Harlem Restaurant Week Kicks Off Today With Dozens of Participating Restaurants

Harlem Restaurant Week returns for the 11th year

Restaurant week may not have the same ring to as it did in previous years due to the pandemic, but one neighborhood is still soldiering on with theirs. Harlem Restaurant Week returns for the 11th consecutive year, kicking things off today and running through October 31.

Dozens of establishments throughout the eastern and western parts of the neighborhood are taking part in the event including chef JJ Johnson’s fast casual spot FieldTrip, Indian restaurant Chaiwali, cozy date spot Ruby’s Vintage, Marcus Samuelsson’s Red Rooster, the poultry-focused East Harlem spot Mountain Bird, and the Harlem outpost of Dinosaur Bar-B-Que. Restaurants are running $25 lunch and $35 dinner prix fixe menus along with a host of other specials priced under $10.

Several neighborhood restaurant weeks and large restaurant-focussed events were canceled this year due to the pandemic, but they’re gradually making a comeback. In addition to Harlem, Sunnyside is also hosting a restaurant week that kicks off on Wednesday with more than 40 participating restaurants.

In other news

— The holiday market at Bryant Park is returning this year for its 19th season. The Winter Village at Bryant Park will run Friday, October 30 through March 7, 2021.

— Longtime Times Square Irish pub, the Mean Fiddler is closing at the end of this month. Owner Mike McNamee says the restaurant’s landlord was unwilling to renegotiate on rent and was demanding the full $38,000 per month rent.

— Red sauce joint Carmine’s has brought back a seafood-packed pasta special this week. The Capellini Marechiara features green lip mussels, littleneck clams, shrimp, and scallops, among other ingredients. At $54, the dish feeds four to six people, and will be available at the Upper West Side outpost until Saturday, October 24.

— East Village Hawaiian restaurant Noreetuh has added several new items for delivery including a fried chicken dinner for two, a Kalua pork bowl, and a katsu sandwich, among other items.

— Some businesses located within the current COVID-19 related shutdown zones in Brooklyn say the “arbitrary” closure boundaries have impacted business.

— There’s a new Popeye’s outpost in the East Village at 39 First Avenue, between East Second and Third Streets.

— Starting the week off right: