Beaufort's first Restaurant Week 'in the belly'
Lots of patrons grabbed their appetites and enjoyed Beaufort’s first ever Restaurant Week last week in a celebration of our local culinary scene, and we were no exception. With Beaufort’s first one in our bellies, we can hardly wait until next year’s.
Organized by the Beaufort Regional Chamber of Commerce, from January 25th through the 31st folks were able to enjoy a spectacular prix fixe dinner menu at a participating local restaurant for only $25 per person (and $25 for TWO at downtown’s Panini’s), definitely giving hungry Beaufortonians an excellent opportunity to discover new dining spots and to re-visit a few of their old favorites too.
We enjoyed deals at a few of the 11 participating local restaurants and were quite happy with the value-vs-portion that was given at each, not to mention the special dishes that were put together to give us a true ‘taste of Beaufort’.
You were able to enjoy an anti-pasta salad, two small handmade pizzas and a salad at Panini’s; blackened shrimp, a salad and Frogmore Stew at Plums; homemade she crab soup, grilled chicken breasts with fresh lump crab piled high on top and some seriously good cheesecake for dessert at the Johnson Creek Tavern, just to name a few of the delicacies on the menu.
How was it from the restaurant’s point of view?
“We had a great time over Restaurant Week”, said Nick Borreggine, owner of Port Royal’s Fat Patties. “It brought more people into our restaurant, whether they ordered from our Restaurant Week Menu or not, we saw more patrons across the board all week,” he added. “We’ll be there next year too.”
“Overall, I think it was good for downtown restaurants,” said Paul Thompson, owner of Panini’s on the Waterfront. “We saw a little extra activity on our slower nights, and Saturday night was definitely good for January.”
Also, Blakely Williams, Beaufort Regional Chamber of Commerce President & CEO said, “we are thrilled with the positive response we received about Beaufort Restaurant Week and were excited to see our restaurants booming during a time of year that is typically slower. The restaurants delivered delicious menus that we hope will encourage locals and visitors to become loyal customers throughout the year. We look forward to enhancing Beaufort Restaurant Week next year and making it a signature event for our area.”
Our town has a fantastic local restaurant scene, and we’re certainly excited to watch this event build on its success and we certainly look forward to more local spots getting on board to make it bigger and better.
Bon appetit, Beaufort.