One easy technique our family uses to save money when we occasionally go out to eat (besides laughing to ourselves at all attempts at Suggestive Sales) is to only order water to drink. Since many restaurants now charge $2 just for a cup of coffee and often more than that for a soda or a glass of milk for the kids, drinking water can often cut $10 or more from the cost of the family's meal. To make the water seem special, I'll ask for a lemon or lime wedge.
Restaurant dining for lunch rather than dinner is another way to save your pennies. Often restaurants will have similar luncheon items for half the price of their dinner menus.
Check around and see if any of your local restaurants have special "reduced rate" menus on certain days or during particular hours. A local Seattle-area restaurant has what they call Sunset Dinners on week nights (Monday through Thursday). The restaurant is attempting to attract a pre-dinner crowd on off-days -- the hours are something like 4:30pm - 6:00pm. Choosing from a special menu, we get an appetizer, salad or soup, main dish, dessert and a beverage for around $14 per person. My husband and I have our just-the-two-of-us "celebration dinners" (birthdays, anniversary) at this restaurant during their Sunset Dinners. Under $30 for dinner for two for an excellent four-course seafood dinner plus beverage (with some of the best waterfront views in town) isn't a bad deal.
Another way we've learned to save on fancy meals is by preparing gourmet foods at home. We have an advantage over many families because my husband was formerly a professional gourmet cook, but learning to cook restaurant-quality meals isn't difficult if you're moderately adept at basic home cooking techniques. The book Cheapskate in the Kitchen by Mary Hunt details basic steps for making gourmet "special occasion" meals at home for a fraction of the cost of restaurant dining (I contributed several recipes to this book, by the way).
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