Pros and cons of Restaurant Week

To fully comprehend the juggernaut that is Center City District Restaurant Week, on now through Sept. 19, it helps to spend a few minutes plumbing the archive of Philadelphia restaurateurs' stream-of-consciousness - that is, their Twitter accounts.

See, for example, @BrauhausSchmitz, the handle of the German beer garden on South Street. In a few years, it went from defiant (Sept. 12, 2011, "Who needs restaurant week? You can always get 3 courses at Brauhaus for $35!") to remorseful (Jan. 23, 2012, "Alright restaurant week, you win. I guess we need to join next year. It is crickets in here") to overwhelmed (Jan. 20, 2013, "Restaurant week was tough tonight. Apologies to anyone with a long wait") to downright eager (Aug. 25, 2014: "Did you make your restaurant week reservation yet?").

The event, in its 12th year, has sprawled to a full month of discount dining days: two weeks in September and two in January, and 127 restaurants offering $35 prix-fixe dinners and $20 lunches. It has also spawned at least a dozen imitators in the city and suburbs, including three new ones this year alone.

But it's also one of the more divisive topics in Philadelphia dining, raising all sorts of questions: Is it actually a bargain? Or do chefs make up the difference by skimping on meals for cheapskates who won't be back anyway?

Here is how it works: Restaurants submit a $200 fee and a menu meant to reflect a $50 value to Center City District. The District vets the menu, requests revisions if needed, and then promotes it incessantly via brochures and e-mail.

For many restaurateurs, the upsides - an instant boom in business and an introduction to new customers - outweigh the hassles, which include staffing challenges and lower margins. But other chefs, and some diners, gripe that the promotion, involving larger-than-average crowds and lower-than-average tips, is the perfect storm for dining disappointment.

It's worth the risk to Brad Histand, general manager of Bistrot La Minette in Queen Village. It will double its normal business almost every night during Restaurant Week.

"It's like Saturday night every night for 14 days straight," said Histand. The restaurant is in overdrive for the next week, with nine workers instead of five in the front of house, and the kitchen staff on overtime.

Histand planned extra-delicious staff meals to boost morale.

For restaurateurs such as Michael Schulson of Sampan, it's a way of bringing in diners who might be wary of the upscale small-plates menu.

"Restaurants are intimidating places," he said. "For someone to go in there and know they're only committing $35, they can get comfortable."

Valerie Safran, co-owner of Little Nonna's, Lolita, Barbuzzo, and Jamonera on 13th Street, said that participating was about the long game: building her customer base. Not that she loses money on the discount. "The volume trumps all of that," she said. "The first, second, and third seatings are all full." Normally, her places slow down after 8 on weeknights. This week, they'll be full from 5 to 10:30 p.m.

It's a win-win for restaurants and customers, said Schulson. "But if they don't have a good experience, you win for a couple minutes because you're getting the sales, but at the end of the day you lose because you're pissing people off."

Indeed, Restaurant Week disappointment stories have almost become their own genre among foodies.

Anthony Gil, a lawyer who dines out most nights, notices a definite difference in meals during Restaurant Week.

"Often, the steak is not done the way you want it done, the sides don't taste as good. You can tell that they're prepared in a hurry. Most restaurants tend to not do Restaurant Week right, in my opinion, because they tend to just produce for the masses," he said. "And when you lower the price and the waiters get tipped less, it shows in their attitude."

He added, "There's a little saying my friends and I have during Restaurant Week: 'Let's go somewhere else.' "

They have plenty of options - for example, any one of Marc Vetri's five restaurants. Vetri is an outspoken skeptic, though he knows participating could mean a cash infusion.

"Places are mobbed," he said. "And then restaurateurs would say to me, 'This is awesome. The check average is actually higher because they're spending more money on wine, because they think that they're getting this awesome deal.' "

But he thinks joining would mean lowering his standards: "You're going to have to turn the tables faster. And two weeks of that, in and out, in and out - you're not offering your best."

Konstantinos Pitsillides, chef at Kanella, refuses to join for similar reasons. He has noticed that the list of restaurants includes many where check averages are normally below $35. "For them, the average spent is going to go up with fewer choices, cheaper ingredients. It's scoop and go."

Indeed, more affordable restaurants - places like Devil's Alley or Smokin' Betty's, where generous-size entrées are less than $20 - are now serving stomach-stretching meals of four or even five courses to approximate the recommended $50 value.

Pitsillides takes a different approach, stepping up his specials during Restaurant Week, with an emphasis on head-to-tail cooking. "If somebody wants to come in and impress their girlfriend," he advises, "they can order the lamb testicles."

It's the opposite, in other words, of the Restaurant Week stereotype: That is, 50 shades of salmon.

"I do wonder where they get all the salmon and chicken," mused Ed Hackett, managing partner of Pub & Kitchen and Fitler Dining Room. The two restaurants are participating for the first time (with not a salmon filet in sight: Pub & Kitchen highlights include a wagyu bavette with a potato croquette, romesco, and runner beans).

Hackett knows it can be hard on the staff. In fact, Pub & Kitchen offers a late-night "industry-relief" happy hour during Restaurant Week: a beer, six oysters, and a burger for $20.

But business was just slow during Restaurant Week when he wasn't participating.

"You almost have to do it at this point," he said, "because so many restaurants are participating now."

Center City District estimates that the event attracts 175,000 diners and generates $10 million in sales.

That's despite growing competition.

For example, Sept. 22-28 is Main Line Restaurant Week, featuring about 20 eateries recruited by Sarah Lockard of AroundMainLine.com. While Center City District has adhered to its $35-dinner formula, Lockard has opted for flexibility: Menus range from $10 (Honeygrow) to $50 (White Dog Wayne), and offer at least 15 percent savings.

Some of Lockard's clients are also joining Conshohocken Restaurant Week, Sept. 15-21, run by Kevin Tierney of MoreThanTheCurve.com. He tried to select a date without competing events, but ended up overlapping with Center City. He said the conflict was inevitable.

"Everyone's doing restaurant weeks now," he added. "There's never a free week."

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