If your New Year’s resolution was to try different foods or to patronize local businesses, the upcoming Greensburg Restaurant Week has you covered.
More than a dozen local eateries will be dishing up special menus at discounted prices Sunday to Jan. 24 throughout the Greensburg area. The event was organized by the Greensburg Community Development Corporation.
From Japanese to Italian, from diners to brewpubs, from longtime Restaurant Week participants to brand-new spots to try, there’s a taste for anyone to enjoy.
Joshua Jones, owner of Marino’s American Eatery at 106 West Point Drive in Hempfield, said Restaurant Week is always a great opportunity to show off what they can do.
“Going on seven years, we’ve been in business here now. I remember our first year in business, Greensburg Restaurant Week tremendously helped us out, just getting new faces in for the first time,” he said.
They’re hoping the event will do the same for their neighbors, ice cream shop The Parlor by Steel City Whip. And they’re willing to lend a hand: They’ll even be offering a dessert integrating The Parlor’s cinnamon stick ice cream.
On the $35.99 three-course menu, Marino’s is offering three options for each course. For starters, there’s a Buffalo chicken empanada served with spicy ranch; mussels served in a creamy demi-glace with pork tasso; and pork carnitas nachos (pork, corn tortillas, cheese sauce, pico and hot peppers).
Entree selections include a steak chimichanga, pork carnitas tacos and pollo asado. For dessert, guests can choose from beignets; house-made cheesecake; and s’mores nachos, which will contain house-fried flour tortillas, The Parlor’s ice cream, chocolate chips, marshmallows, powdered sugar and a choice of chocolate or caramel sauce.
“We make the cheesecake here daily,” Jones said. “Its flavors change, kind of whatever the chef is feeling that day.”
Most of the items they will be serving are not on their menu, so it’s a chance to try something new and get creative.
“It is a deal, so people save some money, too. We’re fortunate to have some great local restaurants,” he said.
Over at J. Corks at 25 E. Pittsburgh St., owner Danielle Butcher said they’re pulling out all the stops this Restaurant Week, even going so far as to create a theme. Their five-course meal for $40 will include a lot of old-fashioned hotel restaurant favorites.
“Our chef here decided to do something really fun this year,” she said. “Our menu is titled ‘The Gold Ballroom,’ which is from the Overlook Hotel in ‘The Shining.’ ”
The five-course meal is modeled after the themes found in Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 film adaptation of Stephen King’s novel about a writer and his family who spend a snowy winter as caretakers of a hotel in Colorado.
For the first course, guests will enjoy a basil pesto-infused deviled egg with chile amaretto-glazed bacon, balsamic reduction and micro greens. The second course is a choice between a Waldorf salad and French onion soup. Seafood is on the menu for course three, with options of oysters Rockefeller or jumbo shrimp cocktail. For the fourth course, choose between spaghetti and meatballs or “chicken a la Stephen King.” And for dessert, they’re offering a bread pudding with Jack Daniel’s whiskey caramel called “Here’s Johnny!” or Boston creme pie.
The fixed menu will cost $40, according to Butcher.
They’re really getting into the theme, too.
“Even the staff is probably going to participate to some extent and wear the attire that would have been for that era,” she said.
For Butcher, Greensburg Restaurant Week is an important event for the community.
“It really helps with bringing people into the city. It can be a struggle sometimes for people to want to go off the beaten path,” she said. “We always want to make sure that there’s something always bringing people into the city, which benefits all of us.”
At DeGennaro’s Restaurant and Lounge, 1402 Broad St. in South Greensburg, the Restaurant Week menu will include a mix of the Italian eatery’s staple favorites and new dishes.
“We’ve participated before, and it seems to be a good time, a good way to get people in the building from a different avenue to try my food,” said Jeanine DeGennaro, owner of the restaurant.
Their three-course menu is priced at $43 for one person and $78 for two.
Appetizer choices are spinach and artichoke dip, stuffed banana peppers and an ahi tuna steak starter. For entrees, diners can pick between honey pecan salmon, blackened catfish, chicken Marsala and a “Marry Me” chicken pasta (grilled chicken tossed in cream sauce with sundried tomatoes, Romano cheese and Italian herbs served over farfalle pasta).
For dessert, there’s a choice between their skyscraper chocolate fudge layer cake and a Big J’s strawberry Scooter Crunch cheesecake.
Some of these offerings show off DeGennaro’s best.
“We are very well-known for our chicken Marsala,” she said.
The stuffed banana peppers have also been on the menu for decades.
DeGennaro hopes to build her robust base of local fans after Restaurant Week. “Hopefully, we have some return customers,” she said.
To see the menus of all participating restaurants and make reservations, visit greensburgrestaurantweek.com.