Springfield Restaurant Week to kick off Friday

SPRINGFIELD, MA (WGGB/WSHM) -- Starting Friday, local eateries across Springfield will be offering tastes of the city as part of Springfield Restaurant Week.

Palazzo Café is a nice little spot to grab a bite inside One Financial Plaza in downtown Springfield and starting Friday, owner Luisa Cardaropoli is planning on being busy.

“I’m very excited because when they have these kinds of events in Springfield, I love it. Even with the pancakes, or whatever goes on in Springfield downtown, I love it,” Cardaropoli said.

The café is one of 28 restaurants participating in the 2023 Springfield Restaurant Week, which begins Friday. For a span of 10 days, people inside and outside of the city will be able to stop by and try discounted menu specials each business offers, which could build long-term friendly relationships through some really good food. Cardaropoli told Western Mass News that she has been part of the event since its inception at least ten years ago and is ready to present a special item to food lovers.

“I’m doing a panini with ham, lettuce, tomato and bacon or a turkey, lettuce, tomato, and bacon,” Cardaropoli added.

The longtime business owner told us she is looking forward to attracting new customers.

“I’ve been here for 16 years and let me tell you, some of the people are next door and they don’t know that I’m here, so it’s a good thing. It’s a very good thing,” Cardaropoli noted

One of the other 27 restaurants participating is Nadim’s Downtown Mediterranean Grill and, while the event as a whole would benefit the city financially, owner Nadim Kashouh said it is much more than that.

“It’s not about the money at this point. It’s about presenting the city of Springfield, showing what the city has to offer, and we are proud to be part of the city,” Kashouh explained.

Nadim’s has also been part of Springfield Restaurant Week since the very beginning. Instead of a discount menu, they are doing a bundled offering. That means clients will have a choice per course of what they want to eat all for one price.

“It’s going to have four different appetizers. Most likely, we’ll have our best sellers, which is hummus, cauliflower, falafel, and one more item (might be a cheese roll up)…then you have a choice of a salad…then you have a choice of an entree. It can be a pan-seared chicken, can be a chicken kabob, can be a beef medallion, so there’s a lot of choices for you to select from,” Kashouh added.

While many of us out there may have our go-to restaurants for certain foods, Kashouh encourages people to try something new.

“Take a chance. Not only at Nadim’s, but all of the restaurants. You will be surprised. You will be pleasantly surprised,” Kashouh said.

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