When, where to find Restaurant Week meal deals in different Virginia cities
Www.newport-news.org/visitors/newport-news-restaurant-awareness-week
January and February are always slow for restaurants — but this year, that matters more than usual. In most years, the restaurants would be buoyed by a coffer of money from the busy holiday season. This year, that piggybank was broken long before December.
And so this year’s restaurant weeks takes on extra urgency, in cities from Newport News to Virginia Beach. It’s a way to get diners thinking about restaurants, in pandemic times when restaurants really need the business. Restaurants throughout the region are offering two- and threecourse meals for lower prices than usual, in a rolling schedule of weeks. (Note that Suffolk’s next restaurant week is not till March, and Chesapeake’s is in October.)
Luckily, the weather has mostly cooperated this year, making patio dining an option as cases rise perilously in Hampton Roads — without even forcing anyone to resort to unventilated, enclosed tents that may not offer more protection from coronavirus transmission than indoor dining.
But takeout is a new and essential option this year. And many restaurants are also taking the once-unusual step of also offering their multi-course meal deals as to-go orders, not just for dining in. (If you want to be extra-nice to a struggling restaurant, also order a cocktail to go. These boozy takeout times probably won’t last forever.)
Here’s the rundown of restaurant weeks in the region, and a link to the websites where you can find the menus for your favorite spots. Grab a bag, eat a nice meal.
Newport News Restaurant Awareness Week Ongoing until Jan. 23. Full restaurant list at https://
Restaurants all over Newport News are offering a wide variety of deals through Jan. 23. This may be $25 meal for two and cheap cocktails at Nepalese spot VEDEat, a $10 two-course lunch at Schlesinger’s Steakhouse (including a low-roasted pork pho), or fancy threecourse meals at Fin Seafood for $30. If the restaurant doesn’t specify takeout is available, call in advance to verify.
Downtown Norfolk Restaurant Week
The Norfok restaurant week is always one of the most extensive in the region, with multi-course deals for both lunch and dinner. This year, this could mean a $35 high-end surf and turf takeout from Omar’s Carriage
House (steak with an octopus appetizer, for example) or Todd Jurich’s (maybe some tune poke and dry aged steak), or a simple $12 vegan soup and Reuben meal from Neon-district spot Cafe Milo. Most online menus will specify whether takeout or outdoor dining are available. Call ahead if unsure.
Portsmouth Restaurant Week
The details are still filling in on Portsmouth restaurant deals, but expect around a couple dozen restaurants to offer two-course lunches at $10 or $15, or three-course dinners for $25 or $35. Restaurants include range from barbecue spots such as P-town BBQ or Bubba n Frank’s, and seafood restaurants like The Lobscouser or Fish & Slips. Check the website for more details as the week draws nearer.
Virginia Beach Restaurant Week
Virginia Beach Restaurant week has not yet posted a list of participating restaurants. But they did post a pivotal innovation for coronavirus times: the very welcome addition of $25, $40 and $60
Matthew Korfhage, 757-446-2318, matthew.korfhage @pilotonline.com
take-out family meals to the roster of meal options. Thats in addition to $5 takeout cocktails, plus special wine-bottle prices, and the usual battery of lunch and dinner deals. Bookmark the site for tons of fun home eating in February.