BUFFALO, N.Y. — It's a good week to try out a new local restaurant.
Almost ninety restaurants are participating in Buffalo Restaurant Week, and they're offering deals for lunch and dinner.
Visit Buffalo Niagara and New York State Restaurant Association's Western New York Chapter collaborate to produce the event in both the spring and fall.
The full list of participating restaurants and their menus are available on the Visit Buffalo Niagara website, which is constantly being updated as more restaurants join in.
"We have almost 125,000 hits to the website, and we haven't even started yet, so that's really exciting," President and CEO Patrick Kaler said.
Restaurants are offering deals for $15, $20, $45 for lunch, and $25, $45, and $65 for dinner. At some restaurants, that includes a multi-course meal for two.
"It's all of Erie County, so we've got restaurants in Williamsville all the way out to East Aurora and downtown Buffalo," Kaler said.
Jess Melisz of Oralia in the Downtown Bazaar is participating for the first time. Her booth celebrates flavors of the Southwest and for Restaurant Week, she's offering a four taco platter with two sides as well as a layered nacho platter.
Melisz says the six months she's been set up in the Downtown Bazaar on Main Street have been "really, really fun."
"Theater season is here, so that's been really great. A lot of people are coming in, going to their shows, getting dinner before or after," she said.
Melisz says Restaurant Week is a great time to intoduce new customers to the space.
"Stop out for Restaurant Week, then also check us out for brunch on Saturdays. I started adding a few other menu items such as chilaquiles and huevos rancheros," she said. Just trying to expand my menu as I can and bring all the Southwest flavors to Buffalo."