With the Inaugural Lansdale Restaurant Week having wrapped up last Sunday, organizers have had a chance to survey the landscape and assess their performance.
Much to their delight, participation in the event exceeded expectations across the board.
“I believe this first event went off as well as I could have possibly asked for,” said Sean Ciccarone, chef at Smoke Daddy’s and lead organizer for the event. “There was a major influx of people all around Main Street for the greater majority of the week. The warm weather that started off the week was an added bonus, and made those first few days even more lucrative for some of the businesses.”
Nearly all of the participating restaurants reported higher-than-normal sales over the week-long event, which was made evident by a steady stream of posts and photos across multiple social media platforms. Additionally, Ciccarone added that many restaurants saw a spike in first-time diners.
“The first Lansdale Restaurant Week seems to have been a huge success,” said Bill Henning, Lansdale Borough Councilman and Discover Lansdale Board Member. “It was nice to see people sharing their wonderful dining experiences on social media, the community really seemed to embrace and enjoy the event all week long. I know I did.”
The event was initially brainstormed in December, when Ciccarone enlisted the help of Discover Lansdale, Round Guys, Well Crafted and Stove and Tap to launch a week-long event designed to strengthen sales during an industry-wide down period. With the restaurant week committee in place, the group then went throughout the borough to enlist the participation of local businesses.
In total, ten restaurants were featured in the event.
“This has been a tremendous collaborative effort between local businesses, and I look forward to many more,” said Henning. “Cooperative efforts like this is what we need to keep this great momentum going in Lansdale.”
Now that the event has concluded, Ciccarone stated that he intends to draft a survey for both participating restaurants and those who dined throughout the week, in an effort to improve upon the event next year.
“I hope to receive some feedback from both groups of people, as well as suggestions for things people would like to see in future events, to bring back to our Lansdale Restaurant Week Committee,” said Ciccarone.
Ciccarone added that he would like to build upon this year’s success for the 2020 event, and hopes that more restaurants will participate in the coming years.
(Editor’s note: the author of this article is a volunteer with the Lansdale Restaurant Week Committee, and he also serves as Discover Lansdale’s First Friday Committee Chairman)
See also:
Lansdale Restaurant Week Participants, Menus Announced
Lansdale Restaurant Week Coming In February
Inaugural Towamencin Beer And Wine Fest On Tap For June
‘Ür Brewery’ Coming To Downtown Lansdale In May
An 'Underground' Look At Entertainment In Lansdale
