Restaurant week begins for participating Raleigh locations

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- The kickoff for downtown Raleigh restaurant week begins on Monday.

All the way to Sunday, diners can save on three-course meals, lunch, dinner and drink specials.

Certain restaurants include Parkside, The Pit, Oro Restaurant and Lounge.

There's also a vegan option, The Fiction Kitchen on South Dawson Street.

Union Special Owner Andrew Ullom said last year his shop on Fayetteville Street just missed the mark for restaurant week.

He says last year the 4th quarter and January of this year was rough for both stores. This year he hopes to make a big impact and find new customers

"Our goal to help drive traffic downtown with everybody that's participating and everybody that has a small shop not just ours," Ullom said.

This year, 23 restaurants are participating in restaurant week that is up from 19 restaurants last year, but below pre-pandemic numbers.

Back in 2019, the number of participating restaurants was 42.

The economic push is happening too late for restaurants like Soca Latin Kitchen that shut down last month.

The business opened in 2016 and after pivoting during the pandemic the restaurant fully reopened in May 2021.

Like many other restaurants, the owner said the restaurant struggled to find enough staff and had to close its doors.