Downtown Raleigh Restaurant Week turns slump to boom
Triangle foodies, get ready. Downtown Raleigh Restaurant Week will be here August 15-21.
Posted — UpdatedStarting Monday, foodies can experience the event in four different ways:
- Enjoy decadent three-course prix fixe dinners for either $20 or $30, depending on the venue (tax and tip not included). Reservations are strongly recommended for dinner!
- Stop by mid-day to grab $5 or $10 lunch specials.
- Take a tasty, guided tour of downtown restaurants with Taste Carolina Food Tours.
- Shop on Friday, August 19 during Dine + Shop, when participating retailers will stay open late until 9 p.m. and offer great deals and specials.
A whopping 45 restaurants in downtown Raleigh will participate in the week-long dining extravaganza. All you have to do to participate is check out the list of featured restaurants and show up hungry! Some venues on this list only offer tours, lunch, or dinner, but many offer all three, so check out the icons beside each venue when making your plans.
Ashley Melville, of the Downtown Raleigh Alliance, said the event is timed to make up for slump in dining out. "The third week in August, we found there was a depression in food and beverage tax revenue. It's the slowest week of the year, so we figured, let's start a promotion to bring people into town that week," she said.
Many restaurants see double- or triple-digit increases in business as people come in for discounted meals.
Tony Preiss, manager of Sitti on Wilmington Street, says Restaurant Week is a great way to introduce people to his Lebanese dining experience.
"It gets people exposed to it, so they're potentially new customers, new friends," he said.
For Donaldo Guzman, executive chef at Sitti, it's a chance to experiment with the menu as well.
"It's a great opportunity for us," he said. "It's a big deal for us."
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