So you've seen the daily deal websites that constantly promote merchants such as nail salons and spas trying to get you to get facials and massages. If it wasn't for the fact that it seems like these type of deals come every other day from a different salon or spa, it might feel like the right thing to do to get one from time to time. I guess it's because they are so prevalent that I can't force myself to buy them.

Honestly I'm kind of tired of the daily emails, but I endure them for the time when a truly good deal presents itself, even though it rarely comes around. One such deal did just that recently and I pulled the trigger.

I've been a foodie for a while, so anytime that a deal to a fancy restaurant in my city pops up I try to pick it up. This particular deal was to what many in my city consider to be the nicest prime steakhouse restaurant in town. In fact, it won 'best steakhouse in the city' in a recent well-read local magazine.

As most restaurateurs know, summer is the 'slow' season for many of the nicer restaurants, so I can understand why even the nicest steakhouse in town would want to do a promotion like this one. $30 for $60 worth of food and drink is a good deal for the steakhouse, especially when one realizes that the cowboy cut prime ribeye is about $50 and most of their appetizers and drinks are about $10 or more a piece. It's pretty clear that deals like these benefit high-end restaurants a lot more than they do the smaller eateries that can get you in and out with spending less than $10. Also, it's hard to 'up sell' a customer at a burger joint... there's only so much food available and it's mostly inexpensive anyway.

The prime steakhouse is locally owned, which in my book makes it even more special. Anytime I can help a local eatery, the better. The coupon said that in order for me to get the deal, I'd have to order a minimum of two entrees, so off to the steakhouse my wife and I went.

We split two amazing appetizers. One was several shrimp that were dunked in a ridiculously rich and delicious sauce. If I had been at home and not at a fancy restaurant I would have picked up the bowl at the end just to drink the sauce as if it had been the milk left over from that morning's cereal bowl! The second appetizer we ordered was the Caesar salad, which we split. The dressing was very 'sharp', but in a really good way. My wife and I decided that this was the best Caesar that we had ever had.

As dinner entrees, I decided to splurge and get the aforementioned bone-in ribeye. After all, we had a $30 off coupon! My wife ordered the live main lobster. They were both tremendously juicy and delicious... definitely worthy of 'best of the city.' For dessert, we split their signature bread pudding. It was drenched in a special Maker's Mark sauce that made it zing! It too was a masterpiece.

All in all, it was a terrific evening filled with wonderful company and delicious food. Enduring all of the spammy daily deal emails is worth it, especially if it means that I can have nights like this one once in a while.


Copyright (c) 2013 Eli Gali