Analyzing Dine Out Boston, Part 5: $33 Dinners

This is the fifth part of a six-part series analyzing the offerings at this year's Dine Out Boston, the revamped Restaurant Week. Refer to part one for details about the methodology of the following ranking. In short, Eater has combed through the options available at each price tier (lunches for $15/$20/$25 and dinners for $28/$33/$38) to determine the best (and worst) bets for Dine Out Boston based on three factors: number of options, rough amount of money saved based on the same (or similar) dishes on the regular menu, and how well the Dine Out Boston menu actually represents a regular meal at the restaurant.

What this ranking does not include: quality of the dishes or the restaurants. It's also possible that some restaurants will downgrade portion sizes, so while something might appear to be a deal on paper, that's no guarantee of what it will look like on the plate.

So far, we've looked at the $15 lunches, the $20 lunches, the $25 lunches, and the $28 dinners. Now, it's time for the $33 dinners. Check back tomorrow for the final installment, the $38 dinners.

Here are all of the places offering $33 dinners during Dine Out Boston. Several options have been omitted from Eater's analysis because they haven't shared their Dine Out Boston menus, regular menus, or both, or their regular menus don't list prices: Abby Park, Antico Forno, Aura, Beat Hotel, The Beehive, Flora, Golden Temple, Grande Cafe at The Emerson Inn by the Sea, The Met Back Bay, Petit Robert, Ruth's Chris Steak House, and Venezia. Additionally, Avenue One, Terramia Ristorante, and Umbria Prime appeared in the search results for $33 dinners, but their menus said $38, so they'll be included in part six.

BEST BETS

· Toscano (Beacon Hill and Harvard Square): Save up to about $28, choosing from 15 options that represent the real menu well.
· Quattro (North End): Choose from nearly the whole menu and save up to about $25.
· Bricco (North End): 15 options that represent the menu well; $10-20 in savings.
· Savinos (Belmont): Pick your choices from nearly the entire menu, and save up to about $18.
· Durgin Park (Faneuil Hall): Pick from nine options right from the regular menu, and save around $20.
· Mare (North End): Save about $20.
· Da Vinci Ristorante (Back Bay): Save about $17, but watch out for the two of the 14 options that have added charges.
· City Table (Back Bay: There are only nine choices, but you'll save about $15 and get a good feel for the menu.

DECENT OPTIONS

· Summer Shack (Back Bay and Cambridge): 15 choices, mostly from the regular menu. Save about $12.
· Artbar (Cambridge): If you order some of the simpler dishes, you'll come out with a bad deal, but go for the sirloin to save about $20.
· Trattoria Il Panino (North End): Save about $15 and get a decent feel for the regular menu.
· Bacco (North End): 13 options and $13 in savings, approximately.
· The Elephant Walk: Lots of interesting options available, but it's almost the same as their usual $34 prix-fixe, so since it's only a matter of a dollar, you might as well go some other time and save your Dine Out outings for something different.
· Red Lantern (Back Bay): Also 13 options and $13 in savings.
· Masona Grill (West Roxbury): Two courses; 16 options. Add sides for $5 each. Save up to $9.
· Grotto (Beacon Hill): Offering pretty much their standard three-course prix-fixe menu, which is available every night during all business hours for $38, so if you go during Dine Out Boston, you'll save $5.
· Zephyr on the Charles (Cambridge): Save $10-15 and get a reasonable feel for the regular menu.
· Blu (Theatre District): Save up to $20, but it hardly looks like the regular menu.
· The Metropolitan Club (Chestnut Hill): Save anywhere from nothing to $20.
· Legal Sea Foods (Park Square and Chestnut Hill): Save about $14. Some of the dishes resemble the usual offerings.
· Sportello (Fort Point): You'll save about $14, but the options are few, and they don't resemble the regular menu much.

GO SOME OTHER TIME

· Henrietta's Table: Pretty much the same as their standard $35 prix-fixe, available Sundays through Thursdays, so you can go almost any time (although you'll save $2 if you go during Dine Out Boston).
· Tapeo (Back Bay), Solea (Waltham), Kika Tapas (Kendall Square): These sibling tapas spots are all offering up the vast majority of their menus. Choose from a starter, two tapas courses, and a dessert. You'll only save a few dollars or come out about even, depending on what you pick, so you might as well go any day.
· Estragon (South End): And speaking of tapas, at Estragon you can choose from the vast majority of the regular menu and come out about even, so again, might as well go another day.
· Melting Pot (Theatre District and Bedford): Both offer about 30 options with lots of supplemental items available for extra. In Bedford, you'll have to pay an extra $15 for the best part, the chocolate fondue. Depending on whether you order the fanciest cuts of meat or not, you'll either spend a few dollars more than you should be or save just a few.
· Tremont 647 (South End): Save about $7. It mostly provides a good representation of the usual offerings.
· 29 Newbury: About $12 in savings, but it barely resembles the regular menu.
· Back Deck: The appetizers and desserts are straight from the regular menu, but the entrees are very simple selections. You'll only save a few dollars at most.
· Mija Cantina & Tequila Bar (Faneuil Hall): Save about $12, but it doesn't look like the regular menu.
· Nico Ristorante (North End): Save around $10, but it doesn't look like the regular menu.
· Strega (North End): Save around $10, but it doesn't look like the regular menu.
· Ole (Inman Square): Save around $10, but it doesn't look like the regular menu.
· Joe's American Bar & Grill (Back Bay): Save about $8.
· Amelia's Trattoria (Cambridge): Save about $8, but it doesn't look like the regular menu.
· 224 Boston Street (Dorchester): Save about $7.
· Papa Razzi (Back Bay): Save between nothing and about $11. It doesn't represent the typical experience well.
· Nubar (Harvard Square): Save $7-11, but it doesn't look like the regular menu.
· Turner's Seafood & Grill (Melrose): You're much better off going for the similar but cheaper $23 prix-fixe available on normal Sundays from 1pm-5pm.
· Gather (Seaport District): Two courses available. It doesn't look like the regular menu, but the dishes offered are creative. You'll come out about even based on comparable dishes on the regular menu.
· Anthem Kitchen + Bar (Faneuil Hall): Doesn't look like the real menu at all, so a price estimate is hard, but it looks like you'll come out behind on this one. Two courses.
· Salvatore's (Seaport District): You can save a few dollars, but the dishes offered are very simplified versions of what's on the real menu.
· All coverage of Dine Out Boston on Eater [~EBOS~]