When it comes getting the most out of your moolah, you can’t argue with Restaurant Week. This year, a record 224 restaurants will offer special menus at cut-rate prices—$24.07 for lunch, $35 for dinner—on weekdays from Jan. 21 to Feb. 1.

The beginning of the calendar year is a traditionally slow season for the restaurant business, so the program began in 1992 as a clever way to drum up diners during downtimes. This year, the benefits go beyond the table (and your wallet), since one of the event’s founding sponsors, American Express, will donate 50 cents to City Harvest every time that credit card is used during Restaurant Week.

Can’t decide where to pig out? Herewith, our guide to this year’s notable haute spots.

New kids
There are 25 spots participating in this winter’s Restaurant Week for the first time—many of them open only a few months. Check out some of 2007’s most successful launches, like Centro Vinoteca, where Italian small plates and a lively West Village scene made it an instant hit with critics and diners alike. High design and Lebanese cooking come together at Flatiron newcomer Ilili, steaks get gussied up at the Upper East Side’s stylish TBar Steakhouse, while more beef is bred specially for the brand-new Primehouse New York. Enjoy the season at Park Avenue Winter, where both the menu and décor are ever-changing, or in uptown splendor at the brownstone location of Zoe Townhouse.

Workingman’s lunch
Given that a mediocre sandwich plus chips, brownie and a drink at a Midtown deli can cost $15, why not spend 10 bucks more and take a long and leisurely lunch? Midtown is rife with excellent restaurants. Close to Rock Center, try Brasserie Ruhlmann for classic French and Art Deco design; if you work west of Times Square, make a reservation at Italian seafood emporium Esca. Dos Caminos offers a special menu of nouveau Mexican cuisine at all three of their locations. For something truly special, tell your boss you have a doctor's appointment and schedule a long lunch at Fiamma; normally closed during the day, this three-starred, Soho haute Italian has developed a special lunch menu just for Restaurant Week. Surely, the rest of the workday will be easier to endure after three courses.

Join the club
If your tastes run more toward the nightclub rather than the restaurant scene, spend an evening at downtown gossip spot Butter, where the food matches the celebrity wattage. The wildly popular Tao is a good place for both a meal and a crazy club vibe, or brave the Meatpacking District and eat at the lively Vento Trattoria before crossing the velvet rope into their downstairs club. Even scenesters need to eat.

Checking in
Hotel dining is not just for travelers—several top-rated hotels, whose restaurants might be out of reach of the average New Yorker, have amazing eateries that run the gamut from traditional chophouses to upscale comfort-food spots. Monkey Bar, the newly remodeled classic in the Hotel Elysée, features a menu heavy on Chinese influences in a high-design setting. On the 35th floor of the Mandarin Oriental hotel, Asiate (normally an expense-account kind of place) focuses on stylish French-Japanese fusion in a room with a dazzling view. For something a little more casual, the Hudson Cafeteria in the Hudson Hotel offers its take on American comfort classics, while in the historic Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, the Bull & Bear steak house is ideal for anyone seeking that old-time New York experience.

Globe-trotters
A few global-cuisine patterns have emerged that can be exploited to delicious effect: If you’re a fan of sophisticated Indian cooking and find yourself in the Union Square/Gramercy Park area, your choices are many: Tabla and Bread Bar, the recently refurbished Devi, or longtime favorite Tamarind are all on board Restaurant Week. If you’re interested in high-end Greek, there are several great choices all in Midtown West: the highly touted Anthos; the slick, ultra-fresh Estiatorio Milos; and the warm, inviting Molyvos. And don’t miss the rare opportunity to eat at luxe Japanese palaces like Morimoto, Riingo, Megu or Nobu for under $40.

A word to the wise: If your preferred place is all booked up, go to opentable.com and type in your desired time and the number of people in your party—you’ll receive a list of all the restaurants with an availability.

Restaurant Week happens from Jan. 21 to 25 and Jan. 28 to Feb. 1 ($24.07 for lunch, $35 for dinner). For the full list of participating restaurants, go to www.nycvisit.com/restaurantweek.