Analyzing Dine Out Boston, Part 6: $38 Dinners

This is the final part of a six-part series analyzing the offerings at this year's Dine Out Boston, the revamped Restaurant Week, which begins tomorrow — Sunday, March 16. 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, the $28 dinners, and the $33 dinners. Today, we conclude with the $38 dinners.

Here are all of the places offering $38 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: 49 Social, Artu Rosticceria & Trattoria, B&G Oysters, Beacon Hill Bistro, Bergamot, Blue Ginger, Boston College Club, The Butcher Shop, The Capital Grille, Clink, Erbaluce, EVOO, Fleming's, The Hungry I, Les Zygomates, Lucca North End, McCormick & Schmick's, Morton's Steakhouse, and Smith & Wollensky.

BEST BETS

· Marliave (Downtown Crossing): 28 options; save up to $21; high relevance to the real menu. For the best value, get the beef wellington.
· Umbria Prime (Financial District): 16 options; save roughly $6-$17; high relevance to the real menu.
· La Morra (Brookline): 19 options; save $10-$17; high relevance to the real menu. Includes four courses: antipasto, pasta, entree, dessert.
· Kitchen (South End): 22 options; save up to $19; high relevance to the real menu.
· T.W. Food (Cambridge): 14 options; save $17 if you consider that this looks the same as their typical $55 three-course prix-fixe menu; high relevance to the real menu.
· Sorellina (Back Bay): 11 options; save $22-39; high relevance to the real menu. Go for the ribeye for best value.
· Bambara (Cambridge): 26 options (the whole regular menu); save up to $14. A few supplemental charges apply, but basically you can choose three courses from the regular menu.
· Sofia's Italian Steakhouse (West Roxbury): 15 options; save up to $16; high relevance to the real menu. Get the sirloin for the best value.
· Tangierino (Charlestown): 14 options; save roughly up to $18; high relevance to the real menu.
· Bistro du Midi (Back Bay): 11 options; save $6-$23; medium relevance to the real menu.
· The Oceanaire (Downtown): 10 options; save roughly $8-24; high relevance to the real menu.
· Tresca (North End): 10 options; save $22-$36; high relevance to the real menu. Get the pork chop for best value. There's no dessert; the three courses are appetizer, pasta, and entree. The high savings assume that the pasta portions are the full-sized ones listed on the regular menu, but that might not be the case.
· Aragosta (Waterfront): 11 options; save $7-16; high relevance to the real menu. The restaurant also typically offers a similar three-course tasting menu for $45, so this saves $7 compared to that.
· Strega (Waterfront): 11 options; save roughly $11-$17; medium relevance to the real menu.
· Post 390 (Back Bay): 12 options; save $6-$17; medium relevance to the real menu. One option, the short ribs, has a supplemental $6 charge.
· Taranta (North End): 10 options; save $5-$20; high relevance to the real menu.
· Towne (Back Bay): 10 options; save roughly $5-$22; medium relevance to the real menu.
· Miel (Waterfront):10 options; save roughly $13-$23; medium relevance to the real menu.
· L'Andana (Burlington):9 options; save $10-$28; high relevance to the real menu.
· Mistral (Back Bay):10 options; save $18-$30; medium relevance to the real menu.

DECENT OPTIONS

· Lucca (Back Bay): 26 options; save $6-13; high relevance to the real menu. In fact, it basically is the real menu. 17 of the 26 options have supplemental charges, so keep an eye on what you're ordering.
· Tryst (Arlington): 21 options; save up to $7; high relevance to the real menu.
· The Blue Room (Kendall Square): 16 options; save $5-$10; medium relevance to the real menu.
· Zebra's Bistro and Wine Bar (Medfield): 14 options; save $3-$12; high relevance to the real menu.
· Bin 26 Enoteca (Beacon Hill): 10 options; save up to $14; high relevance to the real menu.
· Aria Trattoria (North End): 10 options; save roughly $9-$15 on a la carte options or $17 considering the similarity to the $55 three-course tasting menu typically available; high relevance to the real menu.
· Davio's (Foxborough): 8 options; save roughly $11-$21; medium relevance to the real menu. The menu is somewhat different from the first week to the second week of Dine Out Boston.
· Meritage (Waterfront): 6 options; save $25; high relevance to the real menu.
· Chiara (Westwood): 11 options; save $2-$8; high relevance to the real menu.
· Bistro 5 (Medford): 10 options; save roughly $5-$11; high relevance to the real menu.
· Haru (Back Bay): 10 options; save roughly up to $13; high relevance to the real menu.
· Empire (Seaport District): 14 options; save up to $13; medium relevance to the real menu.
· Artisan Bistro (Theatre District): 8 options; save $9-$16; high relevance to the real menu.
· Strega Prime (Woburn): 9 options; save up to $16; high relevance to the real menu.
· La Voile (Back Bay): 9 options; save $10-$20; medium relevance to the real menu. The three-course meal is preceded by an amuse bouche.
· Harvest (Harvard Square): 7 options; save $11-$23; medium relevance to the real menu in that no actual menu items appear, but the options are very much in the spirit of the regular options.
· Ristorante Fiore (North End): 7 options; save $12-$24; medium relevance to the real menu. Get the seafood stew for the best value.
· Grill 23 & Bar (Back Bay): 9 options; save $11-$26; low relevance to the real menu.
· Union Oyster House (Financial District): 6 options; save up to $15; high relevance to the real menu.
· Rialto (Harvard Square): 9 options; save up to $16; medium relevance to the real menu.
· Davio's (Back Bay): 7 options; save roughly $9-$19; medium relevance to the real menu. Menu changes somewhat from first to second week of Dine Out Boston.
· Top of the Hub (Back Bay): 7 options; save $11-$19; medium relevance to the real menu. They also typically have a $58 three-course prixe-fixe menu, but the options are fancier, so it's not a great point of comparison.
· Left Bank at Stonehedge Inn (Tyngsboro): 7 options; save up to $16; low relevance to the real menu.

GO SOME OTHER TIME

· Dalya's Restaurant (Bedford): 27 options; save $5-$15; high relevance to the real menu. Since it looks very much the same as their usual $39.50 three-course prix-fixe, you could also just try that another day.
· 80 Thoreau (Concord): 11 options; save up to $9; medium relevance to the real menu.
· Brasserie Jo (Back Bay): 10 options; save up to $10; medium relevance to the real menu.
· Chart House (Waterfront): 8 options; save up to $13; high relevance to the real menu.
· Boston Chops (South End): 9 options; save $8-$13; high relevance to the real menu.
· Zocalo (Back Bay): 8 options; save roughly up to $5; high relevance to the real menu.
· Max Brenner (Back Bay): 9 options; save up to $8; high relevance to the real menu.
· Sandrine's Bistro (Harvard Square): 7 options; save up to $12; high relevance to the real menu.
· The Fireplace (Brookline): 7 options; save up to $13; high relevance to the real menu.
· Bronwyn (Somerville): 7 options; save roughly up to $14; medium relevance to the real menu.
· Parker's Restaurant (Downtown Crossing): 6 options; save roughly $14-$20; low relevance to the real menu.
· Avenue One (Financial District): 9 options; save roughly up to $9; medium relevance to the real menu.
· A Tavola (Winchester): 6 options; save up to $8; medium relevance to the real menu.
· Lala Rokh (Beacon Hill): 9 options; come out about even; medium relevance to the real menu.
· Cantina Italiana (North End): 7 options; lose a few or save a few; low relevance to the real menu.
· Club Cafe (South End): 12 options; lose as much as $8 or save as much as $7; medium relevance to the real menu.
· Q Restaurant (Chinatown): 12 options; spend about $12 too much; high relevance to the real menu.

· All coverage of Dine Out Boston on Eater [~EBOS~]