Birmingham Restaurant Week Winter Edition set for Jan. 14-31
The Yard Birmingham at Elyton Hotel is among the participants in the extended Winter Edition of Birmingham Restaurant Week. (contributed)
The 2021 Winter Edition of Birmingham Restaurant Week (BRW) is set for Thursday, Jan. 14 through Sunday, Jan. 31.
The 18-day event seeks to support the restaurant and bar industries during a time when it is more crucial than ever. It will feature to-go and curbside pickup options as well as the traditional, but limited, dine-in, as pandemic health precautions are still mandated.
With a variety of options, food and drink lovers with a taste for adventure can enjoy special two- and three-course breakfast, lunch and/or dinner menus ranging from $5 to $50 per person, making it easy and affordable for everyone to enjoy a taste of Birmingham’s diverse dishes and sips.
For the first time, BRW extended the normal 10-day event to 18 days, offering more days for patrons to partake and more opportunity for incoming sales for participating businesses.
BRW is more than eating and drinking, it is about supporting local restaurants and giving people an opportunity to enjoy the South’s most vibrant culinary destinations by offering incentives for patrons to revisit their favorite restaurants, bars and food trucks and to experience new ones.
According to the National Restaurant Association:
- One in six restaurants, representing close to 100,000 units, are closed either permanently or long term, and one in three restaurants will close by year’s end.
- In Alabama, the leisure and hospitality industry has accounted for 49% of all jobs lost since March.
- The state’s $9 billion restaurant economy is at a more severe risk as more than 75% of Alabama’s 8,620 eating and drinking locations are in danger of closing permanently during the ongoing pandemic.
- With business conditions deteriorating, assistance is critical for the survival of many restaurants, as 209,900 jobs could be lost.
- Twenty-one percent of Alabama operators say it is unlikely their restaurant will still be in business six months from now if there are no additional relief packages from the federal government.
When comparing sales as a participant in BRW 2020 versus sales from 2019 during the same time as a non-BRW participant, there was a 141% increase in sales during the pandemic.
Giving back to the community has always been an essential component for BRW with more than $75,000 raised for local nonprofits in its 11 years. Organizers donated $2,500 to the Community Food Bank of Central Alabama after BRW 2020 to help aid in its mission to end hunger.
Participating restaurants and menus are listed on the Eat/Drink page of the BRW website bhamrestaurantweek.com.
This story originally appeared in Iron City Ink.
