Experience Champaign-Urbana will host its 10th Annual Champaign-Urbana Area Restaurant Week, Jan. 30 – Feb. 7. The nine-day celebration of the C-U culinary scene includes options for breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert at local restaurants across C-U and select places in Rantoul, Mahomet and Monticello, Illinois.
In 2016, Experience Champaign-Urbana hosted its first-ever restaurant week to provide a much-needed boost to local restaurants during the slower winter months. The event started with 17 participating restaurants, and, over the past decade, the event has seen steady growth, surpassing 60 participating restaurants this year.
“Our culinary scene has certainly shifted and changed over the past 10 years,” said Terri Reifsteck, Experience Champaign-Urbana Vice President of Destination Branding and Development. “We’ve gotten a lot of new restaurants over that time, and the types of restaurants that we have really expanded.”
Nathan Escue, general manager of Hamilton Walker’s, who has been participating in restaurant week for all 10 years, said that the winter months can be a difficult time for restaurants, with the cold weather and start of the new year often leading to lower sales. He said the publicity of Restaurant Week serves as a great way to keep business booming.
“The new year, the cold weather, the gym memberships are up, the dining out is down,” Escue said. “Certainly, Restaurant Week is a way to showcase our culinary scene, but also to stir that momentum and business in the restaurant world that needs it.”
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Restaurant Week also offers an opportunity for more expensive restaurants to provide value meals, giving people a chance to experience their food at an affordable price. Both Hamilton Walker’s and Big Grove Tavern are offering three-course meal options for under $40.
“We are striving to provide options,” Escue said. “We write a menu to offer all palates, all interests, an option … and that’s proven by our Restaurant Week menu.”
Restaurants like 83 Vietnamese Cuisine, Watson’s Shack & Rail and Baldarotta’s Porketta & Sicilian Sausage also use Restaurant Week as an opportunity to try new menu items and bring out limited-time specialty dishes for the event.
Reifsteck said Restaurant Week is also a great opportunity to try out recently opened restaurants such as Lazy Daisy Diner + Cafe in Lincoln Square Mall, which opened in August.
“When you think about Champaign-Urbana, you really have to think about the makeup of our community, and that is the University, and it’s the multicultural part of this community,” Reifsteck said. “It is the international flavors. It is the people that are coming from all over the world, and that’s really reflected in these businesses that are participating.”
Menus for participating restaurants are available on the Experience Champaign-Urbana website. Diners should be aware that these are subject to change as the event progresses. Reifsteck said diners are strongly encouraged to make reservations where available or dine at outside peak hours and to have patience during the busy event.
In addition to the event, Experience Champaign-Urbana’s title sponsor, U of I Community Credit Union, will host a contest for a $500 prize package. There will be a QR code at each restaurant that guests can scan to share their favorite dish from the week and be entered to win.
“Restaurant Week is a powerful example of ‘Do More Good’ in action, supporting local businesses, strengthening our economy and bringing people together,” said Brooke Blankenship, Associate Vice President of Marketing at U of I Community Credit Union, in a press statement. “It’s about more than great food; it’s about community. We’re proud to present an event that celebrates the people, flavors and local restaurants that make Champaign-Urbana such a special place to call home.”
