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Marc Vetri on Restaurant Week #PHLRW

Posted by Foobooz on September 29th, 2012

“RW is a short sighted way for restaurants to make a quick buck by lowering their standards, making one menu so its easy to turn and burn, while basically getting the same or MORE cost per head cover.”

– Marc Vetri back in January on Restaurant Week


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    This entry was posted on Saturday, September 29th, 2012 at 10:00 am and is filed under Deals, Food Nerd News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

    • Mr. Jive F. Turkey Sr.

      I couldnt agree more. The only place I go curing RW is union trust because for $35 I get an app, filet, and dessert for the same price the filet is on a regular night. No other restaurant makes financial sense to me.

      However, that is not meant to impugn RW. It fills seats, brings people in from the burbs and creates a good buzz, so on the whole it’s a good thing. I just know better :)

    • Contrarian.

      I am tired of hearing people complain about restaurant week.It is marketed as a week of less expensive dining deals to drive traffic and revenue pure and simple.The public knows what they are getting which is why hordes of people sign up.Yes certain restaurants may take advantage of the situation but nobody is being deceived into thinking they are getting more than they pay for.Dining out is not always simply about cost and deals.Some people just want to spend time with their friends over a meal and some drinks and restaurant week allows them to do so.

      Marc Vetri has too high a profile to be making baseless childish complaints like this.He has no factual reason to conclude that all restaurants lower their standards simply because they do 1 menu.Does he lower his standard at Vetri because he has a tasting menu only.The entire premise of restaurant week is that it lasts a week so describing it as short sighted is a little silly.Looking between the lines his real complaint is that because he does not participate in restaurant week it drives traffic away from Amis and Osteria during that week.Restauranteurs are all about money but if you make the choice not to be part of restaurant week, do not be a crybaby by trashing it because you make less money that week.It is called being a hypocrite.And a whiny one on twitter at that.

    • http://fuckfoobooz.com TeenSpirit

      @Contrarian let me guess, this must be the only time of the year you dine out? It’s people like you who make this hellish week less enjoyable.

      Welcome to amateur week folks!

    • Contrarian

      @Teenspirit.
      Let me guess you are a Vetri shill or greedy over entitled server.
      If you had a clue what you were talking about you would realize most restaurants actually serve their normal menu on restaurant week in addition to a restaurant week menu.kinda makes both you and Vetri sound Clueless .

    • don

      @contrarian. the entire reason for RW is definately what you are talking about by filling in seats and getting people to come out. what most people dont know is RW was started becuse of the poor Restaurant Economy during the month of September, specifically the begginging of that month. it gave CC restaurants a chance to capitalize during a time in which most restaurants suffer. Makes sense right? it made sense to do it then, at that time of year. to have RW week towards the end of septmeber and going into october is actually making profit margins smaller for CC Restaurants, due to the fact that october is when the busy season starts. it also is at this time of year because of a BS jewish holiday, which to me makes no sense because not everyone is jewish. (nothing wrong with jewish people whatsoever)
      Bottom line is this, if we do restaurant week, it needs to be during weeks where restaurants are not busy (I/E the first 2 weeks of september) not the first 2 weeks of the busy season. why a holiday affects this i dont understand because restaurants are open regardless. i dont think CC needs a restaurant week at all, its fucking center city, there are hundreds of thousands people at all give times, its the “neighborhoods” that deserve a RW week more to get people in the doors. Rw week also makes neighborhoods like fairmount, south philly, and west philly suffer bc people are gonna go to CC to spend money on a half assed meal.
      vetri is abosultely right in his opinion, that doesnt mean you have to agree with it or even listen, becuase i guarantee your never gonna to to vetri during RW anyway

    • Contrarian.

      @Don.
      I agree with your point as to timing of restaurant week although it probably is not a good idea to refer to anone’s religious holiday as BS.
      The question of profit margin is debatable because it is not in fact designed to increase profit margin as much as drive revenue.
      As to your Vetri comment and trust me I have nothing against Vetri but simply because you have a right to your opinion does not mean you have a right to prevent other people from calling you out on either the hypocrisy,stupidity or ulterior motive of your public statements.There is a certain elegance is shutting the F##k up instead instead of embarrassing public tweets about issues that are frankly not issues.People have the freedom to either participate or not.Nobody is being forced to do anything.

    • Omega

      @Don. A “BS” Jewish holiday? That’s real nice, I guess you aren’t Jewish. And thanks for confirming that theres “nothing wrong with Jewish people” I’ll send a memo out to the rest of them and let them know you said so. It’ll be a big relief.

    • good lord

      are we going to have to hear vetri’s grips about RW everytime it happens??? get over it already…move on

    • Anonymous

      Vetri makes more money on overpriced pastas everyday of the week and bitches about any opportunity for othe people to make some money. Dude needs to get over himself.

    • JA

      @Don, as you wouldn’t hold Restaurant Week during any busy seasons, why would you do the same when scheduling a promotional event (meant to generate extra revenue) during a 10-14 day stretch (covering 5 Jewish Holy Days and Festivals) when a nice chunk of your overall customer base is largely unavailable?

      Food plays a large part in Jewish tradition and during the High Holidays there’s lots of it, meaning leftovers and one more reason not to eat out during the this time.

    • Cheltenham Charlie

      Jesus. Go or don’t go, just stop fucking complaining about it. I hate crowds so a crap meal served to meet a price point will not entice this suburbanite to venture into CC for indiferent service. Pass.

    • Participating

      Charlie, Is the Church’s Chicken at 2385 Cheltenham Ave. participating? I’ve been waiting for their Fried Okra to be offered under $35.

    • m

      “It’s”

    • abigail

      overpriced pasta. right.

    • Livethruit

      As someone who works RW and has in all kinds of styles of restaurants,most of these people will never be back again. They look for the cheap eats, run their servers for sport and don’t tip properly. It’s a necessary evil in this economy. I equate it to Penn Graduation. It’s somrthing you need to tolerate!

    • Natalie

      I think it’s interesting so many people complain about restaurant week. I do know that there are some jerks out there who tip poorly or want a cheaper meal. Honestly, what is wrong with that? It is a rough economy. I would rather check out a restaurant when its a bit cheaper and I get three courses of their food to decide if I like it. Do I go to my regular spots during RW? No. I try something new and have been known to try a place during restaurant week and go back a few times after that and also recommend the place to friends. That is the benefit for the restaurants. Also, if restaurants don’t want to participate, they don’t have to (same as sips and beer week).

      As for tipping, a lot of people are jerks and don’t tip well when good service is given, but it’s just like center city sips. I on the other hand actually tip more during these types of promos (and also happy hour) because I have a little extra to throw my servers way. On the other hand I have had servers assume becuase I am there for sips (I rarely go cuz its so crowded) or RW I am going to tip poorly, so they give bad service. I tip adequately with those servers, but its there own fault. Had they tried even a little they would have gotten 25-30% and not just my standard 18-20%.

    • ChefBethy

      LOL Penn graduation! Most reviled restaurant weekend in Philadelphia short of restaurant week. RW is certainly for amateurs, but also a great way to try a restaurant at little risk. I worked in a great Philly restaurant whose RW strategy was to look deep in the freezer for leftovers! Voila! Restaurant week specials! You get what you pay for and I go out for RW only for fun, not for serious evaluation of the restaurant!

    • sue

      restaurant week sucks. why bother? I have been asked to leave on more than one occasion so the next res can be seated. Hello, can I finish my coffee and dessert first?

    • Jimmy

      I thought Restaurant Week was a myth.

    • barryg

      @ChefBethy how is it more fun to eat out during RW than any other time?

    • Zooey

      Just sharing–9/7/12, made RW reservations for lunch at Reserve (123 Chestnut St.) on-line for 9/30/12. Confirmation received same/next day. No problem. Attempts to contact them (party size decreased)via phone/e-mail unsuccessful. Received final confirmation on 9/28/12 from Reserve..arrive 9/30/12 for lunch to find locked doors…Surprise!!Place closed on 9/10/12.Really??

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