Howard County restaurant weeks event comes at a critical time

Dozens of Howard County restaurants are gearing up for the latest round of Restaurant and Craft Beverages Weeks.

Every year in the summer and winter seasons, it's a way for local eateries to offer deals that showcase their best.

This latest round comes as restaurants are struggling with rising costs, on top of other issues.

Still, there's a lot of excitement, especially with more than a dozen first-time participating restaurants in the mix.

This year's summer weeks run from July 27 to Aug. 9. You can see the full list of participating restaurants here. 

The restaurant industry

Whether it's savory or sweet, River House on Main is excited for diners to try out its menu.

While the restaurant has been open on Main Street in Old Ellicott City for weeks, the building it's in is where one of the owners and chef -- Nathan Sowers -- learned the basics when it was another restaurant.

River House had previously been operating on Route 40 for nearly a decade, but wasn't quite the setup like its current location.

"I started here 20 years ago, cooking on the line," Sowers said. "I wanted to learn French cooking, and that's what I did. I learned French cooking, I went on and created my own businesses. [I also] studied Italian cooking...trained in pasta making, the journey of food is never-ending, so you're always learning."

River House is among dozens of restaurants taking part in Howard County Restaurant and Craft Beverages Weeks, taking part in it for the first time.

While Sowers is excited, he adds it comes as the industry's having a rough go. Total expenses for restaurants have jumped 36% from 2019 to 2026, according to the National Restaurant Association.

"Food costs are high, employees are expensive, all the negatives -- but that's every business. You just gotta keep fighting all the time," Sowers said.

On top of that, Sowers and other restaurateurs are also having to be wary of the national Cyclospora outbreak. The microscopic parasite contaminates fresh food or water, and right now, iceberg lettuce from Taylor Farms is still the focus of the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) investigation.

Sowers said communication with vendors is key in these situations.

"When I spoke to our supplier the other day, [who is] local out of Howard County, they said they hadn't had any knowledge of any complaints," he said. "We just go from there. We keep our safe food handling like we do it already."

Getting more diners in the door

Restaurant week events are typically done to attract diners in times of slow business.

Talking about the summer season in particular, Sowers said, "People are traveling and out of town, people are out of their normal [routines of] where they eat."

To hopefully incentivize more people to check out featured restaurants, Visit Howard County announced it will be upping a benefit through the Local HoCo Open Rewards app. 

When using the app when spending money at a participating local business, people earn 5% cash back. That'll increase during Restaurant and Craft Beverages Weeks.

"We're doubling that to 10% cash back at participating restaurants," Visit Howard County executive director Amanda Hof said.

Sowers is grateful for any kind of help to get patrons through his and other restaurants' doors.

"Anything that can be [done to] get your name out there is great," he said.