More than 40 restaurants lured diners with deals by offering special menus for seven days during the successful debut of Santa Fe Restaurant Week, which ended Saturday.

The promotion had one simple goal: "Get more people to come out to eat," said Jeff Jinnett, president of Santa Fe Dining and the Santa Fe Restaurant Association.

"Really great deals, interesting menus at a very affordable price gave people the opportunity to try restaurants they might not try otherwise," Jinnett said.

For at least one eatery, Restaurant Week also was an opportunity to get back into the good graces of former regulars.

"People who hadn't been to Pranzo in five or six years said, 'Oh, I didn't know you were that good,' " said Michael O'Reilly, owner of Pranzo Italian Grill. "A lot of people had stopped coming in and this was a chance to get them back."

O'Reilly, who took the reins of the Italian restaurant five years ago, said subpar service and food had left a bad taste in the mouths of some previous patrons. By offering dinner for two for $25, the eatery served 2,300 dinners, introducing new and former patrons to a redecorated restaurant with a new chef.

"This was like a party all week," O'Reilly said.

His other restaurant in the downtown area, the O'Keeffe Café, also did well, he said.

As is the case for most Santa Fe restaurants, this is one of the slowest times of year at A La Mesa!, which tripled business during Restaurant Week, manager Jan Brennan said.

Reservations at A La Mesa! began coming in through www.opentable.com a month before Restaurant Week started, Brennan said.

"We had never had that many reservations that far in advance, especially this time of year," Brennan said. "We knew then that it could be something big."

Brennan said most diners ordered from the $25 per person menu and the promotion drew in a lot of new customers, including one couple visiting Santa Fe who ate at A La Mesa! twice last week and planned to return one more time before heading home.

Vanessie ran out of elk tenderloin and wild salmon, two of the featured entrees on its $25 per person menu over the weekend, said general manager Hideko Amasaki.

"I noticed some local people who splurged because of the good deals," Amasaki said. "It made people feel good about going out to eat in this economy.

"We also saw a lot of new faces, so I think it was a great sampling opportunity for some of our guests."

Contact Veronica Cruz at 986-3042 or vcruz@sfnewmexican.com.