Who says you must eat your entire meal in one restaurant? Only the restaurant, who wants more of your money. Well, it’s time to break that “rule”. Sure, you might get some funny (or annoyed) looks when you order only a dessert. However, if that’s what the restaurant is best at, why not go just for that?

So, what’s a progressive dinner?

A progressive dinner is one where you eat each individual course in a different location. Head to one restaurant for appetizers, off to a second for entrees, and a third for dessert. It’s a traveling meal!

This type of adventure provides the opportunity to go to favorite restaurants and have what they are best at making. While my favorite steak house makes fabulous entrees, I have to go to a local Italian restaurant to get the best desserts in town. It also combats the tendency that we often have to rush through the meal; the travel time in between courses affords extra opportunities to chat with friends.

Some hints

• If you have a large group, it may be most convenient to divide into a smaller parties and head to different places, rejoining for dessert.
• You don’t have to head to the next course immediately. My wife and I recently went on a progressive dinner date, and were too full for dessert. So we headed to the movies, and stopped for dessert afterward.
• Plan your meal so that the restaurants aren’t too far away from each other. You don’t want to deal with traffic any more than you have to, so back and forth across the city in between courses might not be the best idea.
• I don’t make reservations, so that I don’t have to be concerned about a time-frame.

Progressive dinners don’t have to be planned out before hand. As long as you are somewhere that has a few restaurants close to each other, you can pick one to start at and work your way through the courses as you go. So what are you waiting for? Grab some friends, or your date, and go explore the local cuisine!