Restaurants featuring everything from doughnuts to vegan burgers and Zambian food will be featured in the Champaign County Area Restaurant Week, Running from Jan. 29 to Feb. 6. 

Due to COVID-19, this five-year tradition for Champaign County looks a little different, according to Terri Reifsteck, Vice President of Marketing & Community Engagement for Visit Champaign County.

Reifsteck said even though Governor Jay Pritzker permitted indoor dining with limited seating and safety precautions, many restaurants elected takeout as their only option for customers.

Reifsteck said financial strains have forced many restaurants to lay-off employees. Due to this, restaurants are understaffed and find serving indoors difficult.

“The majority of the restaurants that are participating are preferring to do the takeout edition,” Reifsteck said. “Most of our restaurants are short-staffed right now.”

However, some restaurants will have indoor dining. This is the case for The Wheelhouse, an American restaurant in St. Joseph.

“We’re happy to have customers either way right now,” Ryan Rogiers, chef and owner of The Wheelhouse, said.

Rogiers said due to COVID-19 limiting dining options for customers, The Wheelhouse has faced financial difficulties. 

“Our overall revenue for the year is definitely down, and when it was just takeout only we were surviving but just to be able to open the doors again,” Rogiers said.

These financial difficulties are common for many local restaurants, which is part of Reifsteck’s motivation when planning Restaurant Week.

Reifsteck said she was sad to see that many of Restaurant Week’s past participants have closed within the past year.

“I always ask the restaurants that have participated in the past if they will join us again for the year,” Reifsteck said. “That was a bit challenging this year. Some of our past participants have closed.”

In addition to dining restrictions due to COVID-19, late January and early February tends to provide slow business for restaurants, Reifsteck said. Rogiers has experienced this and cites the lull after the holidays as the main reason.

“After the holidays and the New Year, January is usually a slow time,” Rogiers said.

In addition to restaurants, Reifsteck said Restaurant Week features caterers. She said caterers have been hit especially hard by COVID-19.

“Caterers had been hit very hard during the pandemic, because there are no events for them to cater,” Reifsteck said.

Due to takeout being primary focus of Restaurant Week, Reifsteck said that like caterers, the event has a more diverse list of food providers than in the past. 

For example, Reifsteck said there is a food truck: La Paloma.

“You can go to this food truck and pick-up the specials they’re offering and take it home like you would any other time,” Reifsteck said. “La Paloma food truck is always on campus, so this is a great opportunity for students to take advantage of.”

Moving forward, Reifsteck said Restaurant Week might see a shift in what the event has previously looked like in order to be more inclusive of those willing to participate.

In order to attract more business, many restaurants are offering meals in family packs, Reifsteck said. 

“We have a lot of family packs available, which is great for students who have apartments where they all want to feed everyone there,” Reifsteck said.

On The Wheelhouse’s menu is a Quarantine Date Night Special, a four-course meal with wine for two. 

There are currently over 30 restaurants participating in Restaurant Week, but Reifsteck expects more to join.

When asked which restaurants Reifsteck is personally excited for, she responded, “That’s like asking who my favorite child is.” 

Reifsteck said all the restaurants are unique and have delicious food. She mentioned Stango Cuisine specifically, the only Zambian food restaurant in the country.

For the community to share their experiences interacting with restaurants, Reifsteck said there’s a social media contest for a $100 gift card to a participating restaurant. To enter, one can post using the hashtag #ccrestaurantweek.

“The opportunity for people to try new flavors is really exciting, and it really shows the diversity of our community,” Reifsteck said.

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