Naperville Restaurant Week
Naperville Restaurant Week begins tomorrow and is back for the eighth year. Though it’s called Restaurant Week, you actually have until January 31 to try out the local deals.
During the three-week event, restaurants offer either prix fixe menus or discounts on items or orders. Though it looks bit different this year, that doesn’t mean it was going anywhere.
“We were actually getting emails and calls from restaurants because they were afraid we would take the year off,” said president of Dine Naperville, Christine Jeffries. “And we said ‘absolutely not.’ If there ever was a time to really be encouraging people to go out and pick up food at our restaurants it is now.”
There’s currently 23 participating restaurants so far, but Jeffries said more will be added and expects to have around 40 this year.
How to Get the Deals
The discount deals apply to outdoor dining, pick up, and delivery. Jeffries said during the pandemic, many restaurants have set up their own delivery service instead of using third-party apps.
“I know everybody’s got the different apps on their phone and sometimes that’s the easiest way to go,” said Jeffries. “But truly breaking out as much support as we can for our restaurants and any of those that use their own delivery service, I encourage you to use them.”
On January 6 Governor J.B. Pritzker announced some regions could return to Phase 4 of the Return to Illinois Plan, which allows for indoor dining with capacity limits, on January 15.
Jeffries said if this does happen for Naperville, Restaurant Week deals would then also apply to indoor dining at participating restaurants. The deals would also still be in place for outdoor dining, pick up, and delivery orders.
“We want these restaurants to be there when we get to the other side of COVID-19. It would be too great a loss for our community because it’s where we all go,” said Jeffries. “We need them to be there when we get to to the other side and the only way they can be there is if we help support them.”
Send in Questions
Mayor Steve Chirico has begun a new weekly Facebook Live Town Hall every Wednesday – Naperville Unscripted. On the upcoming January 13 episode, Jeffries said she will be a guest on the show to talk about Naperville Restaurant Week and the public can submit any questions they have during the live town hall.
A full list of participating restaurants can be found on DineNaperville.com.
Naperville News 17′s Aysha Ashley Househ reports.
