CU Restaurant Week begins Friday

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WAND) -- A record number of restaurants are taking part in the 9th annual Champaign-Urbana Restaurant Week.

Starting Friday, more than 60 local restaurants will be part of a nine day event for people to try what they have to offer.

Vice President of Destination and Development for Experience Champaign-Urbana Terri Reifsteck says that this is a great way for new businesses to get their name out there.

"There's a variety of different ways that restaurants are showcasing what they're doing in their kitchen. And it's a great way for us to really kind of try those new and different things. And it's a great way for restaurants to see maybe what works and what doesn't," says Reifsteck.

It also helps small businesses make ends meet after the holidays.

"We've had restaurants tell us that its saved their January. We've had servers tell us that they've been able to pay rent on time because of the number of people that are going out there and exploring," says Reifsteck.

At Bakelab-Patisserie, General Manager Isabel Akers said the business has several new recipes for the public to check out and get excited about.

"So we have a lot of varieties, of like, pastel de mada, we have some, like savory items that we didn't have before, so we're definitely expanding our menu, so this is kind of like, the next couple of weeks is kind of like, the tester week to kind of see, like, how people like it, kind of getting people excited about it," says Akers.

While this week gets foot traffic for restaurants in the slower months, it keeps residents entertain by learning all the new food options in the area.

"It's great to see all the restaurants partake and to support local businesses, and to have, you know, the people who are making the food think of the menus and push themselves a little bit, do something new, try something different, experiment," said Robert Hirschfeld, the Director of Water Policy at Prairie Rivers Network.

Restaurant week will be held from January 24th to February 1st.

For a list of restaurants participating, click here.