCGO with a link for summer RW (http://www.nycgo.com/restaurantweek/)... from what i can tell they haven't posted a list, just the dates. what gives?

[kathryn]

They always trickle the news about RW out in dribbles. It's a PR thing.

[littlecmad]

No email for me AND that link can't be found.

[kathryn]

You need to remove the ")..." from the link.

http://nycgo.com/restaurantweek

[littlecmad]

Thanks. I have seen that link already.

[kosmose7]

Again, less and less 'hot spot' restaurants are participating.

http://gonyc.about.com/cs/restaurants...

[deepfry7]

That's most likely the Jan 2012 Winter Restaurant Week list (obviously, a good proxy). It says, "Awaiting update for Summer 2012", at the top.

So, OP, there's no real other way to get the official list. You just happened to stumble upon a restaurant website that posted their participation and menu early.

[littlecmad]

Deepfry, I am trying to get others to post other restaurants participation. I actually found a few more yesterday myself. Like, Fig & Olive. Its on their website too. If you or anybody "stumbles" on a restaurant or happens to see one advertising or announcing their participation please post here!

[kosmose7]

I suspected that too, but I read this "Updated June 21, 2012" part.
But comparing with the Jan 2012 Winter Restaurant Week list, now I think it is indeed an old list as you said. I wonder what they have updated though. ha..

[jewelin]

Yeah I've become increasingly less excited about Restaurant Week because my recent dining experiences have been disappointing and uninteresting. I'd rather avoid the crowds and the poor value food.

[deepfry7]

Sign up for alerts from NYC Go, and if you have Twitter, follow them. They're really late this summer - not sure why they don't post it up earlier.

[littlecmad]

I already signed up for alerts but they haven't sent anything yet but some restaurants are advertising already.