Charleston Restaurant Week is back for its third year and will be held January 25-30, 2016. The annual week-long event gives Charleston residents and visitors alike opportunities to try many affordable prix-fixe menus around town. The $30 fixed price dinner menu consists of three courses; an appetizer, entrée, and dessert, with several choices for each course.
Restaurant Week has become one of the most highly anticipated culinary events in Charleston as a chance to enjoy local cuisine throughout the week. Reservations are recommended. As a normally slow time of year for business, restaurants use the event to lure people out and gain exposure to new diners. It’s great for Charleston’s restaurants, including a $350,000 economic impact through more than 8000 meals in 2015.
The number of participating restaurants has increased from eight in 2014, to 16 in 2015, to 20 in 2016. There is an abundant variety of neighborhoods and culinary styles represented in participating restaurants this year. Returning Restaurants: Adelphia, B&D Gastropub, Bluegrass Kitchen, Bridge Road Bistro, Celsius, Ichiban Pan Asian Restaurant, Mi Cocina de Amor, Paterno’s at the Park, Soho’s at Capitol Market, Starling’s, Tidewater, and Quarrier Diner. New Restaurants: The Block, Bricks & Barrels, Su Tei, Dem 2 Brothers and a Grill, Aladdin, Leonoro’s Spaghetti House, and Fifth Quarter.
Boasting over 2900 Facebook likes, with reach of 10,000 per post through organic publicity, social media is the main form of advertising for the event. We plan to hold a scavenger hunt, similar to the one in 2015 at local business for fans of Charleston Restaurant Week to win vouchers to use throughout the week. In the past, Local media including the newspapers and numerous television stations posted articles and videos featuring nearly every restaurant partaking in the weeks leading up to and through the event; we expect the same coverage this year.
The #cwvrestweek hashtag will be used for promotion leading up to and during the event with engaging media and advertising. Twitter: @eatlocalcwv. Facebook: @eatlocalcwv.
