RESTAURANTS and cafes including Morrisons and Beefeater are offering extra discounts on top of the government's Eat Out to Help Out scheme – meaning you could save even more.
The government says that more than 72,000 restaurants have signed up for the deal, which began yesterday.
But a number have opted to add their own extra deals on top of the scheme.
Eat Out to Help Out offers diners 50 per cent off their food and drinks bill, excluding alcoholic drinks, up to a maximum saving of £10 per person.
The scheme is running every Monday to Wednesday in August, and there is no limit on how many times you can take advantage of the saving – although you have to dine in for it to apply and can't use it for takeaway food.
You don't need a voucher – the saving will automatically be applied to your bill when you pay.
It is up to each restaurants whether they want to offer the deal, or if they want to add extra incentives to try and lure diners through the doors.
Here are some of the best extra offers we have found:
Beefeater – no £10 limit
Beefeater is one of the many restaurant chains taking part in Eat out to Help Out throughout August.
But it has removed the £10 per person discount limit – so your whole bill will be half price on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays between now and the end of the month.
The offer applies to all food and non-alcoholic drinks.
That means if two of you spend £50 on dinner and drinks, you'll get £25 off – not the £20 you would be entitled to under the government scheme.
Prices do vary depending on which Beefeater you visit, but typically a sirloin steak costs around £16, now around £8 with the deal, or a chicken pie is around £11, now £5.50 with the discount.
Unsurprisingly, Beefeater expects the deal to be popular so advises that you make a booking at your local restaurant before visiting.
Bill's – special set menus with a free glass of wine
Bill's is offering the standard Eat Out to Help Out deal on all of its menus on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays throughout August.
But it has also added two new set menus to its offer, both of which come with a free glass of wine.
The All Day Menu is £7.75 for two courses or £9.95 for three with the chancellor's offer, while the Incredible Menu is two courses for £9.95 and three for £14.95, once the discount has been applied.
You can find your nearest Bill's here.
How will the Eat Out to Help Out scheme work?
THE government will cover half of the cost of a meal out, up to £10 a head, including children's meals.
The discount means that a meal out for one that costs £20 will be reduced to £10, but a £25 meal for one will be slashed to £15 because of the £10 cap per person.
There is no limit to the number of times you can use the discount, so in theory you can get half price meals on every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in August.
Businesses will need to register with the scheme on Gov.uk before being able to offer the discount, as well as be Food Standards Agency approved.
Instead of issuing discount vouchers – which the government felt increased the risk of fraud – restaurants, cafes and pubs will be able to claim back the cash.
The refund will then been transferred into restaurants, cafes and pubs' bank accounts within five working days.
Customers will only receive the discount if they eat out at a registered business.
Carluccio's – no £10 limit
Carluccio's will be giving diners 50 per cent off all food and non alcoholic drinks every Monday to Wednesday in August, but it has removed the £10 cap set by the government.
It is also offering £10 off all bottles of wine on Monday to Wednesdays.
The up-market Italian chain serves dishes such as seafood linguine, which would normally cost £15.45, but will be £7.73 with the deal, and lasagne, which will now cost £5.98 instead of £11.95.
You can find your nearest Carluccio's here.
Hard Rock Cafe – 50 per cent off on Thursdays and Fridays too
Hard Rock Cafe has registered for the Eat Out To Help Out scheme, but has decided to extend the 50 per cent discount offer to include Thursday and Fridays as well.
The offer applies to all food or non-alcoholic beverages, up to a maximum of £10 discount per diner.
Prices vary depending on which branch you visit, but you would normally pay around £14 for a burger and £17 for a dish such as ribs.
With the discount, that would make a burger around £7 and ribs for £8.50.
You can find your nearest Hard Rock Cafe here.
Hawksmoor – steak and chips for £10
Like Bill's, Hawksmoor is offering the standard Eat Out to Help Out offer but has added a special deal to its menu.
It is selling a 300g 35-day dry-aged rump steak, with chips and a sauce of your choice, which would usually cost around £30, for a discounted price of £20 – but with the discount, you can bag it for £10.
Like most other places, the offer only applies on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays in August, at any Hawksmoor restaurants which is open.
You can book a table via the chain's website here.
How to calculate the bill
THE government will pay for half of your bill, up to £10 a head, when you eat out on certain days of the week in August.
To work out how much your bill will be after the discount is applied, you should start by adding together everything that you ordered.
You'll then need to take off any items that it doesn't cover, such as alcoholic drinks and the service charge.
Then, divide this by two to find out half of the bill.
What if it comes to more than £10 per head?
To check that it comes under the £10 per head cap, divide it again by the number of people who are dining.
If it works out as more than this per person, then you'll need to multiply the number of people eating by £10.
You should then minus the answer from the total cost of the items that the discount can be applied to.
For example, four people eat out and the total bill that the discount can be applied to comes to £90.
Half of the bill would be £45, but that's more than the limit.
So you need to minus £40 (£10 per diner) from £90 to get the amount you will need to pay, which in this case is £50.
Morrisons – 50 per cent off food all week
Morrisons is taking part in the Eat Out To Help Out scheme, but is extending it across the entire week.
That means that customers can enjoy the 50 per cent discount on food in the Morrisons cafe, up to a value of £10, whenever they visit.
The deal makes an afternoon tea for two £5, or you could enjoy a bacon butty for £1.
Other offers include fish and chips for £2.25 and a full English for £2.12.
You can find your nearest Morrisons cafe on the website here.
Tesco – no £10 limit and applies to takeaways too
Tesco announced last month that it wouldn't be taking any government money to fund its Eat Out to Help Out discounts, instead shelling out the extra costs itself.
Tesco cafés will be offering 50 per cent off prices across the menu Monday-Wednesday throughout August – but it is applying the discount to both takeaways and dining in.
It has also scrapped the government's £10 limit.
That means you can pick up a full English breakfast for £2.07, a coffee for 75p, or a children's meal including a main, side and drink for £1.42.
Not all Tesco stores have a cafe, so check your nearest branch here.
Here's the full list of chains taking part in the Eat Out to Help Out scheme.
Thousands of Brits tucked into cut-price meals on first day of the scheme yesterday.
And you can now use a postcode checker to find restaurants offering the meal deal near you.
Source: Read Full Article