Hey, it’s the Orlando Weekly’s Restaurant Week, which historically runs for nine days. That’s my kind of week, except when it takes eight days to get to the weekend.

But this week actually started yesterday, May 3, a Thursday, so it incorporates one and a half weekends. Even better, the nine day run gives you extra time to sample the good-deal menus offered by participating restaurants.

And there are some dandy deals, from what I can see. 

One of the things I like about the Weekly’s Restaurant Week, besides that it isn’t confined to just a week, is that it offers a variety of menus at different price points. This year there are $10 and $15 options for lunch and dinner, and there are $25 and $35 dinner-only deals.

At the top of the list, in the $35 dinner category, are such places as K restaurant, several steakhouses (Morton’s, Fleming’s, the Capital Grille, and, one of my favorites, Spencer’s for Steaks and Chops) and the Oceanaire Seafood Room. (The Oceanaire was the site of a Scott Joseph’s Supper Club earlier this week; I’ll have a wrap-up about the dinner soon, but let me just give you a hint about how it went — take advantage of this deal!)

At the other end of the spectrum, in the $10 dinner slot, you’ll find, among others, Blackwater Bar-b-q, Pine Twenty2, Virgin Olive Market and the Nou. (The Nou is new, and I’ll have a review early next week. A hint on this one? Yeah, 10 bucks is about right.)

Also in the $10 dinner category, something even newer than Nou: you can get a dinner deal at one of four Food Truck Bazaars sponsored by TheDailyCity.com. The bazaars don’t run the full week, and you won’t find out which trucks are participating until the day of the event, but I like the outside-box thinking on this one and the attempt to bring the food truckers into the fray.

Other restaurants include Maxine’s on Shine, Cricketer’s Arms Pub, 310 Restaurants, the Rusty Spoon and Urban Flats.

Here’s a link to the orlandorestaurantweek.com website (which is a bit clunky to navigate and features white and red lettering on a dark background, a challenge to the eyeballs) where you can find the various restaurants and more information on menus. 

One caveat: when you visit one of the participating restaurants, be sure to ask for the Restaurant Week menu, otherwise it may not be offered.

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