Sitting down for a meal at your favorite restaurant and paying half the price sounds good. A number of Omaha restaurants are offering discount certificates.

Chef Cedric Fichepain loves to fix his favorite French specialties at Le Voltaire at 156th and Dodge, one of about 30 Omaha restaurants offering dishes at a discount on restaurant.com.

"We're one of the first to sign up on the program and right away we started seeing gift certificates coming in and it's been steady."

How does it work? You type in your zip code and a list of local restaurants pops up. Whether it's barbecue, steak and potatoes or nachos while watching a game, the Web site sells restaurant gift certificates at discounted prices.

There is a catch. “They have to spend a minimum amount to be able to take advantage of this gift certificate, but in general it does well for everybody."

The minimum amount varies between restaurants. At Le Voltaire, the smallest certificate is for $25 worth of food, but you pay just $10 to get it. Fifty dollars worth of food costs $20. A $75 certificate costs $30.

"It's a perfect opportunity for them to pay less money and enjoy something different that they might not have done before." Cedric says the biggest benefit is getting diners to venture out of their comfort zone and give his French cuisine a shot.

Make sure you read the fine print carefully. Some of the restaurants do put a few more restrictions on them. For example, they may not let you use the certificates on weekends.

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