Howard County Winter Restaurant Weeks are on the way. The 15-day promotion begins, as it always does, on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which falls on Jan. 16 this year.
Restaurants participating in Howard County Restaurant Weeks can fix the prices of their promotional menus anywhere from $10 to $40. That wide range is intended to allow broader participation. As of last Thursday, the promotion's website listed 17 participating restaurants, down from almost 30 last year.
It's hard to figure why a restaurant wouldn't participate in a restaurant week.
"Restaurant week is a good thing," says Randy Marriner, owner of Victoria Gastro Pub in Columbia, which has participated in every Howard County promotion since its 2007 opening. Marriner says that Victoria Gastro Pub just had its best ever day (December 31), month (December) and year.