Restaurant Week looks to sizzle in Port Washington

Stephen Romano

Inviting residents and visitors to sample some of the area’s best eateries, the Port Washington Business Improvement District will  host the second annual Port Washington Restaurant Week from Oct. 16 to Oct. 23, with restaurants offering a prix fixe menu for $25.

“Restaurant Week brings people from outside the community into the community to see some of our great restaurants,” said Mariann Dalimonte,  executive director of the district. “It’s also a chance for our residents to get out in the community.”

Dalimonte said 21 restaurants are confirmed to participate and Restaurant Week isn’t just a way to promote local businesses, but the Port Washington community, too.

The restaurants will  offer a three-course meal featuring an appetizer, entree and dessert.

“Our town is unique,” Dalimonte said. “We have a beautiful waterfront community, and this just gives people the chance to come eat at the restaurants and find new spots and businesses in the area.’’

Katherine O’Neill, the manager of Sullivan’s Quay, a participating restaurant, said Restaurant Week is a great event that brings people to Port Washington.

“During that week, people tend to go out to eat more and discover new restaurants,” O’Neill said. “And we get people from outside of Port, which is good, because we’re on a peninsula, so people don’t drive through our town. It’s a destination, especially that week.”

Dalimonte said preparation for the event starts in June when she begins reaching out to restaurants and asking for their menus. 

Because it’s a fixed $25 price, she said, restaurants coordinate their menus differently.

PJ O’ Hara, owner of O’Hara’s Ale House & Grill on Port Washington Boulevard, said it would serve items that highlight the restaurant.

“For our menu, we wanted to offer a good mashup of what we offer with a lot of our flagship items,” O’Hara said.

O’Hara’s entree course will feature baby-back ribs, fish and chips, shepherd’s pie and more.

O’Neill said Sullivan Quay’s menu was created by the head chef, and a lot of time and effort was put into the selection process.

The menus, which were due in August, are printed on card stock with corn stalks in the background, matching the corn stalks that are put in parts of Port Washington during fall.

After last year’s Restaurant Week, Dalimonte said, restaurant owners told her their places were crowded every night, and some ran out of reservations.

Owners told Dalimonte that restaurant goers were coming from outside of Port Washington, too, she said.

This year, after customers finish their meal, they will be asked to fill out a survey that will keep track of where people are coming from, where they heard about the event  and how the experience was, Dalimonte said.

Everyone who fills out the survey will be entered in a contest to win a $100 gift card to one of the participating restaurants, Dalimonte said.

“It’s a great event,” Dalimonte said. “I really hope it allows people who have never been to certain restaurants to go.’’ 

The participating restaurants include Ayhan’s Shish-Kebab, BareBurger, Bosphorus Cafe Grill, Diwan Indian Restaurant, f.i.s.h. on main, Frank’s Pizza, Gino’s Pizzeria & Restaurant, Guajiro Restaurant, Hana Harbor Q, Louie’s Oyster Bar & Grille, Marco’s Waterfront Grill, Mi Ranchito, Grill Mojito Café, O’Hara’s Ale House & Grill,

Port Thai Place, Rosso Uptown, Sullivan’s Quay, Toscanini Ristorante Italiano, Wild Honey on Main and Yummy Gyro.

Dalimonte said the Wild Goose, a new restaurant opening on Main Street, will participate if it opens in time. 

Finn MacCool’s is uncertain of its participation, because it is still being renovated after a fire in June.

By Stephen Romano

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