Birmingham Restaurant Week Sometimes A Deal
Three courses for $30 is the going rate for dinner at many eateries during Restaurant Week, which runs through Sunday. Eric Velasco writes about food in Birmingham and he says it’s the perfect time to check out some good eats.
“Restaurant Week I think is a great opportunity to try new places to go to places you might not have gone to before,” he says.
I went to see Little Savannah Chef Clifton Holt on day one of Restaurant Week. 
He’s serving roasted corn and bacon chowder, pork shoulder steak and a chocolate mousse for dessert. I asked him how he prepares for the 10 day event.
“The first thing we focus on obviously is the menu. The second thing we focus on is proportioning and our cost proportioning as well,” Chef Holt says.
Basically, that means he has to create a menu that’s inexpensive for the restaurant and the customer without skimping on quality and freshness. But that’s not always easy to pull off. In fact, that’s why some Restaurant Week deals are better than others.
“Its limited in that you have limited opportunities of what you get a bargain for,” Velasco says.
The main idea behind Restaurant Week is to get people in the door – especially new customers. But some restaurants would rather concentrate on their regulars. Taso Toulopis, owner of Ted’s Restaurant, a meat and three near UAB, says he doesn’t use up time and energy on attracting new customers,”but rather than to appreciate the existing customers because they’re my bread and butter,” he says.
Ted’s is skipping Restaurant Week this summer. For Toulopis, it’s just not worth the headache of coming up with a custom menu.
“I don’t think that restaurant week is designed to increase business for the business,” he says.
So is Restaurant Week worth it? To customers, maybe. To chefs and restaurant owners, it just depends on the menu and where ya eat.
What happened when Lyndon Johnson federalized the National Guard
President Lyndon B. Johnson federalized the National Guard in 1965, calling on troops to protect civil rights advocates who were marching from Selma, Ala., to Montgomery.
Trump mobilizes Marines for duty in Los Angeles
U.S. Northern Command says the infantry battalion would be supporting the National Guard troops "who are protecting federal personnel and federal property in the greater Los Angeles area."
RFK Jr. boots all members of the CDC’s vaccine advisory committee
Health Secretary RFK Jr. has removed all 17 members of the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. He says replacing them with new members will help restore 'public trust' in vaccines.
Justin Baldoni’s $400 million defamation suit against Blake Lively dismissed
Baldoni's $400 million lawsuit was in response to Lively accusing him of sexual harassment on the set of It Ends With Us.
Sly Stone, visionary funk frontman of the Family Stone, has died at age 82
The musical visionary led a multi-racial funk band that produced five Top 10 hits in the late 1960s and early '70s.
Pam Bondi’s brother overwhelmingly defeated in heated race to lead the D.C. Bar
The race became a microcosm for the clashes and pressures on the American legal system this year, in part because one of the two top candidates is the younger brother of Attorney General Pam Bondi.
