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"The &amp;quot;early bird&amp;quot; special. It conjures up images of retirees doting over less expensive meals in restaurants a good two to three hours before anyone else would even think of eating dinner. That, however, is changing. Scrambling for ways to preserve their customer base, and always looking for new customers, many restaurants \u2013 including national chains \u2013 are offering early dinner and bar-food specials to pull them in.  Of course, it&amp;#039;s exactly that image of retirees stretching pensions that has prompted restaurants to rebrand the concept, according to New York Times. &amp;quot;Twilight dining,&amp;quot; &amp;quot;early dining,&amp;quot; and the completely safe &amp;quot;prix fixe&amp;quot; are being bandied about to draw younger people who have been particularly hard hit by the recession. &amp;quot;The term &amp;#039;early bird&amp;#039; may be a little dated from a lexicon standpoint, like &amp;#039;doggy bag,&amp;#039; &amp;quot; Hudson Riehle, a senior vice president for research at the National Restaurant Association told the Times. &amp;quot;But the concept has been and will continue to be an extremely effective marketing tool for certain restaurants in certain markets.&amp;quot; Not to be left out, P.F. Chang&amp;#039;s China Bistro has begun promoting happy hour specials in 27 states offering drinks between $3 and $6 from 3 to 6 p.m. Ruby Tuesday and T.G.I. Friday&amp;#039;s have been offering similar deals to pull them in.  Of course, it doesn&amp;#039;t really matter what you call them. A deal&amp;#039;s a deal. Care to meet me for dinner? My treat. How about 5 p.m.? "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.delish.com/food/news/a37968/dont-call-it-early-bird/?src=shelter_footer>