(Provided by NYC & Company)
Jan. 25, 2021 By Michael Dorgan
A citywide initiative kicks off Monday to help struggling restaurants generate some much-needed cash in the midst of ongoing coronavirus lockdowns.
The initiative, called Restaurant Week To Go, features 45 restaurants in Queens as part of the 570 eateries that are participating.
The event runs from Jan. 25 through Jan. 31 and participating eateries are offering customers takeout or delivery meals for $20.21. Each meal will come with at least one side and will be available for either lunch or dinner, or both, depending on the restaurant.
The event is a reimagined winter version of NYC Restaurant Week, which is typically held across the city every summer but was canceled last year due to the pandemic.
NYC & Company, the quasi city tourism and marketing agency that is organizing the event, said the initiative seeks to stimulate an industry that has been hit hard by bans on indoor dining.
“Restaurants and restaurant workers need our support now more than ever,” said Fred Dixon, President and CEO of NYC & Company.
Dixon said that restaurants will get an opportunity to showcase the best of what they have to offer and customers can show their support by availing of the deals.
“To New Yorkers we say make plans to do your part – order often and be generous with gratuities.”
Restaurants will also be given an option to extend the offer until Feb. 7 if they so choose.
The payment company Mastercard is sponsoring the event and is offering discounts to its customers. Mastercard customers who sign up for the company’s All In NYC: Neighborhood Getaways promotion will receive a free $10 credit for each order they make using their Mastercard credit card. The offer can be used to a maximum credit of $100.
Seamless, Grubhub, BentoBox, Bbot and Tock are reducing their commissions or waiving delivery fees for the meal offers.
Below is a list of participating restaurants in Queens:
- Adda Indian Canteen
- Antun’s,
- Applebee’s Grill + Bar – Astoria
- Applebee’s Grill + Bar – Bayside
- Applebee’s Grill + Bar – Fresh Meadows
- Arriba Arriba Sunnyside
- Bareburger – Astoria
- Bareburger – Ditmars
- Bareburger – Forest Hills
- Bareburger – Long Island City
- Beaucoup at Bar Freda
- Bella Via Restaurant
- Casa Del Chef Bistro
- Craft Culture
- Cream
- Don Nico
- El Coyote
- F. Ottomanelli Burgers & Belgian Fries
- Fieldtrip – Long Island City
- Firefly New York
- Guantanamera Restaurant
- Indie LIC
- Kissaki – Long Island City
- La Fusta Restaurant
- Legend Chicken
- Levante
- Little Chef Little Cafe
- London Lennie’s
- Ltauha
- M. Wells
- Manor Oktoberfest of Forest Hills
- Margie’s
- Meet the Meat
- Mistura Peruana
- Neir’s Tavern
- Penny Bridge
- Portofino Restaurant
- Queens Bully
- Rivercrest
- Sac’s Place
- Tada Noodles
- Tropical Restaurant – Woodhaven
- Tuscan Hills
- Uncle Peter’s
- Willie O’s Eatery
One Comment
In these difficult economic times, it is especially important to patronize your neighborhood restaurants.
With indoor dining banned, take out and catering are their only source of income. When ordering take out, why not tip as if you were dinning indoors? My wife and I don’t mind occasionally paying a little more to help our favorite restaurants survive. Don’t forget your cook and server. We try to tip 20 percent against the total bill including taxes. If it is an odd amount, we round up to the next dollar.
These people are our neighbors. Thousands have already had to permanently close their doors. The remaining restaurants are barely hanging on. Who knows how many more weeks or months will go by, before they can reopen indoor dinning with 25%, 50% followed by another return to full 100% capacity?
There are over one hundred thousand NYC residents whose livelihood depends on restaurants that are still out of work. This includes bar tenders, waiters, bus boys, cooks and cashiers. Wholesale food sellers, distributors, delivers, linen suppliers are also at a loss. There are also construction contractors and their employees, who renovate or build new restaurants.
Our local entrepreneurs work long hours, pay taxes and provide local employment especially to students during the summer. If we don’t patronize our local restaurants, they don’t eat either.
Larry Penner