America's Best Prix-Fixe Menus
Who doesn't appreciate a luxurious meal at a world-renowned restaurant? First-rate service, an innovative drink list and, of course, spectacular food all make for a memorable experience. The only thing not to love is the pricey tab at the end of the meal. Fortunately, many of the restaurants on The Daily Meal's list of 101 Best Restaurants in America have prix-fixe options that offer the hoi polloi a chance to try amazing food at drastically reduced prices. Here's a look at some of the best prix-fixe menus at some of the country's top restaurants. Now, the only thing stopping you from eating at these restaurants is the fear of an expanding waistline!
California
Ad Hoc (Napa Valley) — The three-course, prix-fixe menu enables you to taste Chef Thomas Keller's food for $52, a fraction of the price you'd have to pay at Per Se or The French Laundry.
Chez Panisse (Berkeley) — The Café, the restaurant's more casual iteration, offers a three-course set menu each weekday at $28, less than half the price of the restaurant's $60 Monday night dinners.
Lucques (Los Angeles) — Every week a three-course Sunday Supper is offered for $45. On most other nights, many main courses alone cost nearly $35.
Colorado
Frasca (Boulder) — The restaurant's Monday Night Dinners offer four set courses for $45. That's about $11 per course, an unbeatable value.
Illinois
L2O (Chicago) — The four-course prix fixe is $115, the least expensive of the tasting options the restaurant offers. Your choice from dishes like hand-cut tagliolini with lobster-uni emulsion and osetra caviar, and A11 Wagyu Beef with Maine lobster, fondant potato and foie gras-truffle emulsion.
Louisiana
Commander's Palace (New Orleans) — By ordering the Creole Luncheon at one of the Grand Dames of the New Orleans dining scene you can enjoy three courses of classic fare like turtle soup and creole bread pudding soufflé for just $32.
Massachusetts
L'Espalier (Boston) —This bastion of French fare in Boston offers a Lunchtime Degustation Menu for just $60. That way, you can try six courses, including meat, fish, cheese, and dessert, for little more than half the price of the nighttime tasting menu.
Radius (Boston) — There is a three-course lunch prix fixe for $30, which would be impossible to do a la carte. The menu changes weekly.
New York
21 Club (New York City) — Three-course lunch and dinner prix-fixe menus ($30 and $40 respectively) allow you to affordably dine in one of New York's most legendary restaurants.
Del Posto (New York City) — The three-course prix-fixe lunch comes with amuse-bouches and mignardises, as well as an outstanding meal — all for $29.
Jean-Georges (New York City) — Two courses at lunch go for just $32 (additional dishes are $16 each). That might still seem a bit steep, but it's a positive steal when you consider that dinner starts at $98.
Marea (New York City) — The two-course brunch menu means you can eat the famed lobster burrata and sea urchin pasta dishes for $42, instead of the $53 they would cost you at dinner.
Pennsylvania
Le Bec Fin (Philadelphia) — The Business Lunch menu means that you can have three courses for $35 or five courses for $55 at one of America's gastronomic temples.
South Carolina
McCrady's (Charleston) — The $39 three-course Market Menu offers excellent value and is offered every night of the week, featuring "products that are indigenous to the region."
Virginia
Restaurant Eve (Alexandria) — This upscale restaurant featuring sustainable and local food offers a weekend prix fixe in the bistro for $65 and a weekday "Lickity Split Lunch Menu" in the lounge, where just $13.50 gets you your choice of any two courses on the menu. With that many options, there is no reason not to enjoy this world-class food.
Washington, D.C.
Rasika — The pre-theatre menu at chef Vikram Sunderam's upscale Indian restaurant offers three courses for just $30.