Dining Out and Gift Ideas for Dads and Grads

June is almost upon us, and that means it’s time to honor our fathers and celebrate the graduation of our sons and/or daughters!   Since I am a father of 3 beautiful children and a graduate of Florida State University (go Seminoles!) that makes me an expert in selecting the perfect gifts and planning the perfect day for your dads and/or grads.   Or, given my status as both a father and a graduate, I can at least give you some good ideas, right?

As you know, my website is all about providing foodies with tips and advice to enhance their dining out experience.   That being the case, I will limit my celebration and gift suggestions to only the picks that would satisfy the appetite of your dad or grad.

Plan a Special Brunch, Lunch or Dinner - and do it NOW!

Father’s Day is June 21st and graduation day falls on different days throughout June, so you need to reserve your table as soon as possible.  Many popular restaurants may be booked solid on Father’s Day or Graduation Day a couple of weeks beforehand.

Selecting the right restaurant

This is the easy part!  Just ask your dad or grad “what’s your favorite restaurant?”  and make reservations at that restaurant.  Or, if you prefer it to be a suprise, use restaurant review sites like Zagat or Yelp to research which restaurants have a special “Father’s Day Menu” (you can also type “father’s day menu” into google + name of your city to get some ideas).   Many times a restaurant will have a fixed menu available for special occasions or holidays and you will end up paying less than if you simply order straight from their regular menu.

If you’re planning a brunch, you should call a few upscale hotels in your area to see if they will be serving a brunch buffet for Father’s Day.  It’s been my experience that these types of hotels generally have a HUGE breakfast and lunch buffet on that special day.   Just don’t be embarrassed when your dad is loosening his belt a notch (or unbuttoning his pants) after an epic gorging!

Reserving Your Table

Once you’ve selected the restaurant for brunch, lunch or dinner, try to reserve your table for the earliest time available for your meal.   That should be 10-11am for brunch, 11:30-12:30pm for lunch, or 4:30pm-5:30pm for dinner.  There should be less people dining during the earlier hours and you will find that the service level is higher when your server is waiting on fewer tables.   You can make reservations through OpenTable.com, an online reservation service that will give you a confirmation number and notify you via email of the upcoming reservation.  You can even send a special e-vite to your friends through Open Table.  And, the best part

Paying the Tab

This is your dad’s special day.  Do NOT let him pay for the meal!  If you have one of those dads that always insists on picking up the tab, let your server know beforehand that YOU will be paying for the meal.   You can do this discretely by excusing yourself from the table to use the restroom and give the server your credit card before the first entree is served.   I would say that the same goes for the graduate, but when was the last time they picked up a tab?

3 Gifts That Will Make Your Dad or Grad Drool!  (and NO it’s not a tie)

1.  Pizza of the Month Club - You can send 3 Chicago Style Deep Dish Pizzas from Clubs of America every month from 1 month to up to 12 months ($25 savings if you sign them up for 1 year).   Not a pizza fan?  They also have clubs for beer, wine, coffee, and chocolate of the month.   The thing I like best about this “of the month” club is that you can sign up for just one month!  You don’t need to join for several months.

2.  Dining SUPER Certificates - These are sold on GiftCertificates.com and allow your dad or grad to redeem the certificate for gift cards from SEVERAL restaurants including:  McCormick & Schmick’s, Palm Restaurant, Bucca di Beppo, Chili’s, and many more!   What red blooded American male wouldn’t want a juicy steak from the Palm or McCormick & Schmick’s?   You can get them in denominations from $5 to $500!

3.  Restaurant.com Gift Certificates - Do I sound like a broken record by, once again, recommending Restaurant.com gift certificates?  I’m sorry if I do…I just LOVE buying $25 restaurant gift certificates for $10 or less!  You can even buy these gift certificates for $5, $4, or even $3 by using special coupon codes available here.   If there is a special promotion and $25 Restaurant Gift Certificates are sold for only $3, you can print 8 of these certificates for the price of 1!  Wouldn’t 8 gift certificates make a great addition to a Father’s Day Card?

I hope that you find these tips & ideas useful to you when you are planning that special day for your dad or grad!