For food enthusiasts and restaurants alike, the news that Long Island Restaurant Week has already started will cause excitement. The event made its return on Sunday, January 23, and is set to run until Sunday, January 30. With participating restaurants offering food at discounted prices, owners hope to incentivize people to dine out, an activity that has since declined due to the pandemic. LI Restaurant Week helps support local restaurants by helping “bring people through the doors,” as Steve Haweeli, president of the LI Restaurant and Marketing Hospitality Group, states in an interview with Hamptons. As the leader of the event’s organizer, he continues to elaborate that, in addition to the circumstances of the pandemic, “January, landing between the holidays and Valentine’s Day, is a notoriously slow time for local restaurants, so this is a great way to get out of the house, eat well, and help a restaurant owner through the winter” (Greater Long Island).
The award-winning Long Island Restaurant Week first started in 2003 as an annual event that later expanded to bi-annual and then tri-annual. It continuously proved to be widely successful. Participating restaurants experienced an increase in revenue from the promotions and publicity; LI Restaurant Week reported a sharp rise in sales (over 40 to 100%) and reservations (200%). Keeping this data in mind, it is not surprising that the week dedicated to local restaurants has been a greatly-anticipated and flourishing event. Moreover, participating restaurants may find it a worthwhile investment, Haweeli claims in an interview with Long Island Weekly, as many first-time customers usually become frequent ones.
Restaurants taking part in the event offer three-course dinners at fixed prices (prix fixe): $25, $35, or $42. They are required to open this prix-fixe option every night they are open for the duration of the event. At least three options per course (appetizers, entrees, and cuisine) must be provided. Additionally, some restaurants may offer a $20 two-course lunch in which they are also required to offer “it every day they are open during Restaurant Week during lunch hours” (Long Island Restaurant Week). The menus of Nassau County restaurants taking part in this tri-annual event are listed here.
For more information, visit the Long Island Restaurant Week website.