Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8330m/4.5.0.186 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/104)

Do you feel cheap when using a coupon and have you ever tried to hide it from other customers?

Hells no! Why should one be ashamed to save money?

Most restaurants which accept coupons in MY opinion are rubbish.

Coupons are like gimmicks, good restaurants let their food speak for itself they don't to provide incentives.

on the border-worst of the worst mexican
tgi fridays-bar food and junk
applebees-bar food and junk
olive garden-sauce from ziploc bags enough said.
chilis-bar food and junk
hooters-mediocre wings with trashy white broads

If you like eating at chain restaurants, sure use coupons.

Plenty of non-chain places have coupons - they just don't often come in circulars in the newspaper. I've discovered some fairly good local places due to both things like Entertainment Book and local coupon mail delivery.

sauce from ziploc bags? Really?

I've never felt cheap when using a coupon and have used coupons at very high-end, non-chain restaurants. To me, it's similar to using a gift certificate.

BTW, there are plenty of nice restaurants listed on restaurant.com.

I used to feel cheap using coupons in high end restaurants, but now - since i've been doing this for years - it's a matter of course to check if there is a coupon before we go out to eat!

I have to disagree. Many restaurants have realized coupons (similar to food "specials") will get you first time customers that could turn into regulars.

A "good restaurant" can't let their food speak for itself if no one has bothered to eat there.

I'm just wondering about the restaurant week participants. Obviously that's a gimmick so I guess their food is rubbish. I'll just ignore their Michelen, Zagat, AAA ratings and the reviews.

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8330m/4.5.0.186 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/104)

Michelen sells tires and AAA provides roadside assistance, what does driving have to do with this thread?

Michelin also publishes a well-regarded series of guidebooks - being awarded "Michelin Star" in one of the guidebooks is a relatively big deal for a restaurant (and two or three stars, an even bigger deal.)

AAA publishes similar guidebooks (although limited, AFAIK, to the US), although I've never known anyone to treat AAA ratings with the same respect that the Michelin ratings get.

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8330m/4.5.0.186 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/104)

Are these top joints giving out coupons? Are coupon customers the target market for these restaurants?

Depends on what you mean by "coupons"; for the one Michelin starred restaurant I've been to, it was under a published promotion associated with a local "art and wine" festival.

For that matter, several very well regarded places locally - although not, as far as I know, any of the Michelin started ones - have coupons in entertainment book.

Restaurant week is where restaurants have a prefix type menu for both lunch and dinner which allows people with a limited budget to enjoy a meal at an establishment which they would normally not go to or have been wanting to try. Amex sponsors it and provides restaurants with more visibility. In essence you are still paying for the food.


Physically using coupons and promoting your restaurant like buy one entree get one free is a gimmick cause there is no reason to give food away for free if its damn good.

*shrug* It's not really free, though - it's 50% off, and only if you buy two.

No kidding but you catch my drift.

If I was going to a local pizza joint had to buy couple pies for Sunday night football and had coupon, that is totally different story.