‘Absolutely fantastic!’ York Restaurant Week to return after first event gets five-star reviews

The inaugural York Restaurant Week has received a five-star review from restaurants and diners alike.

The event, which ran from 1-7 April, was organised by the York BID (Business Improvement District) to boost business for restaurants in the city centre during a quieter time of the year.

It was particularly targeted at encouraging city residents to try something new. Participating venues created special foodie offers for £10, £15 and £20.

And the response has been excellent. Manager at Low Petergate restaurant Mr P’s Curious Tavern Neringa Didzgalvyte said:

• The event was absolutely fantastic!

  So many people were interested and most of them were based in York and surrounding areas. There are not enough events in York oriented towards locals and local businesses.
  

£77K business

During the summer months visitors and tourists help fill the many restaurants and cafés in the summer months, said event co-ordinator, Chris Bush.

“Our aim with York Restaurant Week was to bring local people into the city centre, so we focused all the week’s promotion on those living in and around York – and it worked phenomenally well,” he said.

• We had over 200,000 unique visitors to the dedicated website, our content on social media reached a potential audience of well over one million people, and nearly 5,750 vouchers were downloaded from the website – that equates to over £77,000 worth of business for York restaurateurs.

The impact was seen across the 41 businesses that took part in the week, with 88% saying that the event brought in first time customers and noticeably boosted their trade, attracting both daytime and evening diners.

One restauranteur commented, “It was a positive, non-alcohol based driver of publicity and positive marketing for the city.”

Kendall Craven-Evans, general manager at Grape Lane restaurant Los Moros, said: “Overall, we enjoyed the event and appreciate the effort which went into it.

“We even gained new customers who have returned since the event already!”

Plans are already afoot for 2020, with a slightly earlier date in March planned, and it is hoped that many more businesses within the city centre will join the initiative following the inaugural week’s success.

For more details, please contact Chris Bush at the York BID on 01904 809970 or email chris.bush@yorkrestaurantweek.co.uk.