Restaurant Week Headed for Strong Finish

With a strong kickoff on Sunday and steady traffic throughout the week, Hickory Kitchen owner Mike Markowitz is entering the final few days of Doylestown's inaugural Restaurant Week feeling pretty satisfied with the project he helped spearhead.

"Am I iver the moon? Honestly, no," said Markowitz. "But I am very pleased with the promise for next time."

While there is still time before he can look at the entire week's peformance, his early discussions with other owners of participating restaurants showed a jump in activity this week. It's an encouraging trend, considering a diverse selction that includes Indian dishes at Cross Culture or sushi at Maru.

"Drew [Abbate] at Vine & Fig said he had a lot of reservations on Wednesday," said Markwoitz. "I don't do reservations, but my place has been full every day. We have a good range here in town., from sandwiches to fine dining."

Markowitz calls the event a "great start" to promoting the independently owned restaurants in Doylestown and is using the week as an opportunity to learn lessons for next year. Lesson number one? Get started early.

"We were behind the 8-ball from the word go," said Markowitz. "We need more time to make sure all the restaurants are on the same page about what we need to do to make it stronger. We also need time for more promotions and getting the word out."

Restaurant Week ends on Sunday. Check out the Dine Doylestown page for info on each restaurant's specials.

• 86 West
• Bobby Simone’s
• Cafe Alessio
• Chambers 19
• Coach’s Steak and Hoagie House
• Cross Culture – Ethnic Indian Restaurant
• Doc Bakers Farmulations
• Domani Star
• Farm House Tavern
• Gross’ Gourmet Foods
• Hickory Kitchen
• Jule’s Thin Crust Pizza
• Kawa Grill
• Lilly’s Gourmet
• Maru
• Maxwell’s on Main
• Mesquito Grille
• Paganini Ristorante
• Puck
• Slate Bleu
• Spice Thai
• Sweet Spot
• The Freight House
• The Knight House
• Villa Capri Pizza and Restaurant
• Vine & Fig
• Vintage Grille