2nd Restaurant Week Deemed a Sucess

By Lisa Capitelli
Staff Writer, Ocean City Today

Ocean City’s second annual Restaurant Week promotion was as profitable, if not more beneficial for diners and business owners this year than last.

Twenty-two restaurants provided diners with a culinary experience through the first week of June, offering two- and three-course prix fixe lunch and dinner menus for $20 and $30.

“It’s a great promotion. People love it,” said Travis Wright, chef/owner of The Shark on the Harbor. “It gives people from out of town and locals a chance to try new places and go to multiple restaurants in one week because it’s such a good deal.”

Wright said for only the second year, the promotion is quite successful, judging by the number of participating restaurants and the diners who visited them. It was promoted very well, he added, and the feedback overall was good.

“It was stellar,” said Julius Adam Sanders, chef/owner of Jules restaurant on 118th Street. “It was definitely better than last year. It knocked last year out of the park.”

Sanders will continue the $30-three course prix fixe menu through the month of June. This year, Sanders offered a Sunday “White Linen” brunch for $20, which he will also run on Sundays in June.

Sanders said people were excited to hear the promotion would be available for more than just one week at Jules because the restaurant was booked with reservations and some diners were turned away.

Susan Jones, executive director of the Hotel-Motel-Restaurant Association said the goal of Restaurant Week was to get the word out about culinary tourism and that Ocean City is a dining destination.

“I think certainly more and more people are recognizing that we have great restaurants right here … and that we’ve got a lot of creative chefs and really good places to dine and you don’t have to drive so far like you used to,” Jones said. “People were excited to try new restaurants and they saw the value in the prix fixe menus.”

In an e-mail sent to the HMRA, Melanie McKnight of Laurel, Md. said the promotion was a great idea and dined out three times during the week.
Cynthia Barnett-Ryan of Morgantown, W.Va., also took part.

“We were only able to attend one of the restaurants, but thoroughly enjoyed our meal,” Barnett-Ryan said. “I especially liked the how some restaurants tried to provide innovative menus for their fare.”

Since the June promotion has been a positive experience for both diners and restaurant owners, Jones said she was going to suggest to the HMRA board that this become a twice-a-year event. She is thinking the fall, possibly early October, would be a good time.

Sanders thought having Restaurant Week twice a year was “a brilliant idea” and said Jules would “participate in a heartbeat.”

“Anything to get people out and trying new things is key,” he added.
Wright agreed that only good things would come from offering the promotion in the fall.

“Anything that gives people a reason to come to town in the off-season or shoulder season is great,” Wright said. “Everybody wins with this for sure, the diners, the restaurants, the hotels and other businesses in Ocean City.”

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