Now in its third year, the event features around 75 participating restaurants – ranging from food trucks and casual cafes to fine dining establishments.
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Dozens of local restaurants are offering special deals and limited-time menus as part of Fayetteville Restaurant Week, an annual event designed to draw more diners during the typically slow summer season.
Now in its third year, the event features around 75 participating restaurants – ranging from food trucks and casual cafes to fine dining establishments – all offering incentives to attract both locals and visitors.
“We hope that people will come out and try something new, because we have such a diversity of restaurants in Fayetteville,” Sarah King, Vice President of Marketing and Communications with Experience Fayetteville, said. “You’ll see some of our legacy restaurants, folks who’ve been in business 20-30 years, who are offering a little something like a sampler platter to brand new restaurants.”
King said Fayetteville has over 360 restaurants with a wide variety of selections available.
She said the event is a way to both celebrate and shine a light on the local culinary scene.
“We’ll hear from the community, ‘Wow, I’ve got my card filled out for the whole week, because I’m going to take advantage of this great deal,’” King said. “So, whether you want to find something special, whether you want to find a great deal or a freebie, take a look at the list. There’s a lot to choose from.”
Jeremy Brown, co-owner of Nomads Trailside, said July is often the slowest month of the year for his restaurant, and for many others across Fayetteville.
He said events like this help increase foot traffic from both locals and visitors.
“July is really hard in Fayetteville to really get people out, because it’s hot, people are at the lake or they won’t want to be in public,” Brown said. “But when you have an event or something that brings you out, gives you something to do that’s out of the ordinary, I think it brings people out.
Brown said marketing can be costly for local businesses, and events like Restaurant Week offer valuable exposure.
“Fayetteville has a lot of people that are in and out of town, or even for people that live in Bentonville or Rogers,” Brown said. “When you have Fayetteville Restaurant Week, it actually probably brings in people from other cities and creates an event, something for people to experience, and they save a little bit of money by going in and experiencing all the different restaurants, all the different flavors.”
Fayetteville Restaurant Week runs through Saturday, July 26. A list of participating restaurants can be found here.