Downtown Dine O' Rama

You've driven past that certain restaurant, seen its ads, read the reviews. You're curious but hesitate to go. What if it's too pricey? What if you don't like it?

When finding time to go out, hiring a sitter for the kids, the cost of a meal with a tip, it seems "safer" to pick a tried-and-true restaurant that you know you'll enjoy.

For 10 days beginning this weekend, downtown Salt Lake restaurants are taking some of the risk from trying a new place. In the city's first Dine O' Round, 33 restaurants are cutting their dinner prices, offering special three-course dinners for $25. (You'll still have to pay extra for drinks, tax and tip.) Some of the lower-priced restaurants are offering dinners-for-two for $25. All of the restaurants will still offer their regular menus in addition to the special, so it's a good chance to browse through the menu and see what else you're missing.

There are no strings attached — no buy-one, get-one free deals with loopholes. No punch-cards or coupons that make you feel cheap. Just ask for the Dine O' Round special. As a sweet finale, all diners can enter a prize drawing for a dinner-for-two from each restaurant.

"We wanted to make it a celebration of downtown, so not only would people want to revisit their favorite restaurants, but also want to try new places," said Karen Olson, who is spearheading the event.

The idea is modeled after similar annual events in other cities such as New York, Washington, D.C., Seattle, Denver and Miami.

"After hearing about the enthusiasm and the solidarity that has occurred in other cities who have had a restaurant week, I started making some phone calls to chefs in Seattle, Miami and Denver about how theirs worked," Olson said. "It raises the spirits of the restaurants and the community, and year after year, it grows two-fold. Now Miami has extended theirs to six weeks, and New York City now does theirs twice a year."

She approached the Downtown Alliance, and with that support, invited restaurateurs to a brainstorming session.

"We wanted to find a time to hold it when it was still warm enough to walk around the city, and so the restaurants who have invested in outdoor dining could take advantage of it," Olson said. "We wanted to allow two weekends, but we didn't want to make it too long or too short."

Most cities simply call their event "Restaurant Week," but the Salt Lake group wanted a catchier name, so the term "Downtown Dine O' Round" was born. Each eatery will sport a Dine O' Round banner over its doors. Sponsors such as Muir Copper Canyon Farms, Squatters Brewery, Fetzer Vineyards, Broadway in Utah and KUTV 2 also signed on.