Another Restaurant Weekend is on tap early next month to help support the small businesses and restaurants that fill the one square mile district of Bordentown City.
The fourth installment of the two-day event will take place on October 2-3 from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.
The previous three Restaurant Weekend festivities have brought great business to the restaurants and small businesses in the downtown district that have worked hard to stay afloat during the coronavirus pandemic.
Downtown Bordentown Association (DBA) President C.J. Mugavero is very happy with the success of Restaurant Weekend and was thrilled with the turnout the event had earlier this month.
“The last one was fantastic,” Mugavero said. “It was a beautiful weekend. People were enjoying themselves and having a nice relaxing time.”
Mugavero commended the hard work of her fellow small business owners and the Bordentown City Commissioners for making the event a success.
“I’m extremely proud of the local government and our small business owners,” she said. “Everyone came together and worked together to make this event COVID-19 safe and help us bring business back to our one square mile area.”
The upcoming Restaurant Weekend will be a placeholder for the 31st Cranberry Festival that was scheduled to take place that same weekend before it was postponed until next year because of COVID-19 concerns.
Instead of being an all day event, Mugavero states the October edition of Restaurant Weekend will go on during the later afternoon and nighttime hours as it will cater more toward people going out to eat at the local restaurants.
Some local businesses will be open for late night shopping opportunities, Mugavero said.
More details on entertainment and other festivities for the event are still being talked about, she said.
Mugavero is also working with restaurants to start marketing catering services for potential customers during the holiday season.
From what she has heard, Mugavero believes that people will be more open to having food catered to them for holiday dinners and other small intimate gatherings this holiday season because of COVID-19.
“We’re preparing to be your city catership,” she stated.
Along with the support from local residents over the past few months, Mugavero said she is ecstatic people from other parts of New Jersey who have come to shop and eat in the downtown area throughout the summer.
In Mugavero’s eyes, it shows how the downtown area is one of the best places in the state to shop, eat and socialize.
“We’re Central Jersey’s destination for shopping and dining,” she said.
Another event the DBA is looking to bring back this fall is the Taste of Bordentown, where patrons can sample food and drinks from different restaurants and bars in the downtown area.
HOB Tavern Owner Mary Buhere, who has coordinated the event in the past, has been in contact with other restaurant owners in the area and said all sides are in the process of finding a way to hold the event in a way that is safe for everyone.
Buhere believes the event will most likely take place sometime toward the end of October.
Being a part of the Bordentown community for the last 18 years, Buhere said the support her establishment has gotten from local government and residents during the pandemic has been great and that it has kept her place in business.
“The local government has been supportive of all small businesses during the pandemic,” Buhere said. “The community has been very supportive to me. If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be open.”
