ALEXANDRIA, VA – Have you heard? The first ever Old Town Oyster Week is happening October 12-17. The event is being sponsored by the Old Town Business Association and Open Gate Guinness Brewery.
Participating restaurants will feature Guinness and oyster pairings that week. While the list is not complete as of this writing, some names include: Theismann’s Restaurant; Fish Market; Chadwicks; Daniel O’Connell’s Irish Restaurant & Bar; Murphy’s Grand Irish Pub; Bugsy’s Pizza; and the Wharf.
Charlotte Hall of Old Town Business told The Zebra that the idea for Oyster Week is similar to Restaurant Week in that residents can sample food from many different restaurants in Old Town.
“In the beginning of January, we had all these ideas for events [related to] the Oyster Festival,” she said. “But then as the calendar progressed and things got shut down due to COVID, we started wondering, ‘What else can we do?’ ”
The goal of Oyster Week is to support local restaurants that have struggled during the pandemic. Customers may see items not usually on menus this time of year – just for the occasion. And menus will offer more than oysters and Guinness. People can choose to pair the beer with a hamburger if they wish.
Oyster Week is “an excuse to get out of the house, wear a mask, enjoy the restaurants, and maybe do a little shopping,” Hall said.
The cutoff for restaurants to join was last Wednesday. But by becoming a member of the Old Town Business Association, owners still have the opportunity to sign up.
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