Sometimes during lulls in activity at the New York City law firm where he worked this summer, College sophomore Seth Shapiro would pick up his phone and call upscale Philadelphia restaurants.
For Shapiro, this was not a peculiar pastime but rather a way to ensure that when Restaurant Week rolled around in September, he and his friends would have a place to eat.
"In general, my nature is to do things to the extreme," Shapiro said. "Some of my friends have certain dietary needs, others are just picky, so I made reservations at 10 different places, all for Friday [Sept. 23] at around 7 p.m. Everything from Hawaiian food to French food to Chinese food."
While Shapiro may have approached the fifth Center City Restaurant Week with more zeal than most, a number of Penn students have traveled downtown this past week to sample the cuisine of fashionable dining scenes, some more than once.
Since Sept. 18, certain Philadelphia restaurants have offered a minimum of three courses to patrons for $30 per person every evening. Restaurant Week will end tonight, but a few restaurants have found the program so successful that they are extending it for a few more days.
"We've had so much demand, rather than tell so many of our guests, 'Sorry, we're sold out,' we can say, 'We're sold out for the official Restaurant Week, but we can accommodate you on these two days,'" Davio's Manager Ed Stein said. The restaurant will continue to offer special deals to customers this Sunday and Monday.
Red Sky and Ava will also be extending their special offers until Sunday.
Restaurant Week was first implemented in September 2003, when Rittenhouse Row, a nonprofit destination marketing organization, began working with the Center City District to develop new ways of promoting the area's restaurants. The biannual program that came out of the discussion was similar to already-existing events in cities such as New York, Washington and Miami.
The first year, only 45 restaurants chose to participate. The number has since increased to 86, and new participants this fall include the Branzino Restaurant and Mercato.
"The restaurants love this program," Rittenhouse Row Executive Director Corie Moskow said. "Reservations completely increase, there's no fee to participate and we do a very extensive advertising campaign."
Moskow said that the last four restaurant weeks have generated $10.5 million in sales. She also said that there is an average 36 percent increase in the number of patrons during restaurant week over the same week the year before -- when there was no special program.
College sophomore Emily Ozan said that she thoroughly enjoyed her meal at Marrakesh on Tuesday night, which included chicken pastries and baklava.
"It was really nice food and atmosphere, and I got to eat with my hands, which I've never done," she said. "They say it's like eating at a Moroccan family's home."
As for Shapiro, he and his friends have decided to eat at Shula's Steak House tonight, and the fate of the remaining reservations is still undetermined.
"I was thinking about selling them and setting up an auction, but I didn't have time," he said. "I've just been giving them away to friends."
