How to Become a Philadelphia Foodie on a Budget

Believe it or not, restaurants everywhere are a huge fan of marketing, even the blend of digital marking that the home of the Google Girls, Results Driven Marketing specializes in. They employ all sorts of different campaigns in person and online to better their online presence to the loyal foodie community of Philadelphia.

The tricky part about restaurants using marketing is that sometimes the good deals are hidden from the naked eye. These restaurants are a regular business after all. They want consumers to focus on whatever they want you to buy at that time.

We’ve all heard rumors about restaurant’s daily specials are directly tied to the oldest food in the freezer. As an ex-employee of many food service establishments, I can assure you that is entirely untrue! I wish everyone reading this can see my hilarious wink/smirk/ twitch I displayed while writing that sentence because that is exactly what they do!

So why am I telling you all about the under-world of restaurant marketing; because I want you to break the system and get some real deals! I am a lover of all things food, but I also love when my money is sleeping soundly in my bank account. I compiled a list of my favorite “secret” or under advertised food deals around the city.

Loco Pez Dollar Taco Night

Loco Pez is the love child of a dive bar and a Mexican restaurant. Don’t fret; you can eat here if you’re not of liquor consuming age. This up and coming hot spot is cash only and located in Fishtown. But where does the deal come in? They developed a genius way to gain a huge and enormous social media following. Once a week at random they tweet that is it dollar taco night! The tweet causes masses of people to come in and save a few bucks. This is an excellent way to try different tacos or even have a cheap date. My order at dollar taco night is one shrimp taco, one carne asada, and I usually try their taco of the day!

Sampan Happy Hour Menu

Sampan is an uber-trendy Asian fusion restaurant in Center City. It is walking distance from several huge office buildings, including our office! Making it a convincing place to stop in for an after-work drink. Many places have a happy hour, but Sampans selection of cheap food that is offered 4-7pm EVERYDAY blows the competition out of the water.

The average price of a dinner off the standard menu is around $24. However, on the happy hour food menu, the prices are all under $4. You heard me right! You can try six items for the price of one dinner! Cancel your plans, grab a friend and check this out!

My order at Sampan’s happy hour is Hot Chicken Bao Bun ($4), Kim Chee Fried Rice ($4), and a Vietnamese Chicken Satay ($3).

Restaurant Week

Restaurant week isn’t a secret, but I thought I would throw it in here anyway! Twice a year around fifty different restaurants in Philadelphia sign up to offer three-course lunches for 20 dollars each and three or more course dinners for 35 dollars. So, as you can imagine, it is the best two weeks of the year! This is the time to make reservations to some of the more expensive places in the city and try different types of food. This past restaurant week I went to Fogo de Chao, a Brazilian all you can eat steakhouse and Davio’s Northern Italian Steakhouse. Both times I went with a group of friends, and it was a blast. You can find information of the next time this magical phenomenon happens here.

Trader Joe’s

A grocery chain may sound weird on this list but try and follow me on this one. I am obsessed with Trader Joe’s. Their food is typically healthier than other store brands. If you’ve never experienced a Trader Joe’s, you need to know that 90% of the products that are there are their brand. They are very selective in what they carry in their stores. Their high standards assure you that you’re getting real food at a meager price.

TJ’s is featured on my list because they have fantastic food that requires little knowledge of cooking. Impress your friends by swapping your boring boxed mac and cheese with one of their upgraded styles like Green Chile or Pizza.

They have out of the box culinary treats that are just a few dollars. Expect to find things like chicken noodle soup dumpling, or chicken parmesan “lollipops”. My favorite frozen food there is the Chicken Fried Rice, it’s only $3 and tastes better than any takeout I’ve ever tried. (Pro Tip: heat the chicken fried rice up in a pan with oil and finish it off with a teriyaki sauce)

If this little list of foodie deals peaked your interest, keep an eye out for an extended one in the future! In the meantime, if you have any questions on how restaurants can benefit from a solid digital marketing strategy, contact us at (215)-393-8700. We’d love to talk!

The post Google Girls: How to Become a Philadelphia Foodie on a Budget appeared first on Results Driven Marketing.