The first part in this series went over really well and had me thinking about other ways that I pinch pennies. While one of the topics covered in the previous article was to learn to cook an amazing meal, which would be in place of dining out, most people dine out several times a month. It’s going to happen, whether it be for work, social, personal or just on-the-go reasons, we Americans love to eat out, here are 13 way to save money while doing so.

  • Use coupons. I’ve already shown you how to get the most from clipping coupons at the grocery store, but tons of restaurants put coupons in the Sunday paper and direct mailing as well. There is nothing wrong with using them, you shouldn’t feel embarrassed, you are actually doing the restaurant a favor. Restaurants pay big money to advertise in the Sunday paper, and even more money for direct mailing, which are those nice little envelopes that come once every few weeks full of discounts and coupons, or as a larger magazine style brochure. In order for them to know that they are indeed getting their moneys worth from the newspaper or company they are buying the ad space from, they need to see a return on the coupons. This holds even more true for non-chain restaurants, who often depend on a spike in volume will offset both the discount the customer receives and the cost of advertising the coupons in the first place.
  • Expand your horizons. Look for new restaurants opening up, both chains and independents, they often have sale items on the menu during the first few weeks or months that they are open to drum up some excitement. Yes you will need to try new things, get over it. You’ll save money doing so.
  • Be flexible with what time you plan on eating. Many restaurants offer a discounted menu before a certain time, usually 4pm, or they offer a lunch menu that is exactly the same as dinner but at 20-40% discount. This won’t hold true for your fast food joints, but with smaller restaurants who struggle with slow lunch rushes or mediocre afternoons, this is a great time to get good food at a lower price. One local chain restaurant offers half price appetizers after 9pm Sunday through Thursday, which tends to be the slowest time for them.
  • Choose the day of the week. Friday and Saturday nights are always busy, it is when people like to go out, unwind from work and the restaurant has the upper hand, meaning they are limited on seats and make most of their money. You will likely get better service and possibly a cheaper tab by choosing a day of the week when they run specials.
  • Avoid appetizers. Again, this doesn’t apply to fast food, but most decent restaurants have more than antiquate proportions of food and often include a soup, salad or both with the meal. Do you really need an appetizer fatty? Not getting one could save $6-15 off your bill and a few inches off your waist. The alternative would be to split one with whomever you are eating dinner with.
  • Take advantage of frequent buyer or reward cards. The concept of a business card that a worker punches a funny shaped hole in every time you purchase something has been around for years, you buy X number of something and get the next one free. This is free food people, as much as they suck to use, if you are a regular somewhere and they offer this, use it! Most common place for this is gas stations that have mini-marts in them with coffee and non-chain bagel shops. Subway did this years ago until eBay came along and started allowing unhappy workers to sell the little stickers for pennies.
  • Skip dessert. This follows the same concept as skipping the appetizer. Unless you really feel the need to indulge yourself, you will trim several dollars from your bill and unneeded calories from your diet.
  • Go to the bar. If you are of legal age, get to know what bars have the deals on any given night in your area. When I was 19 or so, I couldn’t wait to turn 21, not to drink, but to get in on the all-you-can-eat deals that friends of mine were getting at the bar for chicken wings or clams or whatever they had that night. Bar food may not always be the most healthy for you, but it can be good food cheap, especially if you go early in the night. Most bars don’t really start making a profit until 9 or 10 at night, up until that point they tend to be dead and supplement their booze income with a small menu, usually called a bar menu – go figure right. The kicker is, bar owners have become really keen to up the quality of food they offer and go way further than just cheese sticks and chicken wings. Many have created elaborate menus that rank right up with a good restaurant. One local bar has a dollar dozen clam night. $4 gets four dozen clams, $1.50 for a soda (I don’t drink at all) and I’m good for the night. My stomach might hate me a few hours after, but I’m mighty full.
  • Become a local. As a teenager, I spent my fair share of nights in diners until the sun came up, chatting with friends. Over the months / years of doing it, we got to know not only the staff at a few places, but the owners themselves. We’d get greeted on the way in, coffee on the table as soon as we sat down and usually a decent discount on whatever food we did end up getting. Now keep in mind, we would tip fairly well, for diner standards, as we’d consume a booth for the entire evening, but we’d almost always get something for free. Becoming a local also means you may have the opportunity to try out new menu items for free. Many places change the menu on a regular basis and value the opinion of their loyal customers, so they’ll front you a meal to get your honest feedback.
  • Find out what the daily specials are. Many restaurants offer daily specials, one main reason is because they got a deal themselves on whatever it is they are now offering you and pass the discount on. Additionally, this often means you will get fresher food, like fish (instead of frozen) and the chef might actually enjoy cooking it more. Restaurants with real chefs, which excludes most chains, get bored cooking the same menu every night, the special is often their way to try out new concepts and ideas and usually include fresher ingredients. Let them show you how skilled they are and reap the benefits of fresher, cheaper food.
  • Eat more chicken. Chicken is much cheaper than steak and far less fickle than fish. Chickens is also easier and cheaper to raise than cattle and significantly easier to catch than fish. Additionally, it is easy to get fresh, consistent tasting chicken in just about any part of the country (or world for that matter). If you live in the mid-west, I’m willing to bet that 98% of the fish you eat was frozen at some point. If a chicken option is available on the menu, chances are it will be the cheaper way to go.
  • Eat more vegetables. One step cheaper than chicken is vegetables and tofu. Vegetarian versions of many popular dishes are now available at an increasing number of restaurants, they usually taste really good and are cheaper than the meat versions. Give them a try, at least twice.
  • Try a food tasting tour. Many large cities often have food tasting weeks throughout the year. An example would be, buy a ticket for say $50 and it is good for dinner at 5 different restaurants for any entree on the menu, there is usually 12-40 restaurants that participate in the event. Most places have entrees that are priced from $8-18, so your investment of essentially $10 per dinner really gets stretched. Be aware that drinks, appetizers and desserts are usually not included. Why would a restaurant want to offer this? To get new customers in the door and give them a chance to show you what they have to offer, and hopefully make some more money off you with drinks and an appetizer.

Spending money when you eat out is inevitable, use these methods to minimize how much is flowing out of your wallet. There is nothing wrong with saving a few bucks on a good meal.

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