VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — It's normal for a community's "restaurant week" to come during the slow season, but Virginia Beach restaurants say the last several months have been exceptionally slow.
"July was hot as hades. September and October a little slower, weather-wise, it was not good either so we had difficulties," said Debbie Lou Hague, whose family has owned Ocean Eddie's at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront for more than 70 years.
Ocean Eddie's — which is located on the Virginia Beach Fishing Pier at the Oceanfront — is one of 67 restaurants participating in Virginia Beach Restaurant Week this week, offering multi-course meals at a fixed cost.
Organizers say it's the most participating restaurants in the event's history.
"I would say it's been very slow for the whole entire year and it's been impacted significantly by economics," said Martha Davenport, President of the Virginia Beach Restaurant Association, which organizes restaurant week and counts more than 100 member businesses.
In Hampton Roads, communities' restaurant weeks are often held in January, a typical slower month for business, especially in tourist-dependent cities like Virginia Beach.
This year's event theme is Tastes & Traditions, A Culinary Celebration by Land and by Sea, paying tribute to the country's 250th anniversary year and an early meal involving English settlers and oysters in the Lynnhaven Inlet.
"A gentleman by the name of George Percy is the one that documented that meal so I guess you can say he was the first foodie influencer," said Davenport.
This year's Restaurant Week menus pay tribute to classic Virginia dishes, like oysters, crab and sweet potatoes.
Hague says Ocean Eddie's' menu includes Virginia ham too. She's hoping Restaurant Week is the start of a better year with so many American history landmarks within driving distance.
"We are so lucky because this is where it all began. I'm hoping that VA250 will bring that to us and we can do some really cool things with them," she told News 3.
Davenport says restaurants are depending on a better year.
"We lost restaurants last year, whether they were part of a large chain or a small mom-and-pop," she told News 3. "This is the way I would put it: If you're a local and you love your restaurant, you need to continue to show it love."
She says inflated costs, how inflation is affecting customers' wallets and the struggle to pomposityff are all pulling down sales. She's also still critical of a recent city meals tax increase.
But restaurants are finding positivity where they can. Hague says the winter months can be a chance for her staff to regroup and figure out where they can improve.
"Although we're not making a lot of money, we're having fun," she said.
Click HERE for a full list of participating restaurants in Virginia Beach Restaurant Week. Restaurant week runs through Sunday, January 25.
