Galveston’s Inaugural Restaurant Week, Jan. 15 – 21

Get ready for one oh-so-delicious week of dining as Galveston’s food scene is celebrated in the island’s first Restaurant Week January 15 through 21. The event is being coordinated by Galveston.com & Co. and will highlight some of the most excellent and flavorful dishes that Galveston Island has to offer. As home to the finest Gulf Coast seafood and several renowned restaurants, Galveston is eager to hand the reins over to restaurant owners and give them a chance to show what they are made of. A boost in business is always a good thing too.
Jim Cordell with Galveston.com & Co. was inspired by the concept of Restaurant Week during a trip to New York several years ago. Cordell was impressed with the growth and national presence of the event. Although Galveston.com & Co. appreciated the difference in size between our island and the island of Manhattan, they saw potential for this exciting initiative and decided to embark in this lucrative trend, just as other similarly sized cities like Baltimore and Charleston are doing.

Approximately 30 restaurants are scheduled to participate in this preliminary Restaurant Week. Cordell said they have invited all restaurants to participate during the week for either lunch or dinner, or both. “It is an initiative to get people to come to Galveston during the off season and try several restaurants,” he says. Galveston.com & Co. chose to run Restaurant Week in January between the GHF Battle of Galveston Event and Yaga’s Annual Chili Quest & Beer Fest in hopes to capture some overflow of the two events.
For those who are not aware, this is how Restaurant Week works: There are no passes to buy, no coupons to carry and no cards to punch; only a quick call to the restaurant of your choice to make a reservation during the week of January 15 through 21. While dining at the restaurant of your choice, you choose from a preset menu ranging from attractive prices of $10 to $45. Reservations are strongly recommended.
On the flipside, participating restaurants pay a fee to enter Restaurant Week and a portion of that fee benefits the Paco Vargas Scholarship Fund. The rest covers advertising and promotional pieces to stir up interest. Cordell hopes to maintain Restaurant Week in Galveston twice a year during off-season times to advance the local economy.
Participating eateries include 901 Postoffice, Bernardo’s at Hotel Galvez, The Tremont House, DiBella’s, Gaido’s, Luigi’s, Mario’s Seawall, Sky Bar, Olympia The Grill at Pier 21, Saka Sushi & Hibachi, Shearn’s, Boudreaux’s on the Bayou, The West End Restaurant and more.
Galveston.com & Co. invites everyone to experience cuisine that will amplify your palate and highlight the fun of dining on Galveston Island. This new culinary tradition promises to “celebrate delicious” like no other event of the year. Also look for chances to win a cruise giveaway for two, simply by sharing your favorite restaurant photos online at GalvestonRestaurantWeek.com. The cruise giveaway will be awarded to those who upload photos of restaurant entrees to Facebook. Each participant can submit one photo per restaurant, but the more restaurants they visit, the more opportunity they have to win. At the close of Restaurant Week diners can vote on their favorite photos and the winner will receive a cruise trip for two.
This January we will discover why Galveston Island is one of the Gulf Coast’s most diverse culinary destinations. For more information and a complete list of participating locations for Galveston Restaurant Week (and their menus), please visit www.galvestonrestaurantweek.com.

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Photos by Shannon Rowan

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