What the Deck on City Shuffle?

City Shuffle keeps the deck stacked in your favor.

As someone new to the New York food scene, it’s normal to feel overwhelmed and lost. With so many villages, neighborhoods, markets, and restaurants to try, where should one begin? Though I’ve realized there’s no right answer to this question, City Shuffle may have just solved this dilemma once and for all. And it won’t hurt your wallet either. It actually might even help! For $20, you can buy City Shuffle, which comes as a deck of cards. Each card in the package indicates a different restaurant in the city guaranteeing you a $10 discount with every $30 purchase. Genius.

Sometimes all you need is an idea. This genius idea was born out of a dinner date in the East Village. At an attempt to be creative and figure out a place to eat, co-founder Jeff Winner scribbled down restaurant names on index cards, shuffled them up, and presented them to his date for her to choose. And boom, he knew he was on to something. A couple of days later he went to dinner with friend Mark Boyett, mainly because Boyett had a coupon for the restaurant. After Winner explained his index card idea, Boyett then brainstormed adding a monetary value to the cards, and voila City Shuffle was born.

The cards debuted in 2004 and City Shuffle continues to put out a new deck annually. They also have a deck with bars and lounges that follows the same concept. And it’s proven to be quite popular, despite this idea that paper couponing is dead. Consumers are actually responding quite well to drinking and dining adventures

City Shuffle – What’s in it for the Restaurants?

For a restaurant and bar, City Shuffle is simply a risk-free marketing tool: it’s usually free to join, and the venue will only pay if it works. And they’ll know it works when new faces walk through the door to redeem a deal. Boyett says restaurants see about two to five cards per week, which is pretty much an ideal number: Not too many to feel like they’re losing money, but enough to make them sign up for another year.

Luckily, deals are redeemable year-round, allowing you to continue your eating and drinking adventures through all seasons. City Shuffle does its best business during this season, as it’s the perfect gift for all your adventurous, food loving friends.

These decks can currently be found at some of the remaining Holiday Markets as well as vendors around the city. For a full list on where these cards are located, please follow this link.

Photo Credit to CityShuffle.com