Our trip to Portland last weekend afforded us the opportunity to try some new-to-us restaurants. Even though we visit Portland often, it’s not hard to try a new place since the city provides a wealth of great eateries across the whole spectrum of dining styles (food carts to the most elegant — and expensive — restaurants) and cuisines. What can be difficult is simply deciding where to go. Our choices last week were directed in part by discount deals we discovered on LivingSocial and Groupon. And by “we,” I mean my husband, Harry, who is the chief deal-hunter and coupon-clipper in our household.

If you haven’t checked out those two websites and the deals they offer, I urge you to do so. Dining deals are just a tiny portion of the special offers (with discounts of up to 70 percent on regular retail prices) from businesses offering services from auto detailing to dance classes, golf rounds to laser treatments. You can also find discounted tickets for theater, sports and musical performances and goods ranging from plants for your yard to roses for your Valentine. And there are travel specials for stays in city boutique hotels, mountain lodges and resorts as well as travel packages, sightseeing tours and excursions.

The concept is pretty brilliant for both businesses and consumers. For a small business just getting on its feet, it offers a broad venue to entice customers who likely wouldn’t find their way to that doorstep otherwise, a far wider and cheaper advertising ground than traditional media could provide. And consumers, like my husband and me, have the opportunity to try something new without spending a lot of our entertainment budget on an untried experience.

Since both of these websites offer deals in cities across the country and well beyond, they offer a resource for travelers who are looking for something to do or somewhere to stay or dine at their destination. It’s worth a look to see if you can’t find tickets to that hockey game in Vancouver or a sightseeing tour in London, or discover a great little bistro near your hotel or get a coffee deal or baked goods for a morning meeting.

— Patty Vanikiotis, associate editor/copy editor