By MATT PIKE
It's that time again as St. Joseph Restaurant Week is coming up later this month.
St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce President Natalie Hawn says the always popular event is designed to help highlight restaurants at a time when business typically slows down
"After the holidays, January and February are really hard months for them, and we know those local flavors and those local restaurants are so important to the identity and really that special niche that your community has, so we definitely like to highlight them and make sure that hey survive those couple of months where it’s just kind of rough for them, "Hawn says on the KFEQmunnity show.
“Especially weather like this, you’re not getting out, you’re not eating out, and that’s tough for your local small businesses and restaurants.”
Hawn says the event is also fun because it offers some new special menu items along with the normal restaurant menu
"It gives the opportunity for that patron to go out, maybe try a restaurant they’ve never been to, or try a special menu, it’s kind of like having a secret menu, so it’s kind of fun to try something you don’t normally try at that restaurant,” Hawn explains. “And it’s a really cool way for that restaurant to test a menu item, so maybe they’ve been wanting to look at a vegan option, and they don’t know if it’s going to go over well, it gives them the opportunity to try that.”
Hawn encourages residents if they know of a restaurant they would like to see in the event to try pushing them to get involved.
"Because it’s really a great way to get their name out,” Hawn says. “It also doesn’t have to be every day of Restaurant Week, if they’re a location that’s only open a couple of days, that’s completely fine, it can be a special event, it can be just for the hours that they’re open, it doesn’t have to be during that whole week of Restaurant Week.”
Restaurant week runs February 23rd through March 1st. You can find more information later this month at https://www.stjrestaurantweek.com/
You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.