Restaurant Week: Sophomore Devastated to Realize She's Not at a BYO

On the surface, restaurant week appears to be a great deal– twice a year, college students can afford a three course meal at some of Philly's best restaurants. But Lauren Carmichael's (E '20) night out to ended up being nothing but a stomach full of utter disappointment.

"Earlier in the week, group of my friends texted me if I was free on Thursday night to get dinner. I was like, hell yeah!" Carmichael explained. "I love BYO's. There's nothing like pregaming at 6, being drunk by 7, obnoxiously intoxicated at 7:45, drifting in and out during the uber ride home at 8:55, puking up pink-colored slush around 9:15, and then getting ready to go out again at 10!"

"So I roll up with my crew and my backpack full of wine and spirits and get this– the restaurant isn't BYO." Carmichael said. "I was like, huh? I don't set a toe past 33rd street unless I know I'm getting blackout. I did not venmo charge five people $2.34 to not drink tonight. It was a Thursday! I would understand if it was a Tuesday... maybe."

The ambiance of the restaurant was not reminiscent of a typical BYO spot. "I don't even eat dinner unless I can boat race between bites," Carmichael told us, "and this place didn't have any plastic cups for us! I was heated. I thought about it, but it looked like the other people in the restaurant would have been bothered if I took out a bag of Franzia and started slapping it. So I didn't even bother; I just ate the food like an adult."

"All in all, Zahav was pretty good, I guess," Carmichael said, sadly. "But I kind of just wanted to poke at some chicken Pad Thai."