#Restaurant Week expanded to ‘amazing’ five weeks: de Blasio

New York City diners will be able to enjoy temporarily discounted meals at more than 500 restaurants for five weeks this summer, in a lengthened Restaurant Week aimed at helping struggling restaurants recover from the pandemic, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday.

The newly extended tourism and hospitality industry promotion will start on July 19 and end Aug. 22, the mayor said at his daily press briefing.

“Restaurant Week is launching next week, in a new, amazing form,” de Blasio said, boasting of more than a month of “great discounts, great specials” across the five boroughs.

“This is going to be amazing,” he said. “Think about restaurants you’ve always wanted to go to. Here’s the opportunity to experience them, and it’s a wonderful, super Restaurant Week that’s going to be really inviting again for New Yorkers and a special opportunity to come out and celebrate for folks who are not from around here.

“This is the moment to be here, this is the summer of New York City.”

Councilman Keith Powers, who represents parts of the East Side of Manhattan, said this summer’s expanded Restaurant Week is “really exciting news.”

“We are going to really make sure that our restaurants come back stronger than ever before,” said Powers, who touted city politicians’ efforts to help eateries scrape by, including codifying outdoor dining, small business fine and fee relief, and capping third-party delivery app fees.

“This is a big moment where we can now really tell New Yorkers to go out to their favorite restaurants, go out and enjoy this beautiful city of ours, and to make sure that our recovery lifts all our restaurants and bars up at a really important moment,” the Democratic lawmaker added. “I’m really excited.” 

The decades-old, twice-a-year program — which allows New Yorkers and visitors to chow down at fancy restaurants at reduced prices — was held in January in a to-go-only format, in which a record 571 eateries participated. In 2020, the promotion was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.