Restaurant Week Reactions Mixed

It is halfway through Westfield’s Restaurant Week, and the verdict is still out on whether the promotion is a win-win for residents and local business owners.

Typically, Westfield restaurants experience a slow period right after school starts, and many business owners had hoped Restaurant Week would give families a reason to dine out. Walking through downtown, the streets did seem a bit busier than usual the week after Labor Day, although the traffic was nowhere near the summer’s peak levels. Restaurant Week runs through Friday.

“They [Downtown Westfield Corporation] definitely did it on a good week,” said Aurelio Cardoso, manager of The Brick Oven.  “Normally this is a slow week for us because the kids are back in school. It hasn’t been crazy busy, but I think it’s a bit better than last year. So far, I haven’t sold a lot of Restaurant Week, but there’s another week to go and more people definitely have been coming into town, which is a good thing for all of us.”

For diners, the promotion seems to be a universally welcomed addition. Some were elated the higher-end restaurants were now within their price range—even for a limited time—and quickly booked reservations. Others dropped in without realizing the event was happening and were thrilled to take advantage of the prix fixe menus.

Many restauranteurs are also happy with the turn-out, although not all have experienced the same results. One restaurant commented that even though people were walking through the door, they are not confident they will actually net out ahead once the price-cuts are taken into account. Some reported large increases while others saw only slight up-ticks in business.

 “To be honest with you, it’s not that it’s any busier or slower than usual,” said William Perillo, manager of Boulevard Bistro. “Our prices are generally $20 per person anyway. We’re not like more expensive restaurants which are substantially cutting their prices. For us, it’s business as usual. People come in anyway. Lunches take some time to build, and that hasn’t changed since Restaurant Week started. That’s up and down. Sometimes it’s the weather. It’s hard to put a finger on why some days are busy for lunch and why some days they’re not. The main thing is business remains constant, which is a good thing.”

According to Wendy Triamarit, a representative of Splash of Thai, the South Avenue location has been a draw for customers looking to take advantage of the culinary specials. South Avenue businesses are dealing with the construction on the roadway for the streetscape project, along with on-going concerns that diners prefer the northside of downtown.

“Business has been very good,” Triamarit said. “Thursday night was really busy. We had a lot of customers. The prix fixe is a good deal for people. Both the lunch and dinner crowds have been very good.”

Tim Boyle, owner of 16 Prospect Wine Bar & Bistro, has decided to permanently add a prix fixe menu option based on the response to his Restaurant Week offerings.

“It’s going well,” Boyle saidd. “We had already been discussing putting a prix fixe option on our menu. The Restaurant Week promotion came just in time so we can test it out. Since we have the bar and we have live music at night, we typically draw a bigger crowd for dinner, but it’s had an affect and increased both our lunch and dinner crowd. We definitely will continue with a prix fixe menu after Restaurant Week is over.”

According to Sherry Cronin, executive director of DWC, many restaurants went above and beyond the promotion’s collaborative marketing plan and rolled out their own efforts, including a Splash of Thai ad on ESPN. Her office has also fielded a number of calls about Restaurant Week, indicating that the promotion has certainly piqued people’s interest.

“This is the first time we’ve run Restaurant Week, and we’re pleased to see the level of participation in a joint promotion like this,” Cronin said. “September is typically a little slow, with everyone going back to school. It’s post-summer and post-Jazz Fest. We’re glad so many restaurants chose to do it. It’s really been a collective effort. While we don’t have every eating establishment in the program, we do have a great representation of the restaurants in downtown Westfield. Thursdays nights are always pretty big in town, so we’re hoping even more people will come out for Restaurant Week.”