Local Restaurants Hoping for Boost with Return of Charlotte Restaurant Week

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – After a difficult year for the restaurant industry, local eateries are hoping for a boost with the return of Charlotte Restaurant Week, running July 16th – 25th.

The event got cancelled last year due to restrictions on indoor dining.

Tuesday night and the kitchen was fired up at Cajun Queen in Elizabeth.

Managing partner Tim Freer says the restaurant closed for 10 weeks at the height of the pandemic.

Now he’s relieved to be back open at full capacity.

“Some people, I’m sure, are still a little afraid to go out, but the restaurant has really come back,” Freer says.

He hopes the return of Charlotte Restaurant Week will bring an even bigger boost.

“The first few times restaurant week came along, we were like, ‘yeah, sure we’ll try it, what the heck.’ And then, it was the busiest week we had of the year,” Freer explains.

Charlotte Restaurant Week, also known as the Queen’s Feast, will run July 16th through the 25th.

Over 40 restaurants will offer three-course dinners priced at $30 or $35 per person.

“It’s very exciting. The last one we did was January 2020,” says Bruce Hensley, founder of Queen’s Feast.

He says, unfortunately, 15 regular restaurant week participants went out of business due to the pandemic.

“It’s been tough for the customers, for the restaurateurs, for the staff, it’s but I think we can see the light at the end of the tunnel,” Hensley says.

But other issues remain, including staffing shortages.

Hensley says some regular Queen’s Feast restaurants couldn’t participate this year, because they’re worried they don’t have enough employees.

It’s an issue Freer has seen too.

“We’re very fortunate that we have all the kids home from college right now. And that’s filled this gap, but I’m losing 14 people on August 15th when they all go back to college, so I don’t even know how I’m going to get enough staff to work after that,” he says.

See a full list of participating restaurants here.