There may be no such thing as a free lunch, economists argue, but this year’s Downtown Dining Weeks surely challenges the idea.

For the first time in its 14-year history, the annual promotion hosted by the Downtown Committee will offer lunch specials alongside their usual deals on dinner. From Thursday until Feb. 28, customers can stop in to any of the 21 participating restaurants and order a three-course lunch for just $10. A record 35 establishments will be offering three-course dinners for $25 or less.

“We hope it will be a fun way to include restaurants that are only open for lunch and that the special menus offered will encourage the 28,000 employees who work in Downtown Syracuse to step away from their desks and enjoy lunch out with friends,” said Merike Treier, the committee’s executive director, in the organization’s press release.

This year’s expansion allows lunch-only restaurants like The Sweet Praxis to participate for the first time in the annual promotion.

“We already offer lunch every day, and because we have desserts, sweets and hot beverages like espresso drinks, it just made sense to do a little ‘Choose three from our menu,’” said Jennifer Walls, co-owner of The Sweet Praxis. “We’ll see new faces, and it’ll be great for our existing customers too.”

Gillian Pelkonen | Contributing Photographer

Patrons of The Sweet Praxis will have the option to choose from a bagel with cream cheese, tartine of choice, spicy Thai peanut salad or focaccia for their first course. Customers can choose any two of the following to round out the meal: small drip coffee, loose leaf tea, peanut butter buckeye, French macaron or any single cookie.

The Sweet Praxis is one of many downtown restaurants outside of Armory Square partaking in the promotion.

“A lot of times when central New York in general thinks of downtown, I think that the instinct is to think of Armory Square and not the seven other neighborhoods that are a part of downtown Syracuse,” said Alice Maggiore, communications manager for the Downtown Committee.

The committee defines “downtown” as the 82 blocks bordered by Interstate 690 and Interstate 81, Adams Street and Onondaga Creek.

By involving restaurants in most of the neighborhoods, the committee hopes that the 45,000 to 50,000 anticipated customers can fully enjoy all of the opportunities downtown Syracuse has to offer.

“I think the more businesses (the committee) includes on their map, the more likely folks are to come adventure outside of Armory Square,” Walls said.

Maggiore said the committee also hopes that college students, who may normally be confined to a tight budget, find the deals appealing.

The recent addition of ride-sharing services to the Syracuse community have made it easier for students to get downtown.

Slow business amid the dreary February weather inspired the Downtown Committee to first implement Downtown Dining Weeks in 2005 as a one-week promotion to drive customers to downtown restaurants. In 2009, the committee added another week in response to its favorable reception.

Four downtown hotels — the Marriott Syracuse Downtown, the Jefferson Clinton Hotel, the Courtyard by Marriott at Armory Square and the Residence Inn by Marriott at Armory Square — began offering the “Sleep Over Package” last year. The special reduces rates to $185 per night throughout the two weeks in an attempt to capitalize on the influx of customers to the central New York region.

Gillian Pelkonen | Contributing Photographer

This year, there are three ways that Dining Weeks patrons can give back to the Food Bank.

If hotel guests provide a Dining Weeks dinner receipt, they can choose to have their hotel donate $25 to the Food Bank of Central New York as part of the committee’s first-time partnership with the organization.

Customers can also bring a nonperishable food item for donation to any of the four parking locations downtown: the Atrium Garage, the Clinton Street Garage, the surface lot at Fayette and Walton Street or the lot at Fayette and Clinton Streets. With a donation, they can park for just $5 after 5 p.m.

On Food Bank Fridays, customers will receive a Food Bank pledge card at their table on the two Fridays that fall during the promotion, which are Feb. 16 and 23.

Maggiore said the Food Bank can translate a $1 donation into three meals. “So, if someone gives $5, all of a sudden that’s 15 meals for an individual in need.”

Published on February 11, 2018 at 10:29 pm

Contact Adam: aglehner@syr.edu