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?

Give your dad or grad the gift of food!

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!

Top 10 Websites for Restaurant Addicts (Part 2)

This is a continuation from last weeks post on 10 websites no restaurant addict should be without.  So far I’ve covered Restaurant.com, Entertainment.com, Zagat.com,  Urbanspoon.com, and LocalWineEvents.com.    The next five websites will allow you to order meals for delivery, add up points to receive free meals, make reservations online, and get insider tips about the restaurant from the locals:

1. Vmeals.com - Can’t leave the office for lunch or dinner?
   You can order food online from several hundred restaurants in 33 major cities in the U.S.. First, you select a menu from one of their restaurants and choose items for your order. Then arrange for delivery and payment via their secure web site. Vmeals routes your order to the food provider, confirms acceptance of the order, then tracks your order and manages any changes. It’s that simple!
   Plan B: If Vmeals is not offering delivery services in your city, you can also try seamlessweb.com or ordercorner.com.
2. RewardsNetwork.com - Get 20% cash back when you dine
   When you join Rewards Network online, there are no out–of–pocket costs. You simply register a credit or debit card with them and use it to pay the bill at participating restaurants, bars and clubs when Cashback Rewards are being offered. After that, additional Cashback Rewards are automatically credited to the card you used a couple days after you dine.
3. Yelp.com - Real People. Real Reviews.
   Yelp is the new and fun way to find, review and talk about what’s great - and not so great - in your neighborhood and beyond, everything from cool restaurants to the latest bar or club opening! This is a great complement to Citysearch.com because many times it will have reviews for restaurants that are not included on the other site.  Bonus: You can also find reviews on everything else from yoga instructors to doctors!
4. OpenTable.com -  The world’s most popular website for making reservations online
   Over 90 million diners have used OpenTable.com to make lunch and dinner reservations at over 10,000 restaurants nationwide!  Not only can you make the reservations, but you can send email invites to friends and receive email reminders of the event that you booked.   Bonus:  When you join Open Table you are automatically enrolled in the “Dining Rewards” program.  You receive Dining Rewards points every time you make a reservation.  When you accrue over 1,000 points you can redeem them for $20, $50, or $100 Open Table Dining Cheques that can be used at ANY of the restaurants featured on the site!
5. Citysearch.com - Reviews and recomendations that include “insider tips” from the LOCALS
   Want to know the parking situation at different restaurants, whether it is “kid friendly”, or perhaps the best time of day to avoid a crowd? Citysearch includes these tips and more in the info section of each restaurant!  Plus it will direct you to nearby bars, hotels, spas, and theatres when you are done with your meal.

I know what you’re thinking…”But Diner Dave, I could find these websites using Google, so why do I need this list from you?”  And the answer is that I have actually used all of these dining and restaurant related websites every time I go out to eat.   When you are attempting to select a  nice restaurant for dinner would you rather sift through a random list of restaurant review sites based on a couple of keywords?  Or would you rather listen to someone that has REPEATEDLY used these websites and can select the best based on experience?   If you agree or disagree with my selections I welcome your feedback.

Diners: What websites have YOU used to browse restaurant reviews, make reservations, or find restaurant coupons & gift certificates?