Many of us are feeling the pinch of economic pressures, and that means that when we go out to dinner, we want to make sure we're getting a good deal for our money. Restaurants are working hard to attract and retain customers, and one way to help pull people in is with dining deals such as happy hour, prix fixes and specials.

Lidia's Chef Eric Wallace is introducing a monthly menu that will feature seasonal specials at excellent prices. November is the month of squash, and while squash probably doesn't have as many devotees as, say, truffles, a glance at this menu may convert you.

Consider dessert alone, a course that will force you to choose between Crostata di Zucca ($7.50), butternut squash and toasted almonds in a pudding-like cake, served with almond milk ice cream and cinnamon almond praline; or Copa Di Zucca ($7.50), a sundae of spiced butternut squash ice cream, creme fraiche ice cream and creamy caramel served with warm butternut squash and spice fritters. Who knew that squash could be so versatile?

Diners can either order a la carte, or assemble a three-course menu for $28.50.

At Richard Chen Pan-Asian Cuisine, which opened last summer in the Eastside complex in East Liberty, special deals are designed to draw in diners at hours when it can be hard for restaurants to attract customers. Those sitting down between 5 and 6:30 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays can order a four-course prix fixe for $38, or $45 with a glass of wine. After 9 p.m., guests can order a glass of selected dessert wines and a dessert for $15.

At Toast! in Shadyside, a prix fixe menu is available on Tuesday nights for $35, with optional wine pairings for $15. A sample menu includes delicious options such as Pennsylvania sweet onion bisque with spiced crab and lamb ribs with mesquite smoked barbecue sauce and apple and cabbage slaw.

Happy hours are ubiquitous, but some offer better deals than others. At Cioppino, a new Mediterranean restaurant in the Strip District, happy hour specials are offered from 5 to 7 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and include $5 select martinis, $5 wines by the glass and half off all draft beers. The ample small-plates menu includes conserved pork ($6.95), egg florentine ($4.95), and Elysian Fields lamb mini-burgers ($8.95). Keep in mind, however, that smoking is allowed in Cioppino's bar.

Some new restaurants bring new lunch options. Mirabelle in Oakmont offers two lunch prix fixes quite similar in style to the prix fixes offered at the Cafe at the Frick (where owner John Muth spent the past seven years). Diners can have soup, any salad or sandwich and a dessert for $18, or soup, any entree and a dessert for $20. The lunch menu includes selections from the dinner menu such as wild mushroom soup ($4) or pumpkin crepes filled with roasted pears and blue cheese ($10), as well as items not offered at dinner, such as the lamb saltimbocca burger ($11) and an Arctic char sandwich ($11). Mirabelle serves lunch Tuesdays-Fridays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Among national chains located here, USA Today reports that Ruth's Chris Steak House has begun mailing out $25 gift certificates and McCormick & Schmick's is selling many of its menu items uncooked and ships them overnight anywhere in the United States as a way of promoting its products without having to build new restaurants.