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Restaurant weeks have been a staple in the Greater Lehigh Valley for a decade. And a new one debuts next week, in the Emmaus area. But do they work? Do they bring new business to the restaurants and more foot traffic so that other retail outlets can benefit? According to restaurateurs and officials that organize restaurant weeks, they do help. “Restaurant week has always been super successful,” said Rachel Griffith, general manager at Bethlehem’s Apollo Grill, whose owner Rod Holt helped to bring the concept to the city. The basic premise of restaurant week is simple. It is designed to draw new customers through a fixed-price menu and/or value pricing, sometimes with specific restaurant-week only offerings, available for the duration of an advertised period of time – typically, one week. Those are reasons why the first East Penn Restaurant Week is scheduled for March 5-11. “Restaurant weeks in neighboring regions have been recorded to bring in more than 10,000 people to participating restaurants,” East Penn organizers said in a letter to restaurants. “Some restaurant owners shared that they had seen a 30-40 percent increase in sales, and 70-90 percent of customers were ordering off … restaurant week menus.” Most restaurant weeks are municipality or regionally based, with the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce or one of its sub-entities typically helping to shepherd them along. Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton all have established restaurant weeks, but smaller municipalities are getting into the act, as well. The Hellertown-Lower Saucon Chamber and Maui Kitchens Inc. ran a restaurant week last July, while the first East Penn Restaurant Week is marketed under the tagline “Eat Up! East Penn!” The East Penn week is presented by the East Penn Chamber, Emmaus Main Street Partners and sponsor New Tripoli Bank, according to Meghan Reed, Emmaus Main Street manager and assistant vice president of the East Penn and Western Lehigh chambers. Participating East Penn restaurants were asked to pay a fee to the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber to cover restaurant week marketing initiatives, said Reed, who was involved with two restaurant weeks in Bethlehem as Downtown Bethlehem Association assistant manager. “Though the restaurants did pay a fee to be included, it’s not geared as a moneymaker for the organization, but to help the greater good for our local businesses,” Reed said. “Our goal is to have the restaurants in the limelight to let them know the diversity and quality and boost traffic in the times that are slower in the year, during times that are usually not as booked.” Mitzi Cullen, owner of French restaurant 187 Rue Principale, which opened on Chestnut Street in Emmaus in 2014, said this is the very reason that restaurant week appealed to her. “We need to get more customers in the door, and March is a slow time for restaurants,” she said. There are long-standing restaurant weeks in the region beyond the ones sponsored by the chamber. For example, The Promenade Shops at Saucon Valley ran restaurant week Feb. 19-23, its 10th year for the promotion, said Liz McGonigal, marketing coordinator for the Upper Saucon Township center. In fact, the Promenade annually runs two restaurant weeks, in February and November. “We have so many different restaurants; we want to highlight our restaurants and increase the exposure of the restaurants that we have here,” McGonigal said. “We want to get those who haven’t tried them a taste of what our restaurants have to offer.” Participating Promenade Shops restaurants are grouped based on categories such as fine dining and fast casual, and menu pricing is tagged to each category. For example, for the most recent restaurant week, Top Cut, a high-end steakhouse, was the only fine dining restaurant, offering a $59 dinner. Meanwhile, casual dining options such as Bar Louie and Red Robin offered $12 lunches and $20 dinners. McGonigal doesn’t have specific data on how much foot traffic is brought in by the Promenade Shop restaurant weeks, although she calls them “very successful.” “We get good participation [from the restaurants] every single time,” she said. Erin DeLong of Emmaus-based ServiceMaster of Allentown and incoming president of the Emmaus Main Street Partners, described restaurant week as an “exciting opportunity” for businesses of the borough. “Restaurant weeks have the potential to positively impact not just the restaurants that will see an influx of patrons, but the businesses in and around the community that will enjoy the extra boost of auto and foot traffic,” she said. “The chance to try new menus at value prices brings people from surrounding areas into the community, quite possibly for the first time, and gives them a chance to see what shops, stores and unique storefronts Emmaus has to offer.” There will be tweaks to the restaurant week concept in East Penn, Reed said, depending on the restaurant. While most establishments will be offering fixed price dinners, there also will be lunch options and other restaurant week specials. “The Pub on Main in Macungie is doing a deal on burgers; not every place is conducive to a fixed price, but they do want to offer something special to their guests,” Reed said. A decade ago, Apollo’s Holt saw restaurant weeks in major cities have great success and pitched the idea to fellow downtown Bethlehem business owners. “And restaurant week was born in Bethlehem,” Griffith said. The Apollo never puts any regular-menu items on its restaurant week menu, instead showcasing all new items. “It’s a wonderful way to showcase your restaurant,” Griffith said. “A great way to be creative.” Read the original article here.