Last month, it was announced that Boston Restaurant Week, the bi-annual dining event meant to draw city dwellers out of their kitchens and into local restaurants, was going to take on fundamental changes before its 2014 premiere. The biggest change of all, of course, was the new name: goodbye Boston Restaurant Week, hello Dine Out Boston.
And with the new name comes a dismantle in the fixtures of Restaurant Week we’ve come to know. Here’s what to expect from the new Dine Out Boston, which will kick off this Sunday, March 16, lasting through March 21, then returning on Sunday, March 23 until March 28, giving us 12 days of special menus and discounted courses for both lunch and dinner from Boston restaurants.
Smarter price points
Previously, participating chefs and restaurants had to abide by previously set prices, determined each year. Last fall, Restaurant Week’s fixed prices were $15.13 for a two-course lunch, $20.13 for a three-course lunch and $38.13 for a three-course dinner. This year, instead of only three set prices across all restaurants, chefs will have more freedom in deciding how much to charge. Lunches will be priced at $15, $20 or $25, and dinners at $28, $33 and $38. Not only does this lend more power to the restaurants, but diners will also have more flexibility in what they’re willing to pay for the Dine Out experience. Wins all around!
More innovative meals
The new pricing method reflects a complete new structure for lunch and dinner during Dine Out Boston. For example, a fixed number of courses for each meal has been done away with all together, whereas previously, dinner was served in three courses, lunch in two or three.
This change once again leaves more discretion up to the chefs, which we can trust will lead to a better experience for diners (they are the pros, after all). Instead of fixed courses, chefs are left to whip up different meals for both lunch and dinner, before assigning a new price point to each. This gives diners more options, and also more accurately reflects the state of dining out today. More people are opting out of a structured appetizer-entree-dessert meal, and instead opting into shared meals comprised of tapas, small plates and snacks, which we’re sure to see a lot of on the Dine Out menus.
A positive sign of progression
As Restaurant Week chugged on twice a year, every year, people were growing tired of it. While the staple dining event happens all across the country, here in Boston, the concept seemed to have grown stale. Rather than something to be excited about, it was a necessary evil that the most savvy diners in Boston no longer bought into. The complete revamping of something that seemed set on staying the same is a positive indicator of a trend happening all across Boston. Just today, we learned the exact date when the T will run later, and that food trucks will be able to operate later into the night as well. The city is taking steps in the right direction, and Dine Out Boston is moving forward right along with it. We’ll cheers to that!
So now that we’ve dished out the whole deal, let’s get down to Dine Out specifics. Here’s a quick list of our favorite participating restaurants and their menus, so go ahead and start making those reservations on OpenTable, and stay tuned for more Dine Out coverage on BostInno.
All images via Facebook
