The Eat Out to Help Out scheme was vastly popular with millions of households making the most of discounted breakfast, lunch and dinner throughout August.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak introduced the scheme as a way of enticing consumers back out after months of staying in due to lockdown.
It gave diners eating in a 50 per cent discount on food or non-alcoholic drinks to eat or drink in, up to a maximum of £10 discount per diner, making meals out massively reduced.
However, despite the scheme coming to an end, there are still many ways customers can get reduced dinner out, with various discounts and vouchers available.
Many restaurants are continuing to discount their food and soft drinks throughout September
A large number of restaurants have also decided to continue with the same scheme, albeit without Government help, throughout September to continue encouraging customers to have a meal out.
This is Money has pulled together the best deals available to diners as well as a comprehensive list of restaurants that are continuing with an Eat Out to Help Out scheme.
How to get money off
For those who have bought any insurance through Compare the Market, they will be valid for Meerkat Meals for a whole year from the date of purchase.
With Meerkat Meals, customers can get two for one meals at over 1,000 restaurants across the UK including Prezzo, Pizza Hut and local, independent diners.
Customers can download the Meerkat app which will help you find participating diners nearby.
The Gourmet Society, meanwhile, offers 25 per cent off the total bill, including drinks, for cardholders at over 6,000 restaurants across the UK.
This includes Bella Italia, Pizza Express, Chiquito, Zizzi, Café Rogue and a host of others.
Members usually pay £34.99 for an annual membership but there is an introductory offer currently available where new customers can pay just £1 for 60 days of offers.
Rishi Sunak created the Eat Out to Help Out scheme to help restaurants back on their feet
Tastecard is another popular discount scheme with cardholders able to get 50 per cent off their food or 2 for 1 on main meals at thousands of restaurants across the UK.
New members can try a Tastecard for free for 30 days and then either pay £4.99 for a monthly membership or £34.99 for an annual one.
However, our sister title Daily Mail are offering an even better deal with MyMail account holders able to get three months free with Tastecard.
To redeem the offer, sign up or login to MyMail.co.uk and enter five out of 12 Unique Numbers from the back page of the Mail between Saturday 29 August and Wednesday 9 September.
Click redeem by 13 September and you will be sent an email with instructions on how to redeem the card itself.
There are also apps that can help, including Vouchercloud that offers voucher codes for clothing, attractions and dining out. It is always worth checking the app before heading out to dinner to see if you can find a voucher for money off.
For example, at the moment, it is currently offering 50 per cent off mains at the chain restaurant, Browns.
Diners with an American Express credit card can save money thanks to its ‘Shop Small’ campaign which has been running since late June.
It gives those who spend at least £10 in participating shops and restaurants £5 back on their card statement.
The cashback scheme, which only applies to physical purchases and can be used 10 times at different retailers, runs until 13 September.
Savings: JD Wetherspoon is launching its own reduced prices scheme until November 11
Restaurants
Pub operator JD Wetherspoon is launching its own reduced prices scheme after the end of the Government’s Eat Out to Help Out initiative.
The move will see prices on a range of meals and drinks reduced from Monday to Wednesday until November 11, starting 1 September.
Hall and Woodhouse, which operates over 250 pubs across the south of England, will offer the original Eat Out to Help Out discount – £10 off food and soft drinks per person – at most of its venues until 30 September.
Drake & Morgan, Comptoir Libanais and Franco Manca are also continuing the Eat Out to Help Out scheme throughout September.
Pizza Hut are offering 2 for 1 mains for those already signed up to their database from Monday to Wednesday from 7 September.
Oakham Inns are offering 50 per cent off food and non-alcoholic drinks from Monday to Wednesday throughout September whilst Stonehouse Pizza and Carvery are also offering 50 per cent off mains ordered via their app from 11.30am onwards from Monday to Wednesday until 9 September.
Meanwhile, the Coconut Tree is offering 50 per cent off food and non-alcoholic drinks from Monday to Wednesday throughout September.
The Real Greek is offering 50 per cent off food, up to £10 off per person, on lunch and its Filoxenia dinner menu from Monday to Wednesday throughout September.
However, it is not valid on drinks and cannot be used in conjunction with any other offers.
The Slug and Lettuce chain is also continuing the Eat Out to Help out discounts with 50 per cent off all food and soft drinks from Monday to Wednesday throughout September.
Gaucho, a popular chain of steak restaurants, is continuing the same discount into September.
Bill’s will continue to offer 50 per cent off items on its set menu throughout September.
Both Toby Carvery and Harvester restaurants are offering a 50 per cent discount on main meals only until 9 September.
TGI Fridays said it will be offering free appetisers with main meals starting on Tuesday 1 September and then every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday for the first two weeks of September.
All of the bars and restaurants run by the Signature Group will offer the Eat Out to Help Out discount throughout September.
The Tesco Café has also extended its Eat Out to Help Out offer across its food and drinks menu until the end of September.
What about takeaways?
It is not just restaurants taking part with online delivery company Deliveroo announcing it will also be cutting the price of orders made by customers in September.
Customers will get a £5 discount on orders of £20 or more on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays throughout September.
To claim the discount, for orders over £20, you’ll need to enter the following codes:
‘EATIN1’ between 01/09/20 and 02/09/20
‘EATIN2’ between 07/09/20 and 09/09/20
‘EATIN3’ between 14/09/20 and 16/09/20
‘EATIN4’ between 21/09/20 and 23/09/20
‘EATIN5’ between 28/09/20 and 30/09/20
New Deliveroo customers can also get 14 days’ free delivery in September and October.
Neither Uber Eats or Just Eat have said they will be offering any discount.
Honest Burgers was one of the restaurants who said the scheme was successful for them
How successful was Eat Out to Help Out?
Figures from the Government show more than 64million meals were claimed for during the scheme, showing it is clear people are willing to support local jobs through dining out.
There has been an upward trend in the scheme’s popularity since it launched at the start of August, with 10.5million meals claimed for in the first week, 35million meals in the second and 64million meals in the third.
Seeing the vitality coming back into their restaurants has been a joy to witness.
Meg Ellis – Honest Burgers
A total of 87,000 claims have been made by many of the signed-up businesses and there have been over 34million searches on Eat Out to Help Out’s restaurant finder from 13million unique users.
Meg Ellis, commercial director at Honest Burgers, who took part in the scheme, said: ‘We’ve been really encouraged by the shift in energy in our sector as a result of the Eat Out to Help Out scheme.
‘We’ve been able to bring more people back into work as a result of the scheme, which they have really enjoyed, and for some of our friends operating independently in the sector this has been the opportunity to confidently re-open for the first time.
‘Seeing the vitality coming back into their restaurants has been a joy to witness.’
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