Restaurant Week, the famous two-week periods where participating restaurants in one of the best foodie cities offer fixed menu specials at discounted pricing to draw in locals and others for multicourse meals, has come and gone, as it does twice a year in the City of Brotherly Love. The offers typically consist of $30 lunch specials and $40 dinner specials, all including three courses of the menu’s very best.

Since I have lived in Philly for college and now post-grad, I always make a point to make a reservation or two at a new spot or a favorite that is a little over my price range to take advantage of the $40 three-course meals. Davio’s and McCormick & Schmick’s are good ones.

This year I gathered some friends and made two reservations. One was at Panorama Wine Bar, where a few of my girlfriends from college and I met up after too long for wine flights and delicious food. There I enjoyed a shrimp and avocado salad followed by gnocchi and fresh sorbet. We also all ordered wine flights to pair with our selections.

My second reservation was at Mercato BYOB, a small, family-owned and -run Italian restaurant on the corner of a quiet street. This spot came highly recommended and certainly for good reason. Here I enjoyed meatballs, a chicken dish and tiramisu for dessert.

My calendar is marked for Restaurant Week again this fall, and in the meantime, I will be dreaming about these two Philly finds. I’m curious to know, what other foodie cities offer events like this?

— Haley Fogarty, advertising manager