Long Island Restaurant Week 2021 returns with dine-in, takeout options
Baked clams oreganata, one of the Restaurant Week appetizers served at Matteo's in Huntington Station. Credit: Daniel Brennan
Here’s a word you don’t expect to see at the end of a long opening sentence about Long Island Restaurant Week, the winter edition of which runs from Jan. 24 to 31: takeout. In a move every bit as adapt-or-perish as the industry it serves, the popular promotion’s latest installment is highlighting dozens of eateries offering prix fixe meals to go.
Around 60 eateries are expected to participate in the current effort, and while some will also have a dine-in option, all will offer takeout. Just as in Restaurant Weeks past, some places will feature a $25 prix fixe menu, others a $35 menu, and new this time around, some a $42 menu. All will offer three choices for each course, and prix fixe menus will be served all-night-every-night except Saturdays, when establishments are not required to offer them past 7 p.m. At those establishments offering eat-in dining, reservations are highly recommended, and a complete list of participating restaurants (along with some of their menus) can be found at the Restaurant Week website.
"Restaurant weeks provide a tremendous value and opportunity for patrons to try new places," said Joe DeNicola of DBC Concepts, whose eateries NOCO, Ruvo and La Tavola are once again participating in Restaurant Week. It’s a great opportunity for diners to sample upscale menus at bargain prices, this time from the comfort of their living rooms."
A portion of the week’s proceeds will go toward two organizations, the Island Harvest food bank and the Independent Restaurant Coalition. The IRC, founded last March, is dedicated to saving local bars and restaurants affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and advocates on behalf of them at the local, state and federal level.
Long Island Restaurant Takeout Week runs from Jan. 24 to 31, longislandrestaurantweek.com.
Newsday writer and restaurant critic Scott Vogel aims for a refreshing, gimlet-eyed take on the Long Island food scene, often while drinking a refreshing gimlet.