It's cold, your couch is comfy, and the streaming services never end. What motivation is there to get out of your house in January? Well, how about Rockford Region Restaurant Week? Elizabeth Falls is the Marketing Manager for the Rockford Area Convention and Visitor's Bureau. She encourages people to come out to the event, just to avoid the doldrums of winter.
“It's something different for people to do right now," she said. "Because there's not a lot to do in between the holidays. Superbowl Sunday hasn't happened yet, Valentine's Day hasn't happened yet. It's cold outside. Let's go out to some restaurants. Let's go eat. Let's go have some fun.”
Rockford Region Restaurant Week kicks off Jan. 25 and runs through Feb. 4. Falls says there will be many different styles of food for diners to enjoy.
“We have a really great range of cuisine, and I think we probably have maybe about 10 or 12 different kinds of cuisines," Falls said. "We have Filipino, Korean, Indonesian, even Peruvian, Mexican, Irish, Nordic, Italian, Japanese and American soul food as well as American food, of course.”
And she expects even more businesses to participate this year as compared to last year.
“We have over 50 (restaurants) right now," she said, "A few more will join before Restaurant Week begins. It's really exciting because last year we had 53 and I think we're on target to beat last year.”
Not only will people be able to try out new foods and restaurants, Falls says there will also be special offerings and deals available for many of the participants.
“Many of our restaurants are offering tasting menus this year exclusive to Restaurant Week and this is something that we really encourage them to do this year," she said. "It’s really exciting to see that many of them are offering three to four course tasting menus at a really good, discounted price. This is an opportunity for people to try new restaurants they've never experienced it before.”
Diners are encouraged to vote for their favorite restaurants. Falls says they've changed things up a bit from last year's voting process.
“There are five different awards that we give out for Restaurant Week.," she explained. "We changed the categories this year, adjusted them slightly just to make them a little different. Last year we received over 1,000 votes. There is an award for best experience. That will be for the best overall restaurant, that provided the best experience, service, food and everything that goes into having just an amazing experience for our patrons.”
She also highlights the ease as to which diners can cast their vote.
“Go to gorockford.com and on the Restaurant Week page, there is a voting link that's very convenient and easy," Falls said. "There will also be posters at each restaurant. You may also scan a QR code with your phone that will take your straight to the voting link where you can easily vote for your favorites.”
A list of participants and other relevant information related to Rockford Region Restaurant Week are at gorockford.com.
The Rockford Area Convention & Visitors Bureau is a sponsor of WNIJ.
