By: Hadassa Kalatizadeh
On Monday, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a lengthened Restaurant Week this summer, at which patrons can enjoy discounted meals at some 500 eateries across the five boroughs of New York City, in an effort to help revitalize restaurants following the pandemic. The newly extended five-week promotion, from the tourism and hospitality industry, will begin on July 19 and end Aug. 22, the mayor said at his daily press briefing. “Restaurant Week is launching next week, in a new, amazing form,” de Blasio said. He said patrons can expect “great discounts, great specials” at some 500 eateries in NYC.
“This is going to be amazing,” he said. “Think about restaurants you’ve always wanted to go to. Here’s the opportunity to experience them, and it’s a wonderful, super Restaurant Week that’s going to be really inviting again for New Yorkers and a special opportunity to come out and celebrate for folks who are not from around here.” He added, “This is the moment to be here, this is the summer of New York City.”
Councilman Keith Powers, who represents parts of the East Side of Manhattan, shared the enthusiasm, saying the summer’s expanded Restaurant Week is “really exciting news.” “We are going to really make sure that our restaurants come back stronger than ever before,” said Powers. He added that city politicians’ are helping restaurants get back on their feet by allowing outdoor dining, adding small business fine and fee relief, and by capping third-party fees from delivery apps. “This is a big moment where we can now really tell New Yorkers to go out to their favorite restaurants, go out and enjoy this beautiful city of ours, and to make sure that our recovery lifts all our restaurants and bars up at a really important moment,” added Powers, a Democrat.
As reported by the NY Post, restaurant week was introduced decades ago as a twice-a-year opportunity for dinners to enjoy the city’s fancy restaurants at reduced prices. This year the program will last for over a month. It was last held in late January but only for take-out, due to social distancing restrictions. The last to-go promotion had a record 571 restaurants participating, beating the previous record of 391 set in the summer of 2017, thanks to organizer NYC & Company who waived the restaurant fees to participate in the program. In 2020, the promotion had been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
