Latest Binghamton Restaurant Week sells more than 21,000 meals

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. — Organizers of this spring’s Binghamton Restaurant Week, which ended April 2, say the participating eateries sold 21,164 meals, breaking the event’s previous high set last year.

BingSpot, a web-based directory and lifestyle guide to downtown Binghamton and part of the Restaurant Week organizing group, issued the final numbers for the 11th edition of the community event in a news release Friday.

For each meal sold during Restaurant Week, 50 cents is donated to local charities, according to Michael Grasso, founder and managing partner of BingSpot. So, this spring’s donation totaled $10,582, the largest ever for the event. It will be split evenly between the Broome County Habitat for Humanity and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Binghamton.

This is the third Restaurant Week in a row that topped 20,000 meals sold and $10,000 in donations according to Grasso. Thirty restaurants participated this time, also a new high.

Revenue generated from the meals sold totaled about $350,000, Grasso told BJNN in a follow-up interview. Nearly 8,500 lunches were sold for between $10 and $12 each, and more than 12,700 dinners went for between $10 and $25 each. That total does not include tips, additional drinks, or other extras that diners may purchase as part of their dining experience, which Grasso says would raise the total revenue considerably. He could not provide an estimate on how much because he says the restaurants don’t keep track of those purchases for the event coordinators.

The 30 eateries participating in this spring’s Restaurant Week included: Binghamton Hots, Burger Mondays Bar & Grille, Café West 46, Chatterbox, Chroma Café & Bakery, Citrea, Colonial, Cortese Restaurant, Crepe Heaven, Cyber Café West, Czech Pleeze, Galaxy Brewing Company, House of Reardon, Little Venice Restaurant, Loft at 99, Lost Dog Café, On the Roxx Bar and Grill, Remlik’s Grille & Oyster Bar, River Bistro, Sake-Tumi, Social on State, South Side Yanni’s, Taste of Europe, Thai Time, The Shop, Tranquil Bar & Bistro, Uncle Tony’s Tavern, Water Street Brewing Co., Whole In The Wall Restaurant, and Zona & Co. Grille, according to the news release.

Binghamton Restaurant Week is organized by the newly incorporated nonprofit, eatBING. The members of the board of directors of eatBING include: Marie McKenna of Lost Dog Café, Piero Lisio of Little Venice Restaurant, Stacey Gould of Whole in the Wall, and Michele Bleichert of Water Street Brewing Co., in collaboration with the Economic Development Office of the City of Binghamton and BingSpot.

Binghamton Restaurant Week is held twice annually, once in the spring and again in the fall. The next event has been scheduled for Sept. 15-24, according to the release.

Contact Kapteyn at nkapteyn@cnybj.com