25 of our favorite dining deals for fall 2023 Center City District Restaurant Week

Twenty years ago this September, Center City District Restaurant Week premiered with about 40 restaurants offering fixed-price, three-course dinners for $30. The promo ran six nights, and generated a reported $1.8 million in revenue from 36,636 diners.

That 2003 debut also saw squawking from restaurateurs in the Old City District, who had been excluded. But when the Center City District reprised restaurant week for a winter edition in January 2004, any restaurant from the Delaware to the Schuylkill and from South Street to Vine could opt in. It’s been peaceful since. Now the kvetching comes from restaurant employees, who must navigate the heightened volume.

Center City District Restaurant Week is back for nearly two weeks, from Sunday, Sept. 10, to Saturday, Sept. 23. More than 110 restaurants are on board for three-course, prix-fixe dinner menus priced at $45. Some restaurants — including Estia, Lacroix, Mixto, and Scarpetta — are offering $60 meals. Some have $20 two-course lunches. This year, the CCD has put together a digital cookbook of recipes from participating restaurants. Parking at some facilities is $9.

Nearly all restaurant week offerings reflect discounts from regular prices. Note that a $30 price tag from 2003 translates to $50 today, according to the U.S. Department of Labor statistics.

Here are some of the best lunch and dinner values, based on menus posted to date:

Amada ($45) gives you four dishes (a choice of two apps and two larger plates) and finishes with a tough dessert choice: the dark chocolate cream puffs or arroz con leche.

Amina ($45) presents a dinner dilemma after the flaming lobster bisque: Choose the plancha-seared sea bass over blue grits, corn nage, and brown buttered popcorn, or the smothered turkey wings with candied sweet potato hash, baby mache salad, and Cajun gravy.

Banh Mi & Bottles ($60) goes with four courses, with such dishes as papaya salad for starters, tamarind wings for second, the signature Obama bowl for third, plus dessert.

Bank & Bourbon ($20) has salmon salad with shaved asparagus, peas, mint, arugula, and green goddess dressing on its lunch menu, along with a crispy chicken sandwich and steak frites.

Bud & Marilyn’s ($45) offers such dishes as Nashville hot chicken buns for first, house fried chicken for second, and chocolate espresso pot de crème for dessert. There is a vegan option for each course.

Buddakan ($45) is offering a vegan dinner menu with some classics, including edamame dumplings and “dip sum” doughnuts. There also is a conventional menu with such selections as spicy shrimp bao bun and Chilean sea bass.

Chez Hansi ($45) has the Le Bec-Fin galette de crabe as an appetizer on its dinner menu.

Double Knot ($45) knocks $23 off its chef’s tasting menu, offering six dishes, plus soft-serve. (Other Schulson Collective restaurants — Giuseppe & Sons, Harp & Crown, Pearl & Mary, Prunella, Sampan, Via Locusta — also discount their tasting menus.)

Estia ($60), one of the premium dinner menus, starts with the grilled octopus, the lamb chops for second, and baklava with vanilla gelato for dessert.

Forsythia ($45) offerings include ora king salmon crudo, trout almandine, and peach melba vacherin.

Fringe Bar ($45) will put out snacks for the table, a starter (perhaps the extra-spicy deviled eggs or shrimp cocktail), an entrée (such as burger, fried chicken, cod escovitch, or crab gravy), and dessert; there are gluten-free options everywhere on the menu.

Gran Caffe L’Aquila ($20), starting with arancini and picking up with spaghetti carbonara topped with the house specialty bacon gelato for lunch. (The arancini is also offered as a second course on the dinner menu.)

Jomon Japanese BBQ ($20 and $45) is offering various “sets” for tabletop grilling at lunch and dinner; the sumo set, for examples, includes Wagyu beef, boneless short rib, toro brisket, gyoza, vegetables, and fried rice.

Lacroix ($60), whose dinner offerings include risotto with Kaluga caviar and chive for first, halibut with summer squash for second, and citrus baba au rhum for dessert.

La Famiglia ($45) takes you back to 1976 (the year of its founding) for burrata-filled ravioli with a light tomato and cream sauce and beef tenderloin stuffed with truffle porcini mousse, spinach, and Parmesan cheese in a red wine reduction.

Libertine ($45) is bringing out its sweet and sour meatballs (made with grape jelly and peanut butter!) and deli-style pastrami short ribs reminiscent of those served at the now-closed Abe Fisher.

Melograno ($45) opened up many dinner choices, including baked semolina croquettes for first, and plenty of pastas, such as cacio e pepe, tartufate with pappardelle, Amatriciana with bucatini, and fazzoletti in Muscovy duck ragu.

Osteria ($45) offers its chicken liver rigatoni, one of Philadelphia’s most admired pasta dishes, on its dinner menu.

Osteria Ama ($45) is making its restaurant week debut with a long list of red-gravy Italian dishes for dinner such as penne vodka, chicken Parm, and chicken piccata.

Oyster House ($45) will start you with four Sweet Amalia oysters on the half-shell, tuna crudo, or New England clam chowder, before giving you a confounding choice: lobster roll, crab cake, or pan-roasted striped bass.

Rex at the Royal ($45) goes Southern with a first course of fried green tomatoes and crispy pork belly, and second courses that include shrimp and grits and panfried catfish.

Seafood Unlimited ($45) gives you a chance to try the signature ahi tuna lollipops with sweet chili sauce, a surf-and-turf combo of tenderloin in a mushroom demi and shrimp, and the lemon square for dessert.

Spice Finch ($45) starts its dinner with mezze for the table and offers such starters as broccoli tabbouleh or chickpea wedges, followed by Moroccan steak frites, shakshuka, or little neck clams.

Twenty Manning ($45) offers hiramasa crudo, charred octopus, or a mezze of spreads, plus half-chicken, monkfish, or spiced cauliflower for second, and desserts such as rosewater malabi.

Village Whiskey ($20) will sell you a signature Village Burger and a piece of fried apple pie. Post-lunch nap is required.