Another month, another feeding frenzy.
The movable feasts known as Flavor South Florida and Downtown Delray Beach Restaurant Month are competing for your dine-out dollars all September long, and customers are spoiled with discounts — if you know where to look.
Flavor, featuring prix-fixes from 100-plus restaurants, and Downtown Delray, with 50 deals, join the fray of summer promotions such as Dine Out Lauderdale and Miami Spice to help prop up sluggish restaurant foot traffic during the slow offseason.
Both are bringing discounted multicourse lunches starting at $25 and dinners starting at $45.
Yet eagle-eyed diners know that some deals aren’t as discounted as they initially seem; customers might pay the same for their prix-fixe as they would year-round, depending on the restaurant. Given that, a few notes:
Our recommendations below maximize savings by selecting the highest-priced items.
Some restaurants cook up specialty menu items for certain promotions, making it difficult to compare against year-round pricing, so we’ve done our best to estimate. If an item below doesn’t include pricing, it’s unlisted online.
Each deal excludes tax, tip and service charges, so consult the fine print on each menu and call ahead to confirm pricing.
Below, we crunch the top bargains and recommend three Flavor South Florida and three Downtown Delray deals — plus honorable mentions.
Flavor South Florida
Boca Brasserie / Courtesy
Steak frites is one of the menu offerings at Boca Brasserie during Flavor South Florida, a dine-out promotion featuring multicourse lunches and dinners at a discount this month. (Boca Brasserie/Courtesy)
Boca Brasserie, 5377 Town Center Road, Suite 200, Boca Raton; 561-409-2376, BocaBrasserie.com
Chef Pushkar Marathe’s weeks-old brasserie reboot in the former Stage Kitchen & Bar space has come out swinging with an indulgent $49 three-course deal worth a detour. Start with meatballs with pomodoro sauce, ricotta and basil (typically $19.95), continue with an 8-ounce hanger steak and frites ($41.95), and end with a Samoa sundae with coconut ice cream and shortbread cookie drizzled in caramel and chocolate ($15.95), for a $28.85 savings. Too indulgent? Sub meatballs for roasted cauliflower ($15.95) for a still-substantial discount. The deal is offered daily.
Mike Stocker / South Florida Sun Sentinel
An eight-piece nigiri omakase is part of AlleyCat’s discounted offerings during its Flavor South Florida promotion Sept. 1-30. (Mike Stocker / South Florida Sun Sentinel)
AlleyCat, 297 E. Palmetto Park Road, Boca Raton; 561-353-5888; AlleyCatBoca.com
If your zen is sushi, try this $55 three-course special found down an alleyway at Boca Raton’s Royal Palm Plaza from chef-partners Eric Baker (ex-Rebel House) and David Bouhadana (Sushi by Bou). Start with spicy bluefin tuna handroll tacos (typically $18). Next, palate-cleanse with lamb yaki noodles with shiitake mushrooms, tamarind soy and red cabbage ($24), then switch back to sushi with an eight-piece nigiri omakase ($40), for $27 in savings. The deal is offered daily.
Michael Laughlin/Sun Sentinel
Steak is on the menu at The Butcher’s Club, chef Jeremy Ford’s 1950s-inspired steakhouse inside the PGA National Resort & Spa, during its Flavor South Florida promotion. (Michael Laughlin/Sun Sentinel).
The Butcher’s Club, 400 Ave. of the Champions, Palm Beach Gardens; 561-627-4852; PGAResort.com/dining/the-butchers-club/
Chef Jeremy Ford’s (“Top Chef,” Stubborn Seed) clubby steakhouse (golf, not nightclub) at the PGA National Resort & Spa touts a $65 deal as divine as its dry-aged prime cuts. Begin with tuna-coconut ceviche with fresh chili, cilantro and lime ($27). Continue with an 8-ounce heritage skirt steak with fries and chimichurri ($50), and wrap up with a double-chocolate brownie ($18) with salted caramel ice cream, for a $30 savings. The deal is offered daily.
Felipe Cuevas
Warren in Delray Beach is offering a strong Flavor South Florida menu. (Felipe Cuevas/Courtesy)
Honorable mention: Warren, 15084 Lyons Road, Suite 350, Delray Beach; 561-455-4177; WarrenDelray.com
Eye-catching chandeliers, wraparound backlit whiskey walls and a resident spirits expert, John “Fitzy” Fitzpatrick, make Warren an impressive space for out-of-towners. Start the $65 three-course dinner with chef’s hummus ($19), followed by an Australian Wagyu duo of N.Y strip and beef tenderloin skewers in a bourbon shallot demiglace. End with warm bread pudding ($5 upcharge). No Wagyu dish is priced below $80, so this daily deal is worthwhile. Another option: A $35 three-course lunch with Korean Fried Chicken ($18), char siu baby back ribs ($21) and bread pudding ($12) offers $16 savings — plus a free soft drink or glass of wine.
Downtown Delray Beach Restaurant Month
Gary Rack’s Farmhouse Kitchen, 204 E. Atlantic Ave., Delray Beach; 561-266-3642; FarmhouseKitchenBoca.com/delray-beach-menu
Restaurateur Gary Rack’s namesake farm-to-table sit-down offers more of a glorified coupon than a prix-fixe — and it’s the best deal of the entire promotion. Every menu item is 50% off during its 3-6:45 p.m. daily happy hour, which means, for example, if you build your own three-course meal of prosciutto and burrata on grilled ciabatta (normally $23), a choppy chop salad with goat cheese, brown rice and beets ($21), and barbecue short rib with smoked cheddar mac ‘n’ cheese ($38), that’s a whopping $41 savings off the $82 check.
Bourbon Steak by Michael Mina, 1000 E. Atlantic Ave., Delray Beach; 561-656-8070; BourbonSteakDelray.com
The Delray Beach cut of Michael Mina’s globetrotting steakhouse brand, in the posh Seagate Hotel, has a $75 four-course prix-fixe worth the splurge. Start with a free trio of duck-fat fries, then pick black truffle bread ($13), continue with gnocchi cacio e pepe with sauteed mushrooms ($26), followed by a choice of 6-ounce center-cut filet mignon or Verlasso salmon ($46 each), and finish with brûléed Basque cheesecake ($15) for dessert, for $25 in savings. This deal is offered Sundays through Thursdays only.
Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel
Classic hummus is one of the featured menu items at Amar Mediterranean Kitchen and Bar during Downtown Delray Beach Restaurant Month. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Amar Mediterranean Kitchen & Bar, 25 SE Sixth Ave., Delray Beach; 561-865-5653; AmarDelray.com
This Lebanese-inspired space with rattan chairs, olive trees in terracotta pots and artworks of Mediterranean singers has a strong $45 three-course dinner deal. Start with a hummus mezze ($15), pick Atlantic salmon with tomato relish, capers, sumac onions and Lebanese rice ($38) for your main, and baklava ($14) for dessert. It’s a $22 daily deal (or $27, if you count the optional $5-off wine or cocktail discount).
Mike Stocker / South Florida Sun Sentinel
Kapow Noodle Bar in Delray Beach is participating in Downtown Delray Beach Restaurant Month. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel file)
Honorable mention: Kapow Noodle Bar, 32 SE Second Ave., Delray Beach; 561-269-0960; KapowNoodleBar.com/delray
Good news: We like this pan-Asian retreat’s $35 three-course dinner deal. Bad news: The crushing weight of pineapple-Thai doughnuts might make your eyelids heavy afterward. Start with General Tso’s cauliflower with sweet shallots, chili sauce and black vinegar ($15), pick signature pad Thai ($26) and the doughnuts ($10), for a not-too-shabby $16 in savings. The deal is offered daily.
Dining and Cooking