Hi everyone,

We’re working on some great things at LG4D!

Our initial concept tests with eight restaurants and a website prototype were a great success.

We’ve signed up six more restaurants, and have many more in the pipeline.  Our current restaurant partners know that the service is a cost-effective way to win customers, and are almost always interested when Craig speaks with them.  If you’re a restaurant owner or manager and are interested in learning more about the LetsGoForDinner solution, contact Craig!

This success helped us to win additional financing, and we are investing it in a new site with more features which will be online in the next few weeks.  Here’s some initial screenshots of what we are working on:

With the new site, members will be able to more easily learn about which restaurants match their preferences and will be able to buy certificates more easily.  We have lots of additional cool features planned which will be arriving in the coming weeks and months. We need your feedback though — if you have any ideas or comments about what you would like to do when using our website, please let us know.

In the meantime, however, don’t forget our current site is still working hard, ready to serve you, 24 hours a day.  You can buy certificates to any of our award-winning restaurants any time. If you haven’t tried it yet, check it out!  Be sure to send any comments you have to feedback@letsgofordinner.com so we can learn what’s working or not working for you.

It looks like the Financial Times is once again casting around Vancouver and featuring the people and restaurants and this time it is restaurants.  It looks like Tojos, Gastropod, Epicurean Caffe, Yew, Havana, West, Vij’s and The Cellar Restaurant/Jazz  Club all were lucky enough to be featured by the FT and Wallpaper* City Guides congratulations.

We are steadly moving forward:
1) The flow of restaurant sign up has begun to increase with 5 new signings in the last 15 days, hurrah.. now to get them live – like So.cial
2) Completed our fund raising which should take us forward for a few more months… go Bootup Labs
3) Technical development continues with the ability to add consumers preferred new restaurants and restaurant sign up.. coming very soon courtesy of John… thanks John
4) We were mentioned in 24 last week as a way to save money when going out.
5) Almost 985 casual to fine dining estaurants in the database – 1000 by the end of the week and then we can stop 250 target restaurants

Busy with
6) Arranging a Restaurant event and confirmed the date April 15 and 28th. thank you Jonathan at macleangroup now all I need is the marketing packs with the invitation

Getting there

7) Hopefully will get the PWN charity cards on Monday next week, they have been very supportive

We wanted to offer our congratulations to Goldfish Pacific Restaurant who we are proud to say is one of our restaurants – Goldfish – won 2 categories – Best Service and Entrée

Congratulations to all the other winners Maurya and Don Francesco
All the winners are listed below:
Best Appetizer: Maurya Indian Cuisine
Best Entrée: Goldfish Pacific Kitchen
Best Dessert: Don Francesco Ristorante
Best BC Wine Pairing – Sponsored by the BC Wine Institute: Don Francesco Ristorante
Best Overall Dine Out Vancouver Menu: Maurya Indian Cuisine
Best Service – Sponsored by Visa: Goldfish Pacific Kitchen

After almost 7 months, I ran out of excuses and decided to make my first post on this blog.

I figured it was a good time seeing as we were just featured nationally in the 24 Hours Daily paper!  The article was about saving money while dining out.  Below are my tips:

You don’t have to abandon your favourite restaurant during an ‘economic pinch’.  Get creative with when and how you visit them and you can still dine out and support your local economy while keeping an eye on your dollars.  Below are some tips to get you started.

Tips to save money:

Dial and dine: Call a restaurant in advance to see what specials they are currently offering.  Most likely they have already started a program to encourage you to come dine more often.

Research the restaurant: Join “foodie” forums.  Every metropolis has a massive group of people who are passionate about food and restaurants.  It’s their hobby to go out and try new spots and write about their overall experience.  More often than not, you’ll find information on where the best deals in town are!  If none of the above works, you can always call the restaurant and ask them what specials are currently running.

Timing is everything: Avoid weekends.  Eat during off times and days.  Most restaurants will have weekly or nightly specials offered only during off-peak hours.  (i.e.: Lunch after 2:00pm or dinner from 5:00pm – 6:30pm).  Also, try dining Sunday to Thursday when restaurants are traditionally slower.

Food for Love: If you’re dining with your partner, try sharing a few dishes or appetizers, and then feed one another.  You’ll save money and have more fun!

Visit in groups: Visit restaurants in groups and buy as a group.  This approach allows for plenty of sampling of food and wine, but it also allows for savings.

Raise the spirits: If you’re going to have more than 1 glass of wine, order by the bottle to share, rather than by the glass; it’s less expensive.  And don’t be afraid to sample the house wines.

Don’t worry, be Appy: Take advantage of happy/appy hour.  Dining during these times will always stretch your dollar while giving you the same experience.

Culinary Capers: For people who can’t dine out often, you can add to a home cooked meal by picking up a few dishes from your favourite restaurant and re-create the experience at home by adding your own culinary delights.

‘Click.Save.Eat’ with the experts: Visit sites like LetsGoForDinner.com where you can purchase loyalty certificates to great restaurants at 50% OFF the face value.  We help our restaurant partners spend their marketing dollars on people rather than paper.

That’s it for now!