Local restaurants optimistic as strong Restaurant Week brings increase of customers

RAPID CITY, S.D. — It was just what local restaurants needed.

Customers finding their way out to dine in.

In the past, Restaurant Week in Rapid City was a time of creativity for menu and drink designers to give their business a shot in the arm. But, as the COVID-19 pandemic kept people at home, it became even more integral for restaurants to dig deep in the pile of creativity.

They say that digging paid off.

“I think we were just giving people more of a reason to get out and to be out and trying new things,” said Jeremy Antes, an Executive Chef at Murphy’s Pub & Grill.

The new ideas not only bringing customers in, but adding to their sense of comfort.

“I think it did open up a bit of comfort level for ‘lets get out there and try these things during restaurant week’ but also maybe as people who haven’t come out to dine-in a while and seeing that this is happening, and other people are going out and doing this, it would give them a sense of comfort to come out and dine more,” said Jade Johnson, a Bar Manager at Que Pasa Cantina.

Although it may be a while before restaurants are back to their full capacity, they’re still gearing up for busy times of the year, which were helped by Restaurant Week.

“I think that it did kickstart us getting back into normal,” Antes said. “We’re planning on March is really going to be the ramp-up for everything with St. Patrick’s Day coming and things like that, but I do think that Restaurant Week really helped getting things back on track to being normal for our restaurant.”

A week where the nine restaurants that participated put their best ideas forward in hopes of customers appreciating their creativity.

The restaurants also hope that the strong start for Restaurant Week will lead to more customers continuing to come to dine out.