糖心Vlog

Breaking News
Business

Downtown Parkersburg restaurant week gets a second helping

Frigid weather limited participation initially

By Brett Dunlap 4 min read

PARKERSBURG -- Despite the recent cold weather, downtown restaurants have been promoting what they have to offer to the community during a double dose of Restaurant Week.

Due to the recent snap of cold weather, Downtown Parkersburg's Restaurant Week has been extended through Feb. 7.

"The purpose of the week is to highlight and to give a boost and shed a light on the downtown locally owned and operated restaurants, and there are 12 of them," said Amanda Stevens, executive director of Downtown PKB. "Most people don't actually realize there are that many.

"We think that is a phenomenal number, and we wanted to do something to honor that and really draw attention to that."

There are actually 16 restaurants in downtown Parkersburg, according to Stevens with 12 of them locally owned and operated.

Those include the Blennerhassett Restaurant & Lounge, Cafe Joseph, Chams Lebanese Cuisine, Crystal Cafe, Huffman's Prime Steakhouse, Jimmy Avocado's, Parkersburg Brewing Company, The Pizza Station, Sips, Sycamore Sweets, Unity Mac Bar & Bistro and Wine Down on Market.

The first quarter of the year is usually hard on restaurants, Stevens said, since it's after the Christmas holiday season and people aren't traditionally out spending money.

"That lull between Christmas and Valentine's Day is a time when restaurants really hurt," Stevens said. "The last week of January is traditionally when areas have a Restaurant Week."

The cold weather was a factor in extending the event another week.

"Because of the extreme cold and ice, we extended it through Feb. 7," Stevens said.

The various restaurants are having specials and other offers they are presenting to customers.

"Each restaurant does its own thing," Stevens said. "They are all so different.

"Some are doing special menu items, some are doing special pricing, and some are doing live entertainment with dinner."

Downtown PKB has a page on their website and a Facebook for Restaurant Week that lists each participating restaurant and what they are offering.

When people eat at one of these restaurants, they can enter for a chance to win one of five gift baskets that are worth over $200 each in a drawing that will be held Feb. 9.

Crystal Patterson, general manager of the Parkersburg Brewing Co. on Market Street,said the weather kept some people away last week, but they have seen people coming in this week.

"I have seen some new faces that are not the typical regulars," she said. "We did have some people come in from the hotels around us who came in and told us they were specifically here for (Restaurant Week)."

Patterson said she appreciates a promotion like Restaurant Week at the beginning of the year to help build interest in local restaurants. She would like to see a similar event during the warm weather months as well.

Zak Huffman, owner of Huffman's Prime Steakhouse on Market Street, said the event has been great for them.

"We saw a lot of first-time guests," he said. "I think Downtown PKB has done a wonderful job with Restaurant Week this year."

Huffman's has a reservation system and they were able to manage things effectively.

"We did not see a dip in business," Huffman said. "Those committed reservations were already in, and I think that really helped us."

Part of their promotion was doing a "Taste of Huffman's" which included samples of all of their popular items at a discounted price and that was a big hit.

"I am thankful for all the restaurants that participated and for Downtown PKB for putting it on," Huffman said.

Stevens said the promotion is really about promoting what is here in the local area.

"Downtown is really the heart of the community and we want people to support small businesses all the time," she said.

Brett Dunlap can be reached at bdunlap@newsandsentinel.com

Starting at /week.