Eat LBC, Long Beach Restaurant Week had a successful second year, and dates for next year’s feeding frenzy will be announced in the next few months.
‘I think what this second year has demonstrated is that Long Beach can support an annual Restaurant Week, said Eat LBC Co-Founder Elizabeth Borsting. ‘We have great restaurants and dynamic neighborhoods, and Eat LBC is just an added motivator for people to explore the city and their palate.
Eat LBC polled both its restaurants and guests who dined out during Long Beach Restaurant Week. More than 85 percent of the restaurants surveyed felt that Eat LBC introduced new guests to their concept with the majority reporting between a 5 to 30-percent increase in revenue and guest count.
‘We were very pleased to see the amount of new guests during Eat LBC, said Chef Arturo Gonzalez of Panxa in Belmont Heights. ‘Since we are a new restaurant, it really helped give exposure to people who didn’t know about us!
Erwin Angeles of Kihon Sushi + Japanese Tapas said, ‘We had a lot of large parties come in during Eat LBC, and Long Beach Restaurant Week is definitely giving the city some recognition as a dining destination. We welcomed many guests who were from outside the area, which is great.
For the consumer, more than 50-percent dined at two or more participating Eat LBC restaurants during Long Beach Restaurant Week, a 10-percent increase from last year. Of those guests surveyed, the majority said they were motivated to dine out during Eat LBC because of the innovative menus, the opportunity to try a new restaurant, and to support the Long Beach culinary community.
Fifty restaurants, from casual eateries and gastropubs to fine dining restaurants, participated in Restaurant Week with more than 40 percent participating for the first time. Restaurants from 4th Street’s Retro Row and Downtown to Belmont Shore and beyond offered special three-course, prix fixe menus at $20, $30 or $40 with fine dining restaurants, such as Queensview Steakhouse and The Sky Room, presenting Chef’s Tasting menus for $50.
In addition to the several restaurants that participated, Eat LBC also had two-dozen key sponsors that helped to make the event a success, including JetBlue, Celebrity Cruises, Stella Artois, Dreambox Creations, and The Press Telegram. Hyatt The Pike was the backdrop for Eat LBC’s Launch Party where more than 300 guests convened at the downtown boutique hotel to sample food from select participating restaurants. KJAZZ 88.1 also broadcast its popular afternoon show Nothin’ But The Blues from the event.
‘The feedback we’ve received from both the restaurants and their guests has been overwhelmingly positive, added co-founder Terri Henry. ‘We hope to continue to grow Long Beach Restaurant Week each year by adding more restaurants and increasing public participation and awareness.
posted by Andrea Gonzalez 05/26/15
