Yum — Summer Restaurant Week Returns with $38 Price Fixe Dinners and $25 Lunches

Summer in the city doesn’t seem like summer without NYC Restaurant Week, now in its 11th year.

The tradition – a win/win for restaurateurs eager for a perk up during the slow season and diners hungry for a deal – launched in 1992 in time for the Democratic National Convention.

Lunches – the now standard three-course prix fixe — cost $19.92 at 95 restaurants, a salute to the year. From the start, hotel restaurants were in the mix. Three-course dinners joined the deal in 2002.

As for pricing, it’s often PR. From summer 2004 to 2005, the $20.12 lunch displayed wishful thinking – New York’s bid for the 2012 Olympics. In 2006 the $24.07 lunch trumpeted New York’s vaunted 24/7 we-never-sleep mentality. Dinners cost $35.

This year’s prices — $25 lunches and $38 dinners — reflect a small uptick but not a gouge. It’s still a sweet deal, available July 22 through August 16 (book now — tables get gobbled up quickly). Nearly 300 restaurants are on board this summer. Here’s where to score a deal at the nearly 30 hotel restaurant participants.

2 West at the Ritz Carlton New York Battery Park — Financial District

Abboccato at the Blakely — Midtown West

Ai Fiori at the Setai — Midtown South

The Americano at Hotel Americano — Chelsea

Blue Fin at W Times Square — Times Square

Café Boulud at The Surrey — Upper East Side

Carlyle Restaurant at The Carlyle — Upper East Side

David Burke Kitchen at The James — SoHo

DB Bistro Moderne at City Club — Times Square

Ed’s Chowder House at The Empire — Lincoln Center/West Side

Kittichai at 60 Thompson — SoHo

Lambs Club Bar at the Chatwal — Times Square

Lexington Brass at Hyatt 48Lex — Midtown East

Maze by Gordon Ramsay at the London NYC — Midtown West

Mint Restaurant at the San Carlo — Midtown East

Mercer Kitchen at the Mercer — SoHo

Monkey Bar at Hotel Elysee — Midtown East

The National at The Benjamin — Midtown East

Nice Matin at the Lucerne — Upper West Side

Norma’s at Le Parker Meridien — Midtown

Olives New York at W Union Square — NoMad

Pigalle at Hilton Garden Inn — Times Square

Shula’s Steak House at Westin Times Square — Times Square

The Strand Bistro at The Strand — Midtown South

Todd English Food Hall at The Plaza — Midtown West

The View Restaurant & Lounge at the Marriott Marquis — Times Square