Score a table for Restaurant Week lunch

Restaurant Week is here, and many dinner reservations have disappeared. If you've waited this long, chances are you aren't going to have much luck finding a table at any of the city's trendier spots -- unless you try lunch.

Mid-day reservations are one of the best ways to take advantage of the prix fixe promotion without running into service nightmares and an overwhelmed kitchen. And often, the lunch menus are just as exciting as the dinner options. Just check out this one from Ris:

The first course is a choice of the soup of the day; an endive, walnut and smokey blue cheese salad with pears, candied walnuts and port vinaigrette; or gnudi, ricotta dumplings on tomato and eggplant fondue with spinach and crisp prosciutto.

The second course is a choice of "autumn woods pasta," a house-made ricotta cavatelli with roasted butternut squash, mushrooms, caramelized onions, cranberries and walnuts; a bowl of mussels with tomato, chorizo, garlic, herbs and grilled bread; sesame-crusted salmon with gingered beets, bok choi, soba noodles and red curry coconut broth; or meatloaf with mashed potatoes, kale and mushroom gravy.

Finally, for your third course pick flourless chocolate cake with bourbon chestnut ice cream; goat-cheese cake with lingonberry coulis, pecan graham crust and cardamom anglaise; or house-made ice creams and sorbets with cookies.

How good does that sound?

There are plenty of great options on lunch menus around town. I could go for the pulled duck sandwich at Restaurant 3, the beef tongue taco at Oyamel and the black pepper tagliatelle at Siroc, all restaurants with tables open for lunch. Here's a list of more places where you can still score a lunch reservation:

Agora

Barcode

Bibiana

Bombay Club

Capital Grille

Casa Nonna

Eatonville

Grillfish

Hook

Jaleo

Kushi

Liberty Tavern

Lyon Hall

Monocle

Nage

Occidental

Oceanaire

The Oval Room

Oyamel

Pizzeria Orso

Potenza

The Prime Rib

PS 7's

Restaurant 3

Siroc

Sushi Taro

Taberna del Alabardero

Vidalia

Westend Bistro

Zaytinya

Zola