15 Suffolk restaurants have a deal for you

SUFFOLK

So, what are you craving?

Shrimp parmesan from Primo 116 Bistro Italiano?

A Hereford Top Sirloin from River Stone Chop House?

A Volcano Bowl from Sushi Aka?

Those are just some of the dinner entrees available during the latest round of Suffolk Restaurant Week, which runs through Saturday.

Fifteen Suffolk restaurants - offering everything from steak to sushi, Italian to Mexican - will attempt to tempt your palate with fixed-price lunch and dinner menus that include an appetizer, entree and dessert. So, no snacking before you go.

"It's a lot of food," said Ed Beardsley, owner/chef of The Plaid Turnip restaurant. "My food's a lot of food anyway."

"It's a cool thing," said Suffolk resident Joe Johnston, who has taken advantage of Suffolk Restaurant Week deals in the past. "It's sort of an open-air, block party atmosphere.... They're putting their best foot forward because they don't just want business for Restaurant Week, they want business for all the time."

Restaurant Week is organized and marketed by the city's Tourism Department. The events have been so successful in the past that they've added a second week in the fall, said Theresa Earles, tourism development coordinator for Suffolk.

"Every year it seems to grow," she said.

Cazadores Mexican restaurant is trying out Restaurant Week for the first time this year, and co-owner/manager Raul Romero has high hopes.

He said that while Cazadores has been in Suffolk for 12 years and has plenty of loyal regulars, it has yet to be discovered by some. Just the other day Romero heard from a first-time guest, a Suffolk native, who asked if Cazadores was new in town.

"I want to bring new people in here," Romero said in between serving customers during a busy Wednesday night dinner service. "I want people to know where we are and that we have good food, good prices and a very friendly staff."

Romero said that on his Restaurant Week dinner menu, which covers the three courses for $20, he'll be featuring dishes relatively new at Cazadores, such as Pina Rellena, chicken or steak fajitas served on a fresh pineapple half. Cazadores is also offering three-course lunch menus for $10.

Suffolk Restaurant Week regulars already know that the event encourages patrons to try new things.

"We get to see a lot of new people who normally wouldn't come out to eat often," said Michael Hart, owner/chef at Sushi Aka. He said both newbies and regulars at his restaurant tend to branch out and try an unfamiliar dish if they see it highlighted on the special Restaurant Week fixed-price menu.

Earles seconded that with her own experience.

It was a Suffolk Restaurant Week that made her decide to try Sushi Aka even though she doesn't like fish and would never normally go to a sushi place. She discovered, for one, is that Sushi Aka doesn't just have sushi and fish. She discovered Japanese dumplings called gyozas and tempura.

"It opens the eyes of people," Earles said, who punctuated the memory of each course with a hungry, "Oh my gosh."

That included Sushi Aka's Won Ton Napoleon, which last year won The Virginian-Pilot's taste test for best strawberry dessert (pictured above). Hart said this year it is one of the dessert choices on both the Restaurant Week lunch ($15) and dinner ($30) menus.

Beardsley said that at The Plaid Turnip they're mixing it up with items on their regular menu - like the fried green tomatoes appetizer - and some that are not, like the lime tortilla-encrusted tuna dinner. The Plaid Turnip's Restaurant Week fixed-price meal menu is $10 for lunch and $20 for dinner.

Beardsley said The Plaid Turnip saw a noticeable bump in business - lots of new people, along with his regulars - for the Restaurant Week last fall. He expects the same to happen this week.

"You always love to see a full restaurant," he said.

Nancy Young, 222-5559,nancy.young@pilotonline.com