A Look Back at NYC Restaurant Week
Lorenzo's Restaurant, Bar & Cabaret. Photo: Lanna Apisukh
Fresh out of college in the early 1990s, Tren’ness Woods-Black reveled in NYC’s Restaurant Week, treating it like a backstage pass to the City’s white-tablecloth restaurants. She and her aunts, all “major foodies,” would go to places they wouldn’t usually go and eat at places that were normally out of reach. “Restaurant Week has always been something I look forward to,” she says. Today, she helps guide Restaurant Week as part of NYC Tourism’s Executive Restaurant Committee, while Sylvia’s, the Harlem restaurant her grandmother founded, regularly participates.
Tren'ness Woods-Black and her grandmother, Sylvia Woods. Courtesy, Tren'ness Woods-Black
The very first Restaurant Week was in July 1992. Tim Zagat (yes, that Zagat) and Joseph Baum of The Four Seasons were charged with finding a way to entertain delegates in town for the Democratic National Convention. Their solution was to convince New York’s most exclusive establishments to offer a deal almost too good to be true—a three-course lunch for $19.92, priced to match the year.
Getting the restaurants to agree was like herding cats, according to Tracy Nieporent, the chair of the tourism board’s Restaurant Committee for 17 years. However, the venues that did participate were overwhelmed by the response from out-of-towners and locals alike. “We never expected the enthusiasm we got,” The Russian Tea Room’smanager, Jeanine Silvani, says. “We were taken aback by all the different cultures who joined us and the appreciation that everyone showed.”
Archival image of The Russian Tea Room. Courtesy, The Russian Tea Room
In the early days, word of mouth was the primary promotional method. Organizers pulled off publicity stunts, like the time a giant cheesecake appeared in Grand Central Terminal. Meanwhile, some restaurateurs took it upon themselves to bring in customers. David Burke, who had just opened Park Avenue Cafe, built an elaborate fish shack with netting and fishing poles on Park Avenue, serving his signature pastrami salmon sandwiches.
David Burke
Within years, the event grew into multiple Restaurant Weeks across the seasons, expanded from lunch to dinner and spread from Manhattan to all five boroughs. There are now three price points, so expensive restaurants can still offer their high-end menus, and more affordable restaurants aren’t priced out. Barbetta, one of the original 1992 participants, witnessed the complete transformation. “Restaurant Week has come a long way. It was a simple concept of fixed-price menus. Today, it’s evolved into a major culinary event that people look forward to year-round,” owner Laura Maioglio says.
Now, you’ll find Restaurant Weeks in almost every major American city. “We created something that has had lasting power to influence dining,” Nieporent says.
An Opportunity for Culinary Creativity
Throughout the years, restaurants have approached Restaurant Week in different ways. Some, like Burke, prefer to showcase what the restaurant does well. “We want to give people what we make,” he says.
The Russian Tea Room followed this philosophy for their first Restaurant Week, using it as platform for introducing new diners to dishes that could be slightly intimidating. For an appetizer, they opted for the signature borscht, a beet-based soup made with a beef and bacon broth for a hint of smoky flavor. “As expected, it was one of our most ordered items,” Silvani says. They paired it with the legendary boeuf Stroganoff—red wine–braised beef short ribs served on egg noodles with black truffle cream sauce—and chicken Kiev with herb butter.
Others see Restaurant Week as an opportunity to test new dishes. “That’s how we came up with our grilled barbecue short ribs,” Woods-Black says of Sylvia’s. “Because we would always do our short ribs of beef, gravy and onions. And for Restaurant Week, we started grilling them. It was such a hit that we put it on the main menu.”
Loycent Gordon at Neir's Tavern. Photo: Lanna Apisukh
Courtesy, Neir's Tavern
Loycent Gordon, owner of Neir’s Tavern in Queens, sees Restaurant Week as a chance to shake things up. The first year they participated, they featured burgers, but the following year, they offered a Restaurant Week–only jerk chicken quesadilla that paid homage to the Jamaican owner and Mexican chef. He now uses Restaurant Week as a reason to create one-off menu items you won’t find any other time of year. “Like the McRib,” he jokes, referencing the cult-favorite McDonald’s sandwich that periodically reappears.
At Union Square Cafe, executive chef Lena Ciardullo uses the City as her muse. “The real joy is showcasing seasonal ingredients from the Union Square Greenmarket,” she says. “The market constantly inspires us.”
Courtesy, Union Square Cafe
A Seat at the Table for Everyone
Restaurant Week reshaped the City’s dining scene by changing who could afford to eat where. “It was great to see all the people who were worried we were out of their price range be able to come in and experience our restaurant,” Silvani says. “So many people have commented over the years how they thought it would be a stuffy and stodgy place; it’s fun to watch people realize how accessible and fun The Russian Tea Room is.”
The value was especially transformative for group dining. Burke remembers people jumping at the chance to get multiple courses for just $20. Suddenly, you could bring your office or plan a dinner with six friends and not spend a fortune. “People back then would come into New York City, grab a hotel and eat in five of the greatest restaurants in the City at a value,” he says.
A Tradition for Visitors and New Yorkers
The scope of the impact is personal for many. “You have some folk, some regulars that make their rounds during Restaurant Week,” Woods-Black says.
The Russian Tea Room has twin sisters who “have come every Restaurant Week since we have participated. It is not a Restaurant Week until they have come,” Silvani says. The staff also fondly remembers an elderly gentleman who came for several years “who walked with a shillelagh and handed out pens that lit up as you wrote.”
Gordon remembers being moved by a couple who traveled from New Jersey to visit his restaurant because “they always wanted to visit Neir’s Tavern and support a Black-owned restaurant that was iconic,” he says. “NYC Restaurant Week gave them an extra incentive to finally make the trip.”
Lorenzo's Restaurant, Bar & Cabaret. Photo: Lanna Apisukh
Uplifting All Five Boroughs
Restaurant Week started as a Manhattan-only event, but today, restaurants in all five boroughs take part. “You can travel the world gastronomically without ever leaving the city limits,” Nieporent says. The event’s expansion into new neighborhoods across cuisines has made room for new energy and inclusivity. “I love that the outer boroughs are involved,” Woods-Black says. “I love that there’s a diversity in the offerings.”
Gordon’s first experience was during the summer of 2020 when the City introduced a $20.20 price point to encourage dining after pandemic shutdowns. “We were just trying to reopen,” he says of his Queens restaurant. “The extra connection to NYC-wide Restaurant Week gave my customers added reason to support us. I’ve participated every year since.”
Why Restaurant Week Matters
Gradually, people realized that Restaurant Week had become a phenomenon. Ciardullo recalls the event’s helping hand during historically quiet times. “I remember how slow the summer months could often feel in the kitchen with one or two cooks running the whole line,” she says. “I remember coming in for the first day of Restaurant Week and seeing that we had over 100 covers on the book on a Monday. I instantly felt relief.”
Burke knew the concept had taken off when he started spotting versions popping up across the country. “You realize that you were at the first one, and you’re like, ‘Wow, this is pretty good,’ he says.
He also sees Restaurant Week as a welcome return to a communal, screen-free and meaningful ritual. “Back then, lunch was much bigger,” he says, referring to the ’90s. “You went out to lunch, and you had a drink, and you ate, and you socialized.”
The program serves practical purposes too. During traditionally slow weeks, it keeps restaurant staff working and earning. But Nieporent believes the real value is deeper. “When people think about some of the best memories in their lives, they center around the dining table,” he says. “So that's a beautiful thing when you could provide that context for people that we're all sharing this together.”
In July 2021, decades after her foray into Restaurant Week as a young New Yorker, Woods-Black and her friend Valerie Wilson returned to Restaurant Week in the wake of the pandemic, excited to be out after months of sidewalk shacks and takeout. “It felt normal for the first time in a long time.” For Woods-Black, it was one of those unmistakable New York City moments.
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