San Leandro Restaurant Week is here, but is it worth it?

Dearth of good deals means no FOMO if you skip it.

San Leandro Restaurant Week is upon us and, if possible, it’s even lamer than last year. There are very few deals that will make me want to try a new restaurant or revisit an old one.

Here are the best ones, which I might try:

– Paradiso has a $45 prix-fix menu available daily from 4 to 5 PM. During restaurant week, you can order it all day.

– Nella’s Place, a Southern food place, offers half off a second dinner, so $9 to $11 off the price of two dinners. I haven’t tried it, and this seems like a good opportunity.

– Scend offers several promos with small discounts, for example you can save $1 on a 2-wing/fries/soda lunch deal, buy one dessert get another for 1/2 off. It might be a good opportunity to try their oxtails, though, as they do offer a small order of 2 oxtails over rice for $17, and usually you need to get a full order for over $40.

The offers from the other nicer restaurants in town leave much to be desired.

– Horatio’s has a 2-course menu with only 4 choices of entrees for $33 – which saves you an average of $5 over regular menu prices, depending on what you order and whether you go for dinner or lunch.

– Moussaka gives you a free babaganoush or hummus ($8) with purchase of an entree

– Top Hatters gives you a free order of lemon ricotta doughnuts ($10) but only for lunch for a party of at least two people.

Some restaurants are adding cheap freebies

– Elio’s will give you a free cup of tapioca pudding or scoop of ice-cream if you order their daily-special dinner.

– Leisure Cafe offers a free ice tea or milk (~$5) if you buy its baked pork chop or black pepper spaghetti.

– Tequila Grill has a 3-course menu for $25, featuring half-entrees, which basically means that by ordering the very limited choices for appetizer and entre, you get a free flan.

– Tsuru Sushi offers 3 orders of chicken teriyaki for the price of 2 or a free California roll if you buy ramen. The latter is not bad, but who wants three orders of chicken teriyaki?

Discounts at other restaurants are pretty paltry:

You can save $3 at 21st Amendment brewery, but only if you want to eat fish tacos with an El Sully beer.

Fieldwork Brewing is offering an appetizer + pizza for $30, usually $27 to $41 (assuming all items are included in the promo).

You can save $1 on a Bento Box at Makiyaki.

Sushi Delight offers its 9-piece sashimi dinner for $22 or $6 off its regular price and its “tempura & teriyaki” dinner for $19, or $2 off its regular price.

You can save 15% on the dish-of-the-day at Habibi’s Birria.

And then some restaurants don’t offer any savings whatsoever.

Drake’s Barrel House, Sons of Liberty Alehouse, Zenti Bistro and Mai Thai, as well as Koolfi Creamery are serving a dish or two not usually in the menu.

Pistahan is offering its same weekend buffet at its regular price.

Josephine Southern Cuisine is opening a pop-up on July 18th & 19th from 11 am to 4 pm only, at E14th Eatery and Kitchen and serving their fried chicken with mac & cheese and collard greens for $25, which seems like their regular price.

There are also a few bars/drink places with offerings, but as I’m not someone who goes out to drink I didn’t analyze them.