Alternalicious: a roundup of Summerlicious 2012’s prix fixe rebels

“We want our customers to avoid any unnecessary fees for small portions,” Sarah Eddy of School restaurant explained. “For us, we offer a full value with large portions for our Schoolicious menu. We want our new and everyday customers to experience our full dining experience and know that when they come back a second or third time that it’s still the same great experience.” Graham Culp, owner of Simple Bistro expressed a similar logic: “We want to offer our clientele a break while still maintaining our integrity.” See the lineup of this year’s rebels below:

• Simple Bistro is offering a $35 “Summer Break” menu from July 1 until the end of August. Available for dinner only, guests can select a three-course meal from anything on the regular menu: that’s seven to eight appetizers and main courses and five desserts to pick from.
• Between July 10 and August 30, School will be holding its very own Schoolicious, running Tuesday to Thursday during dinner hours (5 p.m.–10 p.m.). For $35, pick a regular-sized starter, entrée and dessert off their prix fixe menu.
• For the duration of Summerlicious, Alsatian restaurant Elle M’a Dit is offering a three-course prix fixe lunch and dinner menu, at $17 and $24 respectively. Choose between three appetizers and entrées, and two desserts.
• Splendido will offer a “light and lively”  five-course summer vegetarian tasting menu, kicking off this week and running through to the end of August or so. At $75, this isn’t the low price one would expect from a traditional Summerlicious prix-fixe—but it is a significant break from the cost of Splendido’s regular fare.
• Cuban-inspired bistro Delux is running a three-course, $35 prix-fixe dinner menu from July 6 to the end of the month. The menu is set to change every few days, but last we checked, it includes a fried oyster appetizer served with yucca chips, avocado, lime aïoli and grilled pineapple–red onion salsa; a pan-seared Pickerel, charred corn and chorizo chowder main; and watermelon sorbet for desert.
• Trevor Kitchen and Bar is actually a participant in Summerlicious, but hear us out: the $35 dinner menu (featuring potato-crusted crab cakes, buttermilk fried chicken and surf ’n’ turf, among other options) is available for home delivery from Orderit.ca. A Summerlicious-priced meal, without the Summerlicious crowd? Sounds delightful.
• Until the end of July, Florentia, a Mount Pleasant trattoria, is offering a three-course Tuscan prix fixe for $32.

Know of any other special prix-fixe offers competing with Summerlicious? Let us know in the comments.