Don't let the marketers win. On Valentine's Day, you can have any type of date you want, and the restaurants that follow won't force you into a prix fixe that has you paying twice what you would have on February 13th but getting half the options. Our choices for Date Night on February 14th range from Italian on Staten Island to Ethiopian in Brooklyn. Each one offers an alternative to the roses-champagne-strawberries with chocolate narrative being foisted upon diners by so many places around town. Each one offers a date that's as unique as your sweetheart.

As of press time, all of these restaurants were planning on serving their regular menus on Valentine's Day, but check again before you go, as plans change.

About the authors: Jessica Allen and Garrett Ziegler have been eating out together since 2002 and writing We Heart New York since 2006.