As one of my passions is dining out, it is difficult in a tough economy to eat out as much as I’d like. That is why I take advantage of discounts and coupons whenever possible. And Restaurant.com allows me to do this.

I first heard about restaurant.com 3 or 4 years ago. I was looking for dining certificates on Ebay. I found that a listing for a $25 certificate to the Pleasant Peasant for only $10. I thought that it wouldn’t be a bad investment if it turned out to be a scam as many of these so called internet deals are, but it has turned into a very happy relationship.

Since that first purchase on Ebay, I’ve since purchased about 40 restaurant coupons from restaurant.com and been very pleased with them. It has allowed me and Glen to try restaurants that we would not ordinarily try at a fraction of the cost.

Here’s a secret a newbie to restaurant.com wouldn’t know: They sometimes offer discounts of coupons as much as 80% off. So, that means you can get a $25 for 2 bucks. That’s not a bad investment is it? I usually hold out for these deals when purchasing.

So, how does it work exactly? Does a $25 gift certificate mean just that, you walk in with a $25 credit?
No. If you read the fine print you’ll see that you are agreeing to spend a certain dollar amount based on the value of the certificate. So, if you buy a $25 certificate you must spend a minimum of $35 on food alone. Drinks don’t count towards your total. Many also state that you must order 2 entrees, so ordering 4 appetizers and then dessert may not qualify you to use the coupon.
They have other price ranges:

• Spend $20 Save $10 Lowest Cost $ .60
• Spend $35 Save $25 Lowest Cost $2.00
• Spend $100 Save $50 Lowest Cost $4.00
• Spend $200 Save $100 Lowest Cost $8.00

You’ll find that most restaurants only offer the coupons of $10 or $25. Not many offer the higher priced options. And I don’t think its a good idea to buy them anyway, unless you’ve dined at the restaurant previously and know you like it AND think that you will be able to spend that much money at the restaurant within the next year.

Once you select which coupon or coupons you want to buy you checkout. You can pay by credit card or Paypal. Shortly after the transaction is completed you’ll receive a confirmation from restaurant.com via email telling you your certificates are available to be printed. Don’t worry if you lose the email the certificates are still available in your account. You can even track which ones you’ve used and which ones you haven’t in your account. This is especially helpful to someone like me who has about 20 that I can use at any time.

The Website:
Restaurant.com is extremely easy to navigate. You can search by State, City or Zip code. This will then bring up a map of the metro area with different areas you can select and review the restaurants with deals by that area. So, for example, if you live Decatur, you would select the East Atlanta region which includes Decatur, Stone Mountain and Lawrenceville. Oh, yeh, you can also search alphabetically, in case you are looking to see if a certain restaurant is listed with them.

A couple things to keep in mind when buying restaurant.com coupons:

• The certificate is good for 1 year from the date of purchase. It’s funny how fast a year goes by, I’ve often found myself dining at one of the restaurants the day before the certificate expired.
• Keep track of the certificate number if you buy more than 1 per restaurant. I made the mistake of buying 2 at the same time. I’ve used and printed out one of the 2 and not sure which one I’ve used.
• It is always a good idea to print out a couple for local restaurants and keep them around in case you end up at that restaurant you’ll have the coupon available.
• Make sure that you buy the dollar value that corresponds the average meal cost. For example, if you see that most entrees are around $7, you are probably going to have a hard time spending the minimum $35 required to use a $25 certificate with a party of 2, so opt for the spend $20 save $10 option.

Mice Type:
Please note it is at the restaurant’s discretion when they allow coupons to be used and what the minimum purchase is. For example, a $25 certificate generally means you agree to purchase food worth $35. However, I had an experience where I dined at a fabulous restaurant, and since I’m no dummy, the very next day I logged back on to buy me another coupon. I just thought I’d check the fine print and guess what I found? The restaurant had moved up the minimum purchase to $50!!

Another time, Glen and I went to a Mediterranean restaurant and ordered over $35 worth of food. BUT we ordered the sampler appetizer and entree and shared it all – instead of simply ordering 2 entrees as the certificate stated. The restaurant refused to honor the coupon.

One experience I had with restaurant.com a couple years ago really solidified their value in my mind as a very trustworthy organization. What happened is that I had purchased a certificate to a restaurant (let’s say this was June). Several months passed and I still had not used my certificate. Well, apparently the restaurant had gone out of business. I received an email from restaurant.com in August letting me know this, and they said they had given me a credit for that purchase since I didn’t get a chance to use my certificate. I would’ve expected that I was just out that money since I didn’t use my certificate in time. Needless to say I was pleasantly surprised and became a pretty loyal customer after that.

So, are there any negatives about restaurant.com? Well…I guess if you twist my arm I could come up with one thing. They don’t explicitly say this, but somewhere in the fine print you are agreeing that the restaurant can contact you via email. I don’t mind this at all as it allows me to keep in touch with the restaurants and hear about any deals or promotions that they may have upcoming. But I know how protective we all are about our email addresses and this may be slightly annoying to some. But I’m sure there is an opt out in the email.

A side note: I know most people know better than this, but I have to say it anyway. Under no circumstances is it ok to use one of these coupons on a date. You will come off looking cheap, so just don’t do it.

Have you used restaurant.com? What have your experiences been like?

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