Smoking Ban May Now Include Your Apartment
Access-A-Ride Nailed by Local News
Giuliani Livid Over Bringing 9/11 Trials to NYC
House Cat Terrorizes Family In Dramatic Hostage Situation
Oreo The Dog Is Dead, Blame Game Is Not
Gothamist has a hard time resisting New York City's gustatory delights. And if there is a discount involved too, resistance is completely futile. So, we can't decide if learning about The Diner's Deck is a blessing for our palates and pocketbooks - or a curse on our waistlines.
Costing a mere $29.95, Diner's Deck is a set of 52 "playing cards," each card featuring the lowdown on a swank restaurant, along with a $10 coupon towards a meal. Paying for a coupon? Sounded fishy to us at first too. But, once we did the math - $10 x 52 = $520 - and deducted our outlay, we came up with a total savings of $490.05. (Every nickel counts!)
Savings aside, food is always paramount for the New York foodie. And, with 52 restaurants not being nearly enough to sate any self-respecting chow aficionado, the folks behind this nifty thrifty product offer several versions of the deck based on your neighborhood locale. If say, you live on the West Village, your 2005 "Downtown West" Diner's Deck would offer discounts on local hot boîtes like The Spotted Pig, The Blue Mill and August.
And, though the company has yet to go city-wide, with decks for Uptown Manhattan and Brooklyn still on the horizon, it seems that these gourmet gambling goodies are already catching the eye of wedding planners and the like. One member of the Gothamist staff spied Diner's Deck cards as table give-aways at the nuptials of a New York couple. Could inclusion in holiday gift baskets be far behind?
The Diner's Deck is available at several retail locations, including:
Shakespeare & Co. Booksellers
716 Broadway (at Washington Place)
(212) 529-1330
Kate’s Paperie
561 Broadway (btwn Prince & Spring)
(212) 941-9816
Kate’s Paperie
8 West 13th St (at 5th Ave)
(212) 633-0570
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
tweet this
post to facebook
It's tough work dining at a different new restaurant every week for a year (the kind of problem I wish I had), but once you use three coupons ($10 x 3 = $30) the purchase has paid for itself!
And even better, the deck forces you to try restaurants you've never been to before.
I have used a similar coupon book (on a smaller scale, in Portland ME)- I recommend checking the fine print before you go out. In my experience, the restaurants have restrictions on how the $10 coupon works- days-of-the-week restrictions, you must buy another entree of equal or greater value, certain meals excluded, etc.
This is a cool idea, but it also reminds me of those "Entertainment" coupon books that were all the rage in the early 90s - free meal if you get two, half off, etc...
I know retail when I see it, and you spelled it wrong. Get it right buster!
They're selling off the 2004 decks on their website for $10. Use just one and make your money back! But be quick because they expire on 12-31-04. www.cityshuffle.com
I am having horrible flashbacks at the mention of the 'entertainment book.' My mom used to get those and would then plan her life around using the coupons. Whenever I left the house she would be chasing me with coupons from that thing, shouting "Why don't you eat at this place?! I have a coupon! It's going to expire!"
I would rather eat chalk than use a coupon at a restaurant, but if you are less dependent on other people's opinions than I am: Please remember to tip on the entire cost of the meal. (And I am not now, nor have I ever been a waitperson. It's just on my mind what with that Britney Spears nontipping tattoo debacle.)
I bought the Lower East Side Deck at a street fair this summer. I like it because sometimes when I feel like trying something new I'll just flip through and fins something that looks good. It's cool because I'm trying new restaurants I wouldn't have found otherwise.