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You Need To Eat This: Restaurant Week Winter 2015

It's here again! My favorite week for eating out: Restaurant Week!

Winter 2015 starts Monday, Jan. 12 and ends Sunday, Jan. 18.

I've had some amazing meals on the cheap during the past few restaurant weeks, and I'm looking forward to trying out some new spots this winter.

As I've explained in the past (if you're unfamiliar), it's often a great way to try pricier restaurants for less money – or try something you can't usually get at one of your favorite places! Most restaurants offer multiple course menus for around $20 or $30, but you can check the prices here.

Here are some places that I'm excited about and have a particularly mouthwatering menu.

Asiago's (North Shore) – MMMMM! I always love Italian food and this menu looks scrumptious! It's four courses for $35, including tomato soup, salad of your choice, entrée and dessert. The Tuscan chicken with herb pasta sounds fresh and delicious, but you can also choose from steak tips or pasta carbonara with shrimp. I have to say, made to order donuts is a clincher for me too.

The Wooden Nickel (Monroeville) – You had me at garlic chips. Here you'll get three courses for $35, including a zesty garlic chip-enhanced arugula salad, choice of jerk shrimp or sliced filet with truffled onions (!!!) and something called "beer-a-misu." I'm very intrigued by the last thing and I just went to a dinner that they partially catered with some interesting and tasty bites, like barley risotto and really fresh and flavorful beans and greens – so I'm super OK with their food experimentation.

Benjamin's Western Avenue Burger Bar (North Side) – This is a great place if you just want some exceptionally good burgers (Patty so juicy! Buns so fresh!) and a really good deal. Can't beat two burgers and appetizer for $20!

Nine on Nine (Downtown) – They hooked me with their blue cheese. Here you'll get three courses for $37, including salad, entrée and dessert. I mean, the Nine House Salad with blue cheese mousse and the Short Rib Ricotta gnocchi with smoked blue cheese sound amazing. But I have to say Chicken Provencal with Spanish olives, crushed tomatoes, rosemary and fingerling potatoes has me drooling. Maybe it just sounds so Mediterranean, it has me forgetting the cold and imaging myself relaxing on a warm patio in the South of France … either way, I'll take it.

Union Pig & Chicken (East Liberty) – Another really good deal. For $22 you get three courses, based on their daily selections. Even though there's not a hard menu, I feel more than confident saying you'll end up with some melt-in-your-mouth delicious barbeque. The sample menu also mentions a banana pudding cup for dessert, so I'm definitely in.

Be sure to check out the full list of restaurants here.

You can also check out my recommendations from the last Restaurant Week here.

What will you be trying during Restaurant Week?


If you love food too, be sure to follow Sarah on Twittericon1 You Need To Eat This: Restaurant Week Summer 2014: @SarahtheKovash

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