Better than a casino comped meal?

Even though this deal is no longer available, I’m sure there will be similar opportunities in the future. The next time I see a promo like this, I will make sure to write about it in time for others to use it.

We go to Carrabba’s restaurant occasionally. Carrabba’s is part of the Bloomin’ Brand food group which includes Fleming’s, Outback, Bonefish and Carrabba’s. These restaurants are located throughout the US. The food is pretty good and we like their Dine Rewards Program. 3 visits get you $20 off your 4th visit at Carrabba’s, Outback or Bonefish or $40 off at Flemings. They also run a lot of specials.

The last week of June they were running a double visit promo. They were also running a 20% off your total bill and a buy one dine in entree and get a carry out entree for $10.

We decided to total up the discounts.

1) We had purchased a $25 gift card at Kroger. In addition to the usual 20% discount we get there (6% for Amex Blue Cash Preferred and 14% for Kroger Fuel points), they were running a bonus on that gift for an extra 200 fuel points. 200 fuel points is worth $7.00 so the actual cost of the gift card was $25 – $5 – $7 or $13. This is multiple discounts but all related to the gift card purchase so I will count it as one discount.

2) Double visit. We save these up to use at Fleming’s Steak House, so each visit is worth $13.33 at Fleming’s. With double visit promo, this is worth $26.66.

3) 20% off coupon. As a Dine Rewards member, they send out periodic offers. This one is for 20% off your entire bill (so that includes the $10 take home entree). Our main meal was $38, so we saved $7.20 on the dine in portion.

4) Take home an entree for $10. We used this for a three different chicken dish entree that was $24.50. It cost us $8, with the above discount, for a savings of $16.50 off of the list price and $2 off of what we paid.

So, our bill was $48 and we gave a $9 tip. Tax was on the discounted price so that was $2.10 We paid $25 with a gift card for a $12 savings. We earned 2 visits worth $26.66. We saved $7.20 with the 20% off and saved $16.50 with the $10 entree and 20% off.

$48.00 + $9.00 + $2.10 -$12.00 -$26.66 -$7.20 – $2 = $11.24 . And for that we got 2 full meals plus soup and salad for my wife, a beverage, tax and tip. $9 of that was the tip so pretty close to a comped casino meal.
Some of the things we did were because of the discounts. For example, we wouldn’t normally get a meal to go. And the visits are only good for the $40 value at Fleming’s or Bonefish. Fleming’s runs enough deals that I value those at close to face value.

Now, you can argue the value of the visits and the value of the take home meal but this is still a very good dinner option on a 90 degree and humid day in Detroit.

I would recommend joining their dining rewards program. Carrabba’s also does periodic wine tastings that are a deal for $40. When we go, we get separate checks so we each get a visit on our dine rewards card. We will buy a $50 gift card at Kroger ($40 cost to us) and use that for the tasting, tax and tip. Net cost is $50 – $10 – $13.33 or $26.77 for a 4-course meal with wine, tax and tip.