DINING

Coastal Delaware Restaurant Week features lower prices at many restaurants

The Daily Times

Chris Parks, executive chef at Lupo Italian Kitchen.

Memorial Day Weekend can kind of be a bit of a tease for business at the beaches. The crowds that flock to the shore to kick off the unofficial start of summer aren’t typically matched until July.

For restaurants along coastal Delaware, the bridge to July begins with restaurant week.

Starting Sunday, June 4 to Friday, June 9, restaurants from Lewes down to Selbyville and in between will participate in Coastal Delaware Restaurant Week, a week of dining possibilities at a less-than-normal cost, with prix fixe menus ranging from $25-45 for a three-course meal.

“I think we’re still in that shoulder season,” said Chris Parks, a SoDel Concepts corporate chef who currently runs the kitchen at Lupo Italian Kitchen in Rehoboth. “Everyone gets busy for Memorial Day. We get a taste of what’s to come and then suddenly you’re kind of back down for another three weeks. You’re like, ‘OK, what happened? We were ready to go.’

"Then you have restaurant week and that kind of boosts your sales and reminds you, ‘OK, it’s here.’ And people are excited and they’re coming in. It keeps you going and you realize what’s to come.”

Rehoboth-Dewey Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Carol Everhart echoed Parks.

"It's delicious in more ways than one," she said. "It's a shot in the arm for the local economy."

As of June 1, 62 different restaurants are scheduled to participate, including all nine SoDel Concepts restaurants.

The presentation of the Blackwall Beauty oysters.

Rehoboth, as expected, houses the bulk of the 62 choices, with 34 different restaurants to choose from, including Chesapeake & Maine, Blackwall Hitch, Blue Hen, DiFebo’s and others in town.

At Lupo in Rehoboth, guests can choose between a $35 and $45 menu, with two choices each for first and second courses.

“It’s obviously a great way to help promote your business, as well as trying to get some of the people who wouldn’t go out to a restaurant,” Parks said. “Maybe they’re intimidated by Italian food or maybe they’ve never really given Mexican cuisine a try and then suddenly they’re presented with this approachable menu at an affordable price.”

It’s also an opportunity to show off new menus, like at Papa Grande’s, where Parks also oversees the kitchen. Though it's not on the restaurant week menu, Parks said the revamped menu includes stuffed avocados and a new ceviche.

Restaurant week deals aren’t just limited to the downtown areas at the shore towns. Coastal Highway will also have some eateries participating, like Dewey Beach Club, Bethany Blues and others.

A portion of the proceeds for the week will benefit Meals on Wheels of Lewes-Rehoboth, per the event's website.

Visit restaurantweek.de for more information and a complete list of all the participating restaurants and menus.

Jeff Neiburg can be reached at jneiburg@delmarvanow.com.