On Valentine's Day, expectations are high. It can be hard to pick the perfect dinner, but it is possible to impress your special someone with a nice dinner, on your budget. Take a look at these three local restaurants to find the perfect dinner date spot.
First up is Gervais & Vine. The Vista district tapas house is known for its Mediterranean-inspired dishes. It is celebrating the weekend with a Valentine’s Day-inspired menu.
“We always do food that is intended to share, but we usually do it for a shared table,” co-owner Laurel Jeffries said. “This [special menu] is much more catered toward couples and more intimate sharing.”
Jeffries shared a preview of the Valentine's Day menu, which included lobster spaghettini carbonara, beet cured salmon lox and crispy duck leg confit.
As for the price, not much changes.
"We always try to offer people a really good value,” Jeffries said.
The restaurant's wine specials and menu for those nights will be "very much in line [price-wise] with our everyday menu," according to Jeffries.
Across town in Five Points, Saluda’s Restaurant is curating a $75 per person "prix fixe" menu, a more luxurious option for the holiday.
Its website announced: “Saluda’s will be exclusively offering a romantic, 3-course menu for you and your special someone all weekend long in the place of our nightly menu.”
The white-table cloths and upscale menu will definitely appeal if you're looking for a fancy dinner destination.
The special menu features Saluda’s classic fried green tomatoes and special additions such as the raw oysters appetizer, described as "Prince Edward Island oysters on the half shell," or the surf and turf fettuccine.
If a sit-down, white-tablecloth dinner is too over-the-top, Cottontown’s The War Mouth is offering its usual to-go menu with one charming Valentine’s Day edition: hot sauce Valentines. Yes, you can ask your special someone to be your Valentine with a vial of hot sauce.
If it's nice out, you have a perfect, low-key picnic. Make a side of whole-hog barbeque and Carolina gold rice to pair with your Valentine sauce from The War Mouth.
On a holiday such as Valentine's Day, when many couples plan to dine out, reservations fill up quickly. Jeffries suggested that knowledgeable diners would plan their festivities on a day other than Feb. 14.
“If you want the best service and the best specials and a little bit more relaxed atmosphere, I would come on an ‘off-day,’” Jeffries said. “So even though it's a Friday night, the 12th is a really good option.”
Skip over what Jeffries calls an "amateur night": beat the Valentine’s Day rush and take your Valentine out to dinner a day or two early.
Gervais & Vine will be serving their Valentine’s specials Friday, Saturday and Monday of the long weekend — the restaurant is always closed on Sundays. Saluda’s Restaurant is serving its prix fixe menu Friday to Monday. The War Mouth is selling its Valentine sauces until it runs out.