The second annual event, hosted by Visit Bucks County, will take place April 28-May 4
By Samantha Bambino
The Times
It was local foodie heaven this time last year, when Visit Bucks County hosted its inaugural Restaurant Week, which enjoyed unprecedented success. A total of 68 eateries from across the county participated, and guests from the area, as well as Philadelphia and New Jersey, got a (literal) taste of what the dining scene has to offer.
Now, VBC is back for seconds. The 2019 Restaurant Week is set to take place from Sunday, April 28, to Saturday, May 4, and feature more than 65 restaurants, pubs and bistros spanning 20 different towns throughout the county. Participating locations will offer three-course, prix fixe dinner menus, with each including signature dishes and delectable desserts for a special, discounted rate of $25 or $35 per person.
“I was very happy with it last year, and we have at least as many or more restaurants coming back, so they must’ve thought it was very good, too,” said VBC president/COO Jerry Lepping. “We’re very happy because it all goes into our basic mission — to generate the economic impact for Bucks County which, in tourism, is about $1 billion a year, and the hospitality workforce is over 28,000.”
According to Lepping, no matter where someone is located in the 622-square-mile county, there’s sure to be an eatery in the vicinity that matches their culinary desires.
“We have restaurants participating all the way from Quakertown down to Andalusia. Nobody can say they have a long drive to get to one of these restaurants,” he said. “They’re all close.”
Options in Lower Bucks County include Historic King George II Inn, Itri Wood Fired and Golden Eagle Diner & Restaurant in Bristol; STEAM and The Iron Oven in Southampton; Toscana 52 Fire Grill & Bar and Cheese Dawgs in Feasterville; Atrium Bistro in Trevose; Bella Tori at the Mansion in Langhorne; Tony’s Place Bar & Grill in Ivyland; and UNO Neshaminy in Bensalem.
“The price points are good. You can get a three course dinner for $25 or $35, which is relatively reasonable in this day and age. So they get a chance to try restaurants which they may not be familiar with,” Lepping said. “Sometimes, you go in a restaurant and you get sticker shock. You don’t know what the prices are. This way, they know going in what the prices are, and they can add a cocktail, or a glass of wine, or something like that.”
Several participating restaurants are BYOB, allowing guests to bring their favorite brews or wines to complement their meals.
New this year, select restaurants will donate a portion of Restaurant Week proceeds to Bucks Knocks Out Hunger. Managed by United Way of Bucks County, this is the area’s biggest annual hunger-relief effort.
“The folks at Visit Bucks County approached us about our Bucks Knocks Out Hunger project being a recipient of charitable contributions,” said project manager Tim Philpot. “I think they looked at other cities, towns and counties that are doing Restaurant Week, and sometimes there’s a charitable aspect to what they do. And so they thought it would be a nice idea if they could take some energy from Restaurant Week and help focus it on a related need, which is food insecurity.”
Philpot explained how there will be flexibility in how patrons can donate to BKO Hunger. While some restaurants will put $1 per plate toward proceeds, others will allow customers to write on the receipt any additional amount they wish to give.
“We wanted to give them as many options as possible to make it as easy as possible for them to participate,” Philpot said.
The money raised during Restaurant Week will help BKO Hunger reach its annual goal of $85,000, a $5,000 increase from 2018.
“Every year, we push the envelope a little more to do more for those folks in Bucks County,” Philpot said.
Funds raised by BKO Hunger are distributed to four key areas — the cost of raw ingredients to pack meals on June 21–22 at Bucks County Community College; Bucks County Opportunity Council, which is able to purchase eggs, butter and other needed items not usually donated to pantries; Rolling Harvest Food Rescue, which works with local farmers to purchase produce for pantries at highly discounted rates; and Fresh Connect, a weekly market in Bristol, Warminster and Ottsville for low-income individuals and families.
“We’re particularly pleased about working with Visit Bucks County because it is a public-private partnership, and because collaboration and partnership are really what we believe in here at United Way,” Philpot said. “We believe that helps make the greatest impact possible, and so we’re really thrilled to be bringing on a new partner to work with to help us reach our mission.”
Reservations for Restaurant Week are strongly encouraged. Patrons can utilize the official Visit Bucks County Restaurant Week OpenTable page to secure seats. For information, go to VisitBucksCounty.com/RestaurantWeek ••
Samantha Bambino can be reached at sbambino@newspapermediagroup.com
