ORGANISERS of York Restaurant Week have hailed the spring event its most successful yet - with plans now to stage it twice a year.

Sixty seven businesses participated in the week, the most yet, with the event overall generating at least £152,800 for city venues at what is traditionally a quiet time of year for hospitality.

A record-breaking number of vouchers were downloaded from the website with one venue enjoying more than £10,500 worth of sales in voucher value alone.

York Press:

The week, which ran from March 7 to 13 and offered dining out deals from just £5, was the biggest since the event was launched in April 2019.

Plans are now taking place to stage another restaurant week in October.

York Restaurant Week is organised by the York Business Improvement District (York BID) and was initially set up to encourage people to celebrate the wealth of food and drink on offer in the city.

The most recent event was the fifth time it has taken place - it was held in October in 2020 and 2021 because of the pandemic, having previously been a Spring event.

The number of vouchers downloaded has doubled since that 2019 launch.

Rob Scott-South, group general manager of Ambiente Tapas, said: "After what has been a very difficult couple of years, we were delighted to yet again support this wonderful initiative that allows both visitors to the city and our loyal regulars to enjoy a fantastic value offer over a very busy week.

"On a broader scale, York restaurant week showcases the huge number of excellent independent restaurants we have here, and we're delighted to see it go from strength to strength."

Michele Damiano, from Hungate Reading Café which took part for the first time, was also pleased with the results.

“We’re absolutely thrilled to be part of the event and have been amazed at how many people visited to access the offer," she said.

Feedback from diners was also positive, including one comment: “It’s a great chance to try new places and see the variety in York. I use every restaurant week to try somewhere new.”

BID business manager, Chris Bush who co-ordinates the event, said: “The event is so popular now that we feel confident enough to run it twice a year.

"We ran the event a couple of times in October during the pandemic which got a positive response from businesses. We’re pleased to announce that the next Restaurant Week will take place from October 10 to 16.”

This spring event follows previous restaurant weeks when 5,748 vouchers was downloaded in April 2019, worth £77,820 to York businesses.

In March 2020, diners downloaded 9,125 vouchers which equated to £107,625 for hospitality businesses. Last October 2021, 7,248 vouchers were downloaded, worth £94,555 to venues.