Celebrating the start of Restaurant Week on Friday were (from left), Susanne Farber (Hopkinton Independent), Mike Thomas (Central Public House), Chamber of Commerce vice president Bryan Brown (Guaranteed Rate), Amanda Faucher (ABdesigns), Chamber of Commerce president Cristina Morrissiey (UniBank), Darlene Hayes (MyFM Media), Ted Twinney (Start Line Brewing) and assistant town manager Elaine Lazarus. PHOTO/CHRISTINE STRICKLAND
With COVID restrictions starting to loosen, the Hopkinton Chamber of Commerce’s inaugural Restaurant Week, which runs May 14-23, comes at the right time for local dining establishments.
“It’s special that the chamber is doing some marketing for the restaurants that really need this help right after a really hard year, tough times coming out of the pandemic,” said Start Line Brewing owner Ted Twinney. “All restaurants are hurting, every single one. So this is a much-needed boost to all the restaurants.
“We’ve already had tremendous support from the local community, but I’m very confident that people will come out and make an extra couple of restaurant trips during the week and enjoy some great food and celebrate their town assets, these great restaurants.”
The chamber’s effort is not just to push people to get reacquainted with their favorite restaurants, but also to encourage them to try some new places in town. As an enticement, there will be deals, specials and prizes — including multiple $50 gift certificates to each of the 13 participating businesses (listed below). Participating businesses range from standard dine-in restaurants to primarily takeout-based establishments and even smaller, snack-based stores. A full list of participants, along with additional details, is posted on the Chamber of Commerce website.
“Almost every restaurant in town is participating, so we’re very excited about that,” said chamber vice president and event co-organizer Bryan Brown. “We’ve also had an overwhelming amount of sponsors — businesses that have stepped up. We are thrilled with the amount of businesses involved.”
Twinney, who recently was given permission by the town to expand his outdoor back seating area, hopes to entice foodies with an expanded menu.
“We are going to be starting our barbecue program that weekend, so our menu is going to expand dramatically for Restaurant Week,” he said. “We’ll be back with our smoked brisket, pulled pork ribs, brisket sandwiches, pulled pork sandwiches. It’s the return of the barbecue season for us, and we’re doing that for Restaurant Week.”
Twinney, who played a “minor role” in organizing the event, hopes residents will be motivated to see what new items other restaurants have to offer as well.
“It’s a community-wide, Hopkinton town-wide experience,” he said. “We’re encouraging everybody to go to all the restaurants and enter, try to win these gift cards, but also sample the specials and the new menu items all the restaurants are going to make during Restaurant Week.”
Following is a list of participating businesses.
Angel’s Cafe/Red Barn Coffee Roasters
Bill’s Pizzeria
Central Public House
Chef’s Kitchen on Main
Cornell’s Irish Pub
Hillers Pizza
Hop-Yo
Morgan’s Harbor to Hill Seafood Market
Pyne Nutrition
Quattro
The Spoon
Start Line Brewing
110 Grill
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