Dover Restaurant Week arrives: How it works and why community support is needed

DOVER — Erin Tellez, business manager for the family-run Cinco de Mayo Bar & Grill, said 2022 is the busiest the restaurant has been since opening eight years ago.

Staffing remains the biggest concern, however. Difficulty hiring creates an opportunity by necessity, forcing Cinco de Mayo to get creative and restructure operations.

“We’re adding and changing positions, paying more, and trying to run the business more efficiently,” Tellez said.

These kinds of challenges make the arrival of Dover Restaurant Week (which is actually two weeks, running through July 24) welcomed by restaurant owners as a way to promote their businesses. The impact of the coronavirus pandemic has waned but continues, along with rising costs due to inflation.

How Dover Restaurant Week works

Residents can dine in at any Dover restaurant through July 24 for the chance to win and post on social media about their experience, tagging the Dover Restaurant Week Facebook page or using #doverrestaurantweek. Posts must have public privacy settings so page administrators can see them.

Dover Main Street, the nonprofit which organizes the event, has purchased $1,250 in gift cards in various denominations from various restaurants. Daily drawings of gift cards ranging from $25 to $100 in value, will be held as well as one grand prize of a $250 restaurant gift certificate.

Those who aren’t on social media can listen to WTSN radio with Mike Pomp weekdays through July 23 for a chance to win a $25 gift card.

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Why Dover Restaurant Week has changed

Dover Main Street urges support for the city's more than 70 restaurants, which are facing ever-changing challenges. The event no longer features special menus, which became too difficult for businesses to pull off amid the pandemic.

Tellez, a former Dover Main Street board member, said the new format for the event was partly inspired by the outpouring of support on social media for restaurants during the first years of the pandemic. Tellez said Facebook groups like Seacoast Eats and Dover NH Takeout (now Dover Eats) played a large part in spreading information and helping businesses survive the tough times.

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“Last year we realized that asking restaurants to put together a special menu — when they were already short-staffed, having difficulty getting products, and trying to keep their doors open — it just didn’t make sense anymore,” Tellez said. “The support over social media has been a huge silver lining for restaurants."

Tellez said her restaurant has seen firsthand how much interaction and support can come from a single post.

“I love the community aspect of it,” Tellez said. “We have such an awesome array of restaurants in Dover. There’s something for everyone. Dover Restaurant Week gives people a chance to show their local restaurants some love without burdening them with added challenges.”

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Gail Daudelin, chair of Dover Main Street, said that last year’s event was a well-received and they had a lot of participation, despite it looking much different than in years past.

Daudelin said this new format “highlights all Dover has to offer.”

“We are fortunate to have over 70 restaurants in Dover, with all different types of food eateries,” Daudelin said. “We have a little bit of everything, so there's a lot to choose from. This event encourages folks to dine out at places they already love and explore new places they haven’t tried.”

This article originally appeared on Fosters Daily Democrat: Dover Restaurant Week is a call for community support