BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Jan. 12, 2022 — Birmingham Restaurant Week (BRW) organizers are pleased to announce the dates of BRW 2022 - Winter Edition presented by Spire. Happening Thursday, Feb. 17 through Saturday, Feb. 26, the 10-day event brings patrons the opportunity to indulge in two, three and four-course meals at a prix-fixe price at over 30 participating restaurants, bars and food trucks. BRW also has plans to host crowd-favorite events, Wine-O-Logy on Feb. 22, alongside a new cocktail-style event, Magic City Mix-O-Logy, on March 1.
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| Watkins Branch |
From fine dining to down-home cookin’, food and drink lovers with a taste for adventure can enjoy special breakfast, lunch and/or dinner prix-fixe menus ranging from $5 to $50 per person – making it easy and affordable for everyone to enjoy a taste of Birmingham’s diverse dishes and sips. Known as Birmingham’s premier culinary and beverage event, BRW aims to support local restaurants by giving individuals incentives to enjoy the South’s most vibrant culinary destination one bite at a time. BRW helps to stimulate the local economy and boosts local love for Birmingham’s award-winning restaurant scene.
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| Red Diamond Coffee Martini |
Previously scheduled for January, BRW organizers decided to postpone the Winter Edition because of the recent surge of COVID-19 cases due to the highly contagious Omicron variant. BRW will continue to monitor cases and seek advice from public health officials going forward.
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| Sol Y Luna Patio |
To safely serve patrons who don’t want to dine in, participating businesses will again boast to-go and/or curbside options as well as the traditional dine-in option. Additionally, many restaurants have made special accommodations to safely serve diners during the winter and to allow for al fresco dining no matter the weather by offering outdoor high-powered heaters, firepits, cabana tents and enclosed patios.
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| Sabor Latino |
“Birmingham’s culinary and beverage industry and its residents have been through a rough couple of years of heartbreak due to the COVID-19 pandemic and nationwide labor shortage, and Birmingham Restaurant Week 2022 - Winter Edition is a high note for everyone,” said Bill Stoeffhaas, co-founder of BRW and owner of Style Advertising, the organizer of BRW. “BRW’s 10-day culinary affair provides an opportunity for the public to revisit old favorites or experience new restaurants in the new year while allowing local chefs to showcase delicious recipes that put Birmingham on the foodie road map.”
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| Fat Charles' BBQ |
Organizers expect approximately 30 to 40 Birmingham-area restaurants, food trucks, bars and coffee shops to participate in BRW 2022 - Winter Edition and join in on Birmingham’s renowned food and beverage promotional blitz. Those currently registered include: Ash Homewood, Aww Shucks, Bay Leaf Modern Indian Cuisine & Bar, Blueroot, Dread River Distilling Co., EATS Highland, El ZunZún, Farrelly’s Southern Bar & Kitchen, Fat Charles BBQ, Filter Coffee Parlor, Iron City Grill, Michael’s Restaurant, Moonshine Rooftop Bar at Elyton Hotel, Ovenbird Restaurant, Red Mountain Crawfish, Rojo, Roots & Revelry, Sabor Latino, Slice Pizza and Brewhouse - Lakeview, Slice Pizza and Brewhouse - Vestavia, Sol Y Luna, Steel Gastropub, The Current at Cahaba, The Gardens Cafe by Kathy G., The Fennec, The Yard Birmingham at Elyton Hotel, Tropicaleo, Vino, Watkins Branch Bourbon & Brasserie and Whole Latte Drip.
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| Vino |
Diners can search participating restaurants and their special menus on the BRW website at www.bhamrestaurantweek.com via the home page and the Eat/Drink page powered by Bham Now. Users can view participating businesses by neighborhood, meal, price point, service or other desired option to aid in planning their BRW culinary plan of attack.
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| Filter |
“At Spire, we understand the vital role restaurants and other businesses in the food and beverage industry play in a community,” says Joe Hampton, president of Spire Alabama. “That’s why we’re proud to continue our partnership with Birmingham Restaurant Week, support our local restaurants and provide the community with a way to connect through enjoying great food and drink. Restaurant Week has proved to be the perfect way to do that, and we’re looking forward to continuing to build an even stronger connection through the 2022 Winter Edition.”
BRW will again be promoted in local and regional media with both earned coverage and paid advertising in print, TV and digital media outlets, as well as through extensive social media campaigns. Participants of BRW can expect to receive multiple opportunities of multimedia promotion, an increase in sales, exposure to a large pool of culinary and beverage industry supporters and 10-plus days of constant promotion.
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| Oven Bird |
Stoeffhaas also noted, “During the pandemic, many restaurants were able to avoid closing their doors by offering curbside pick-up, to-go and delivery services, but now restaurants are facing labor shortages that are making operating normally challenging. With BRW, our goal is not only to promote locally owned restaurants but to provide assistance to them where we are able to. Without our restaurants, the vibrancy of our culinary community will diminish.”
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| Iron City Grill |
According to a recent article by AL.com, Alabama has the nation’s 11th largest labor shortage. The largest of job openings have happened in food services, hospitality, health care and others. In August, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that job openings increased to 10.9 million or about 6.9 percent from July 2021. As noted in Birmingham Watch, Birmingham-Hoover metro area’s leisure and hospitality industry had 50,500 employees in July. That’s up from 42,400 the same month in 2020 but still below the 54,400 employees for July 2019. Due to this, restaurants across the state and the country have increased wages. From July 2020 to July 2021, average hourly earnings for restaurant and hospitality workers have increased by at least $1.95 here in Alabama (from $12.92 to $14.87) - more than in any neighboring state during that same time. For individuals seeking a career in the culinary industry, there is no better time than now.
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