Inside the House is a DCist feature offering an insider’s view of fine dining issues by the hostess at a D.C. restaurant. Her views are strictly her own and do not in any way represent her employer.

Monday kicks off Restaurant Week, the biannual promotion when participating restaurants offer three-course lunch and dinner menus for $20 and $30, respectively. Is it a good deal, considering that most participating eateries normally charge around $30 for an entrée alone? If expectations are set at a realistic level, it can be an inexpensive way to sample a posh restaurant or a different cuisine without spending a fortune. Yet because it draws lots of patrons with little fine dining experience, Restaurant Week usually brings about for restaurant types the number of hilarious, groan-inducing customer stories that the rest of the year will be lucky to match. Here are mine.