Restaurant Week, which is a fixture on the cultural calendars in many cities, will debut this week in Springfield, Massachusetts.
The first Springfield Restaurant Week will feature 18 participating eateries charging the fixed price of $20.15 per person for a 2-3 course dinner meal. It is being held April 23-May 2.
" We want to show people that Springfield is happening, " said Morgan Drewniany, assistant director of the Springfield Business Improvement District, which is administering and publicizing the event.
"It is a safe and clean place to come downtown and grab a meal with your family or maybe a date," she said.
Local restaurants were surveyed to determine the best dates for the promotion.
The participating restaurants are all downtown or on the riverfront.
Nadim Kasouh, who has operated a restaurant in downtown Springfield for 15 years, said he does a brisk lunchtime business at Nadim’s Mediterranean in the financial district, and hopes restaurant week will boost his dinner trade.
" I'll put my best foot forward and put my best appetizers, salads and entrees on the menu and hopefully people enjoy it," he said.
Malkit Singh, owner of Panjabi Tadka on Main Street, said the event will give him a chance to introduce people to his restaurant, which has been open for just two years.
" It is a good opportunity to bring people downtown and see what we have. We cook Indian food, very ethnic, and we'd like to see the people come," he said.
Springfield’s first restaurant week is taking place at the urging of the Springfield City Council Young Professionals Committee, an ad-hoc group of seven people chaired by City Councilor Justin Hurst.
" Our charge was to find ways to bring families and young professionals to the downtown area and we thought this would be a great opportunity," he said.
Hurst was joined by several restaurant owners, Springfield BID officials, and city officials in City Hall Tuesday to announce details of the event.
" I think it will appeal to young professionals because everybody likes to eat, " said Hurst. "Everybody wants to be in the metro center and if we can make it more attractive and help the restaurants become profitable it is a win-win for everybody."
Springfield City Council President Mike Fenton predicted restaurant week will prove to be a great economic development tool.
" I hope people realize their government wants them to participate. We want new ideas. We want to be collaborative, transparent, progressive and those are all things that come from appointing committees like the YP committee," said Fenton.
Other ad-hoc committees appointed by Fenton that consist mostly of non-elected members include ones devoted to finding new revenue sources, neighborhood business development, and workforce development.
