The first time I used restaurant.com I honestly imagined myself handing over a piece of paper to a waiter only to have him look at me cross-eyed. It's bad enough that I have a 50/50 chance of my debit card being declined, the stress of trying to pass a bogus gift certificate was too much. I was also apprehensive because the site is a bit under-designed and the offerings seemed too good to be true, but they aren't! You can typically, expect to buy a $25 gift certificate for $10 to a participating restaurant.

Images from Yelp.comThe coupons aren't just for the Health Department's shit list either. One of my favorite haunts is Wild Abandon Restaurant on SE Belmont here in Portland. If you didn't know otherwise you probably wouldn't drag your kids in the front door unless you were looking to score, but my funky friend Michelle took me there and we have been going ever since (often with kids in tow.) What I love about Wild Abandon is that when you walk in the front door, you're in their "Red Velvet Lounge", but you'll swear you're an extra in the movie "Blue Velvet" and Dennis Hopper is going to pop out and ask you if want a "Pabst Blue Ribbon" with your French toast. I (of course) think the ambience is goose-bump fantastic (including the faint beer smell from the night before) but the food is also delicious, the service is always great and they even have a sweet patio for the summer. But back to the point, they take restaurant.com gift certificates.

Couple of restaurant.com insider tips: Read the fine print on the web page when you are picking your restaurant; sometimes there is a minimum purchase or a particular time you can use them but other than that it's a geniune deal. Also, if the dog eats your coupon (that you printed out from your very own laser-writer) don't freak out, all you have to do is sign in and print it out again (and there doesn't seem to be an expiration period either.) Hopefully there will be a restaurant.com phone app soon and you can skip the paper print-out and get deals on the fly while you're cruising for a place to chow.

Update on Tuesday, October 6, 2009 at 1:47PM by Stacey K

Update!

Restaurant.com has a 60% off any gift certificate via coupon code "ENJOY". So now this coupon cuts $25 dining certificates to $4 and $50 gift certificates to $8.I know this sounds too good to be true but these work. I swear the reason they can do this is because they need generate more "buzz", I don't think they are catching on because their website really needs a little more polishing (maybe they should hire me!)

Portlanders, that means you can eat $35 worth of food at highyl rated Arista Restaurant & Patio for $14 plus gratuity. You can take your family out for $14!

Like I have said before. Restaurant.com's gift certificates are redeemable at local restaurants across the United States, not Portland! Most gift certificates have restrictions, like dinner-only or a $15 minimum. (Each restaurant lists its individual restrictions.)