(Staff photo)City officials on Friday celebrated the start of Restaurant Week with a proclamation at one of the Fayetteville’s most successful restaurants.
Mayor Lioneld Jordan, along with Experience Fayetteville CEO Molly Rawn, were on hand at Slim Chickens’ original location on College Avenue to commemorate a week-long series of restaurant events and to celebrate the restaurant chain’s 20th anniversary.
Slim Chickens co-founders Tom Gordon and Greg Smart were also in attendance at the event.
The restaurant, which got its start at 2120 N. College Ave., has grown to operate around 160 locations in the U.S. and around 30 in the UK, and is still headquartered here in Fayetteville. The company plans to open about 80 new locations in 2023, and currently has around 1,100 stores in development.
Fayetteville Restaurant Week officially kicked off on Sunday, Feb. 19 and will run through Feb. 25. Several restaurants around the city will offer special items, prix fixe menus, throwback menu items, discounts, and more over the course of the week with the idea of attracting awareness and business for local restaurants during a typically slow season.
“Fayetteville has an authentic, diverse culinary scene with everything from fine dining to food truck courts,” said Sarah King, vice president of marketing and communications for Experience Fayetteville in a press release. “February tends to be the slowest month for most restaurants. We wanted to do something that would encourage residents to support these great eateries that play a vital role in our community by providing not just delicious food, but jobs and fuel for the economic engine that drives growth and helps attract tourism, new residents and new business to our great city.”
More than 50 restaurants are listed as participants in Fayetteville Restaurant Week on the official website.
