I use to use restaurant.com all the time. I could get a $25 certificate for as little as $3 during sales, but now they require larger groups and $50 table minimums. Usually the eating establishments are not so great.

a lot of the local restaurants i've looked into using restaurant.com on have had similar requirements -- some so restrictive that there's really no use in using the coupon.

I use them at home and when I travel. I also find that they aren't as good as they used to be. Some of my favorite local restaurants sell out quick, then drop from restaurant.com completely. When I travel, will search for places before and purchase if I know I'll have an opportunity to visit the restaurant. Also, I will purchase the cert at my hotel and use their printer to print it out.

I usually find an additional discount for that will get me a $25 cert for $3-4.

I have also had good success at getting certificates refunded (credit in my account) if I wasn't able to use the certificate. Once the restaurant/bar stopped serving dinner early (due to snow storm/low traffic) and restaurant.com refunded. Another time a local restaurant was closed for the week when I was traveling (Gone Fishing on the door) and I got the refund.

Just watch for the minimum purchase and days of usage (some exclude Fri/Sat).

Used them several times & they're great ^ Also wait for the 60% discount codes (as mentioned above). In another thread on FT there has been talk about the T&Cs getting stricter for some restaurants -- so read the fine print (as to the minimum food purchase required and what days of the week they're valid). They are especially great in California because there is NO EXPIRATION DATE

I think these certs are great. We use them often. I must admit we rarely dine out without some kind of discount. I must thank my wife for that.

And of course - don't forget that you can get airline miles, hotel points, or cashback in various programs for your (after coupon) purchases at Restaurant.com. My site has a full listing of current offers.

Just beware that the fine print always allows the restaurant to refuse the certificate for any reason. That happened to me once, at Drunken Fish in St. Louis, AFTER we got done eating the meal. I followed all the details, and presented the cert at the beginning of our order.

The manager refused the cert at the end of the meal because we had some items that were happy hour specials. He said happy hour was a "promotion," and that the certs could not be used in conjunction with any other promotions. My beef was that he refused them after we finished our meal. I would have liked to know this at the beginning, since we probably wouldn't have ordered quite as much stuff.

Restaurant.com customer service was unable to help us out, other than offering a free $10 certificate (min $30 order). Not satisfying, since I wanted a refund for the cert.

Otherwise, I've probably used a dozen other certs over the last two years without problems.

Sometimes you luck out when the restaurant also participates in rewardsnetwork -- that program is automatic, and the restaurant has no idea you're a member.

Maybe next time I'll order the certs through ebates or the aadvantage shopping portal for some more savings/points.

Another good thing is that when you buy certificates at restaurant.com, they may give you a FREE certificate as well (I just got a FREE $10 certificate, after redeeming a $25 certificate!).

I've used them before and can't say they were bad, but in my area most of the restaurants offering them really arent that great. I'd rather spend the money on a good meal even if it costs more. Just my opinion though

...guess i should call ahead

I've used tons of them. I've had a couple where the companies went out of business or stopped accepting the coupons, and Restaurant.com replaced the certificate with a generic certificate that I was able to use to get a new certificate for a different restaurant.

Make sure to read the restaurant-specific restrictions closely and research the restaurants. Many of their restaurants aren't that great and often the restrictions make it only a slightly good deal (rather than the great deal that it sounds like). There are some real gems to be found, though.

It can be a good way to try out new places, too. Even if they're bad, if you work the discount well, it won't cost too much for the trial.

I've used these a couple of dozen times, mostly for lunches. ($10 gift certificate for $3...with 70 percent off it's more like $1,)

Just a couple of notes -- if you give them your email address, they constantly send you the discount codes. Each month they reset, so there are usually no or few codes at the start of the month, and then a 50% off one later, then 70% off. I set up a filter to divert these emails into a folder so I don't have to be bothered until I want to buy.

Also, a couple of weeks ago I went to a restaurant that told me they stopped participating in the program in February; however, they said since I had bought it before they stopped participating, they;d still honor it. That seems fair to me. (And that was the first/last time I'm going to that restaurant-- I only went because it mean lunch for two cost about $7.)

If you ever find a restaurant that won't honor the certificate, contact Restaurant.com and they'll give you credit that you can use toward another certificate. It actually works out nice because even if you bought the unhonored gift certificate with a coupon, you can get the replacement any time of the month. Buying at the beginning of the month has better certificate availability but normally doesn't allow further discounts. They release a set number of certificates for each restaurant each month, and some of the best values and/or most popular locations sell out quickly.

I'm glad this topic came up. I was thinking of swapping MR points for restaurant.com certs. Looked like good value. I did not realize a $25 cert was worth $3.

Having gone to their slow site, I now see that there is exactly 1 establishment within 30 miles of home of office. And not one I'd visit.