Top 10 Websites for Restaurant Addicts (Part 1)

I’m often asked by friends (the ones who know my secret identity is Diner Dave) ”What are the absolute ESSENTIAL websites for someone who dines out frequently?”.    There are soooo many great websites and mobile apps available to help restaurant addicts that it was difficult to select my absolute faves.   I have over 300 dining and restaurant websites bookmarked and I’m STILL finding new and exciting ones out there on the net.  

If I had to put together a virtual swiss army knife of the “must have” websites no diner should be without these would surely rank in my top 10.  Here are the first 5, in no particular order:

1. Entertainment.com - Restaurant dining “on the cheap”
   If you are looking for coupons for restaurants in your area, the absolute best site to visit would be Entertainment.com. Known for 50% off discounts at local restaurants, they also offer incredible savings on grocery shopping, movies, major attractions, sporting events and more! All you need to do is go to their website, put in your zipcode or city and pay $25 to $45 to buy their coupon book. You will recoup the cost of the book by eating out once and going to a movie using their coupons. Important note: Once the book arrives, make sure you register the membership number at their website to print MORE coupons from some of their listed businesses.
2. Restaurant.com - Restaurant Gift Certificates in 55 seconds!
   This is one of my absolute favorite sites! You can see why in my post on how can save $303 in one week using Restaurant.com! The beauty of this website is that it ALWAYS sells $25 restaurant gift certificates for $10. Moreover, if you go to DinerDave.com and use the coupon codes I provide, you can purchase these gift certificates for only $4-$5 (sometimes as low as $3)! Just go to Restaurant.com, select your favorite restaurant in your city, purchase the gift certificate using the coupon code and print it right from your computer. Elapsed time: 55 seconds from restaurant selection to printed gift certificate. Pretty cool, eh?
3. Zagat.com - Restaurant Reviews for 25,000 Restaurants
   This is the best $2.08/month I have EVER spent! When you become a member of Zagat.com you get online access to ratings & reviews for over 40 Zagat Guides covering restaurants in over 99 U.S. & International cities.  And the best part is that these reviews are provided by actual diners like yourself!  You can access online menus, maps & directions and other useful tools to help you find the perfect restaurant, nightspot, hotel, or attraction.
4. Urbanspoon.com - Find a nearby restaurant online and on your iPhone
   You’ve probably seen those iPhone commercials showing someone shake the virtual restaurant “slot machine” to find a nearby barbeque joint.  That is the #1 reason I bought an iPhone!  Just so I could find restaurants in my vicinity and check out the reviews.  I’ve used Urbanspoon on my iPhone at least 4 times this week alone!  No worries if you don’t have an iPhone.  You can find restaurants in your area on their website too.  I won’t go into too much detail here because you can read more in my other post UrbanSpoon + iPhone = Match Made in Foodie Heaven!
5. LocalWineEvents.com - You want some wine with that dine?
   As most of you know, my background is in the wonderful world of wine! I transformed into Diner Dave by selling wine to restaurants across the southwest and southeast for over 14 years. LocalWineEvents.com has helped me in spreading the word about all the “wine and dine” events that I have scheduled. Local Wine Events is the world’s LARGEST food & drink calendar. You can find a wine tasting, wine dinner, cooking class, beer festival, homebrew competition, single malt scotch tasting - and more - in your area. Plus, you can sign up to receive email alerts about upcoming food and wine events in your area.