Eating out for less

[jfoofj]

We haven't been eating out much lately because my son has a lot of allergies and recently we have been doing food eliminations to try to pinpoint what we can and can't get away with (his allergies cause a condition called eosinophilic esophagitis which was making it hard for him to swallow). SO, I have been cooking a lot more at home to watch ingredients. But I seem to recall that a restaurant (I want to say the 99's) was doing a promo that kids ate free the day after a Red Sox win... not sure if they are still doing it or not, but I would have looked into it if we were eating out. And if the Red Sox were winning more! A lot of restaraunts near us are having kids eat free promos on Mondays or Tuesdays to entice people in at times they normally wouldn't eat out.

 

[LisaInNc]

One thing I started doing with 2 friends is we trade meals. I find that it's just as easy to make double or triple of a recipe. So I do that with my specialties and they do it ith theirs. We do it once a month so it's eating a great healthy meal at home without having to cook.

 

[lmountford]

One thing I started doing with 2 friends is we trade meals. I find that it's just as easy to make double or triple of a recipe. So I do that with my specialties and they do it ith theirs. We do it once a month so it's eating a great healthy meal at home without having to cook.

I think that's such a good idea.I just need to get myself organised with a couple of my friends who are excellent cooks.Not sure they'd like my offerings as much though

 

[spare+a_pair]

Looking at portion sizes works for us. We go out to a local restaurant and all 5 of us eat for $25, including tip. We order 2 large chicken fried steaks - they ea come with 2 sides, and a basket of rolls. This is enough to feed us and have leftovers for dad to take to work the next day.

I also have begun going to our Chinees buffet and getting take-out buffets. I can feed all 5 of us lunch for the cost of 2 take out buffets (about $14) vs $35 to eat in the restaurant.

 

[kydisneyfans]

Coupons, coupons, coupons.

Get on the email lists for every restaurant you may be interested in eating at. We get discount coupons via email for OCharleys, Old Chicago, Fridays, and others regularly. They also show up in the Sunday inserts often too.

We have an Entertainment book and a larger book sold by a baseball association that was great.

Another cheapie for the 3 of us is Mexican. Dinner combos are 7.25, kids meals are 3.50. Add tax and a tip with water to drink and the total is just over $20. That includes all the chips and salsa we can eat.

Just remember that many restaurants are franchised and may not participate in promotions. The Wendys in Lexington have .99 kids meals, my local Wendys 10 miles north does not.

 

[DarthKTrava]

We like Old Chicago - we can get out of there for under $20 including tip - if we just get a pizza for the 3 of us to share. DD is young enough that we can bring her own drink in a sippy cup and no one bats an eye.
I don't like fast food either, but sometimes we'll do those sit-down fast places, like Noodles.
I had a kid come around selling the local discount cards last week, but the deals were terrible. The card cost $20 but discounts were only like 50 cents off.

Someone at work was offering one of thoe cards and I passed. The only 2 places I'd go are work and Arby's. Not worth the $10 IMO as I don't eat at Arby's that much.

Most of the eating out I do is Chinese buffet. All you can eat for $10 plus drink and tip.

 

[TnTWalter]

Logan's Steak House Mon - Wed

2 meals for $13.99 plus kids meals $2.99!

 

[DisneyDevilz]

Never had a bad meal at flippers pizza in the cross road shopping center.....

 

[maleficentmom]

Logan's Steak House Mon - Wed

2 meals for $13.99 plus kids meals $2.99!

yeah,great deal as long as you can resist their 2 buck iced teas,hard for me,but i am trying...we also do our local Fuddruckers, 1 kids meal free per adult meal on Mon.Tues. Wed. after 4pm. Our local Arby's does free kids meals on Sat. and Sun. Our local Beef O'bradys does kids meals free on Tues.(but its 10and under only). When i get Arby's coupons, they have Beef and cheddar meals for 3.99...so a family of 4 could eat for 16,less if you got 3 meals and split one between little kids.we also use entertainment books and coupons out of the back of the phonebook.Oh,when you go to Arbys's always do the phone survey on the back of receipt for a free sandwich.

 

[alikat99]

My other tip would be to check into your local, non-franchised restaurants. Look to see if they have a website, and if they do, many of them offer freebies just for signing up for their online newsletter.

I got a Free Entree coupon for my local mexican restaurant, just for getting on their email list.

 

[Stitch And Friends]

Coupons, coupons, coupons.

Get on the email lists for every restaurant you may be interested in eating at. We get discount coupons via email for OCharleys, Old Chicago, Fridays, and others regularly. They also show up in the Sunday inserts often too.

We have an Entertainment book and a larger book sold by a baseball association that was great.

Another cheapie for the 3 of us is Mexican. Dinner combos are 7.25, kids meals are 3.50. Add tax and a tip with water to drink and the total is just over $20. That includes all the chips and salsa we can eat.

Just remember that many restaurants are franchised and may not participate in promotions. The Wendys in Lexington have .99 kids meals, my local Wendys 10 miles north does not.

I agree with this poster about getting on email lists. I get them very often from Ruby Tuesday's and TGIFriday's for buy one get one free entrees.

 

[boakl]

We went there a few weeks ago and this family of five ate for $25, including drinks and a tip!

Burger King and Wendy's have their $1 menus, we do the drive thru and skip the drinks. All five of us can eat for $10 (great for lunches on the weekends!)

O'Charley's has 2/14.99. Great for a date night or a meet up with a friend

Check the Value Savers that come in the mail. Mexican and Chinese restaurants routinely add $$ off coupons. We saved $7 at our favorite Mexican place the last time we were there.

We do the Logan's 2/13.99 and 2.99 kids meals quite often.

I also find a lot of $$ off coupons in RedPlum and other coupon inserts for the Olive Garden, Long Horn, and Logan's. The Spaghetti Warehouse has a BOGO on spaghetti and lasagna right now. I keep a file in my car so that they are always with me. Everyone makes fun of me with my coupons until the bill comes in and they pay a little less (I share my discounts with my friends instead of hogging them all for myself, I am nice that way!)

Huband and I ate at a fairly chi-chi restaurant in Atlanta last weekend (Goldfish) for $35 (including tip) by just ordering their small plates special (3/$15) and two cheap sushi rolls. Skipped the wine and stuck to Diet Coke. Plenty of good food to go around.

There are lots of deals to be had right now, just look and be creative

 

[FLBound11]

Good call on the email lists.

I know it might sound goofy, but I've gotten a few coupons recently from joining restaurants' Facebook pages. Last week, we got a free appetizer coupon from Uno's. Helllooo crab dip