How I Saved $303 in ONE WEEK Dining Out with Restaurant.com

How do I love thee Restaurant.com? Let me count the….SAVINGS!

First of all, it should be noted that I am NOT on the Restaurant.com payroll, nor am I related to anyone that is employed by Restaurant.com. I just happen to think that their website is the best thing since…well…RESTAURANTS!

Many of you know that I have been spreading the Restaurant.com gospel to everyone within earshot (or email-shot). I have used it many times to save at least 50%-75% off my meals. In fact, I use their restaurant gift certificates at least once or twice a week almost every week. Well, last week I decided to put the savings to the test and “kick it up a notch”. I dined out EVERY SINGLE day for lunch AND dinner for an entire week using Restaurant.com gift certificates at ALL 14 restaurants.

I’ve outlined my gastronomical journey below with the savings calculated in the table illustration. The savings REALLY added up in 7 days! I was able to save 43% and $303 for the entire week! Here is how I did it:

Step One - Searching for good grub!
I went to Restaurant.com and searched for restaurants in the Houston, TX area by zip code. You can also search by cuisine, by city or alphabetically if you know the name of the restaurant you are seeking. I had business meetings in different areas of town each day, so I searched by zip code. There were 175 restaurants in the Houston vicinity, but once I narrowed it down to the appropriate zip codes, there were generally about 2 dozen restaurants in each zip code. I selected 14 restaurants that sold $25 gift certificates for $10 and purchased them on Friday.

(Insider Tip: I saved even more by inputting a coupon code at checkout that further reduced the cost to ONLY $4! You can find the latest coupon codes by going to the daily deals page of DinerDave.com every week.)

Step Two - the EASY PART
I printed the Restaurant.com gift certificates directly from my printer. Easy, right?

Step Three - the FUN PART
I ate at 2 new restaurants every day for 7 days!  I never dined alone for lunch or dinner that week, so the restaurant got TWO new customers because of their listing on Restaurant.com.

Step Four - “Check Please”
Present the Restaurant.com gift certificate to the waiter when the bill arrives and it is deducted from the final tally.

Step Five - Bask in the Savings!
Add up the savings! Click on the table below for the results:

One Week of Lunch & Dinner Savings in Houston, TX

Restaurant.com Savings Spreadsheet

For those of you who want proof of the savings, I’ve even included a pic of the receipt from Monday’s lunch. You can see that the original tab was for $36, but with the $25 gift certificate the new total was $11.80! I generally tip about 20% of the ORIGINAL amount for good service so I tipped $8.20, bringing my total to $20. If you add the $4 I paid for the $25 gift certificate, then I paid a grand total of $24 for a $44 meal! Not bad, eh?

See the receipt here: Sand Trap Grill Receipts

So there you have it. The story of how one diner with a little forethought and a credit card can cut his lunch and dinner bills by 43% using Restaurant.com.  Not too shabby, eh?

Wanna know more about how to save EVEN MORE on Restaurant.com?  Check out 8 Tips to Save More and Get the MOST Out of Restaurant.com!