The Baller On A Budget's Guide To DineLA Summer Restaurant Week 2012

The Rules

First, a little bit about how this whole thing works (and yes, we're partially recycling this explanation from our last Restaurant Week Guide– bear with us) . DineLA's Restaurant Week, which is presented by the Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board and American Express and sponsored by Los Angeles Magazine and OpenTable.com, invites participating restaurants to offer three-course lunches and dinners (generally but not always with a few options per course)  at one of three tiered prices, which go by the euphemisms Deluxe, Premier, and Fine. For lunch, those prices come out to $15, $20, or $25, whereas for dinner, the price is $25, $35, or $45. Alcohol and tax are not included, so be sure to budget for that. And it probably pays to make a reservation, which you can do through the DineLA Restaurant Week website or by contacting the restaurant directly. You can take advantage of the Restaurant Week menu as a walk-in, but just as with any normal night in this town, there's no guarantee that you'll be able to get a table. Anyway, enough about the rules; what about the restaurants?? Here's some selections from us at GofG L.A. for places we love and we think you will, too. Please note, as always, that these are extremely unscientific personal opinions. But we know we're right.