Method
How we check prices
A price is only useful if you can trust it. Every lunch special on GoLunch is read on the restaurant's own menu, twice, and shown with the date we read it.
The definition
What counts as a lunch special
A lunch section that repeats the regular menu at the same price does not count. A lunch special meets at least one of these three tests.
Served at set hours
The menu names a lunch window or lunch days, such as 11 AM to 3 PM, Monday to Friday.
Cheaper than the regular menu
The same dish costs less at lunch than elsewhere on the menu. We show both prices.
A set deal
Soup and half sandwich, a two-course prix fixe, a lunch box or a bento, sold at one price.
From the menu to the page
How a price gets here
- 1
We open the restaurant's own menuThe page or the PDF the restaurant publishes on its website. Never a delivery app, never an ordering platform, where prices are often different.
- 2
We read it twiceTwo independent readings of the same menu. A lunch special is listed only when both give the same dish and the same price.
- 3
We date itEvery restaurant page shows the day we read the menu and whose menu it was, so you know how fresh the price is.
Not on GoLunch
What we leave out
- Chains. A restaurant with more than five locations in its metro area is not listed.
- Prices from online ordering and delivery pages. We want what you pay at the table.
- Menus that look out of date, and restaurants that have closed.
- Soups, sides, desserts and drinks sold on their own. A lunch special is a meal.
- Dishes that sit in a "Lunch" section at the same price as the regular menu. Served at lunch is not the same as a deal.
Where we are
What has been read, and when
| City | Neighborhoods | Restaurants | Lunch specials | Menus read |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York | 9 | 112 | 762 | Sep 30, 2026 |
| Los Angeles | 12 | 41 | 367 | Sep 30, 2026 |
| Washington, DC | 9 | 34 | 167 | Sep 30, 2026 |
| San Francisco | 10 | 21 | 132 | Sep 30, 2026 |
We only see restaurants that publish a readable menu on their own website, so a place with a chalkboard special and no website is missing. If you know one, tell us.
The fine print
What the numbers mean
Are the prices on GoLunch what I will pay?
They are the prices printed on the restaurant's menu the day we read it, before tax and tip. Restaurants change prices without notice, so check the date on the page and confirm with the restaurant.
What does "typical price" mean?
The middle restaurant. Each restaurant counts once, at the middle price of its own lunch specials, and we take the restaurant in the middle of the list. A menu with thirty lunch dishes weighs no more than a single prix fixe, and one expensive tasting menu does not pull the number up.
What does "save $3" mean on a dish?
The restaurant's menu lists the same dish at a lunch price and at a regular price, and lunch is $3 lower. We write the regular price as "dinner". When the menu has no regular price for the dish, we show no saving.
How do you know a restaurant is "serving now"?
From the lunch hours and days printed on its menu, in the restaurant's time zone. 137 of the 208 restaurants print lunch hours and 129 print lunch days. When a menu gives hours but no days, we assume Monday to Friday.
How are walking times calculated?
From the straight-line distance between two points, increased by 30% for the street grid, at a walking pace of about 3 miles per hour. They are estimates, good to within a few minutes.
A price is wrong. What do I do?
Tell us. Every restaurant page has a "Report a wrong price" link. We reread the menu and fix the page, or remove the lunch special if it is gone.