From conversations with neighbors in the elevator as well as with friends around my dining room table, I know that the state of the economy has forced many folks to reduced or, in some cases, erased their budget for restaurant meals. Restaurants across the country are feeling the pinch as we tighten our belts and eat at home and so have joined forces with the online reservation service OpenTable in the hopes that a good deal might lure you back.

From November 17th through the 21st, they're offering an 'Appetite Stimulus Plan' in 13 cities across the country. All participating restaurants are offering a three-course meal that will cost $24 for lunch or $35 for dinner. Here in the Philly area, there are more than 60 restaurants have signed on, and many are places that typically cost far more than $35 for dinner.

The other participating cities include Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, D.C.

Everyone who eats out in restaurants has their list of pet peeves. My biggest is when waiters rush me though my meal.

AOL Food has a list of the 11 most annoying restaurant trends. I'm not sure if some of these are even "trends" or if they're just long-held policies that restaurants have had, like the recitation of menu specials. But some of these are spot on, such as the trend to add "tini" to the end of so many drink names and upselling. Luckily I don't eat in restaurants that have a guy who walks around with a baseball bat-sized pepper mill. Just put a normal-sized one on the table and I'll be happy.

It seems that more and more restaurants are offering prix fixe menus these days, a fact that the Wall Street Journal picked up on in their weekend edition. Restaurateurs and chefs like fixed prices because they can much more easily plan the labor and cost of what will be used for a meal, since everything will be timed and the menu options are limited. Diners who might have only had a main course and a dessert are now having salad, as well. For multi-course menus where the portions are small, a nice piece of duck that might have been one main course ordered à la carte, is now several smaller courses for multiple diners.

How can you, as a diner, tell if a fixed price menu is really a good deal? The WSJ suggests that a good place to start is by looking for "wide margin items," such as chicken, salads, pastas and salmon on the menu. They are foods that typically have a significant mark-up, which could be even higher behind the set price. Another thing to look for is tricky wording. For example, "tomato carpaccio" is really just thinly sliced tomatoes, though on the name alone some restaurants might up the price.

And what are signs that you're getting a good deal? Tasting menus that "bear no resemblance to à la carte offerings" often indicate that special time or care has gone into their preparation. And if the chef is well-known and you just want to "put yourself in his hands" the memories of the meal might be worth the price, no matter what it is.