Let’s Get Stockbridge Involved in Restaurant Week GR 2026
Restaurant Week GR is coming back November 6–14, 2026, and I would love to see our Stockbridge restaurants well represented this year.
One of the things I love about Restaurant Week is that it gives people a reason to try somewhere new. For a neighborhood like Stockbridge, that is a pretty great opportunity.
Experience Grand Rapids describes Restaurant Week as a chance for restaurants to welcome first-time customers while also giving loyal regulars something different to experience. Participating restaurants are encouraged to create special Restaurant Week menus featuring dishes they do not normally offer.
How Restaurant Week GR Works
Restaurants can participate at one or more prix fixe price points:
$25, $35, or $45
Each menu must include at least two courses, but restaurants have plenty of flexibility. It could be an appetizer and entrée, entrée and dessert, or a traditional three-course meal. Restaurants can also offer optional add-ons while still focusing on providing good value to diners.
Experience Grand Rapids is encouraging restaurants to get creative with special menu items, offer multiple options when possible, and highlight local products. Restaurants that create unique Restaurant Week menus may also receive priority consideration for media interviews.
Why Participate?
The biggest benefit may simply be exposure.
Participating restaurants receive support through online, television and radio, print, outdoor advertising, publicity, and in-store promotional materials. Those materials include items such as coasters, rack cards, posters, window clings, and table tents. The first 60 restaurants to register also receive staff T-shirts.
Restaurant Week GR will also again use a digital smartphone pass. Diners can check in at participating restaurants, earn rewards for visiting multiple locations, and vote for their favorite Restaurant Week restaurants.
That is exactly the kind of cross-promotion that can help introduce more people to Stockbridge and encourage them to visit several businesses while they are here.
There Is a Community Benefit, Too
Restaurant Week GR also supports the next generation of local culinary talent.
Gordon Food Service will donate $1 for every Restaurant Week check-in, up to $5,000, to an endowed scholarship at the GRCC Secchia Institute for Culinary Education. Since 2010, Restaurant Week GR has raised more than $170,000 for the scholarship fund.
What Restaurants Need to Know
Registration opened August 3, and all participation information, including menus, is due October 1. Restaurant Week itself runs November 6–14.
Restaurants must be an Experience Grand Rapids partner to participate. The annual partnership fee is $250 and includes additional year-round marketing benefits. An optional $50 gift card can also be provided for additional Restaurant Week marketing support, but that gift card is not required.
Let’s Show Off Stockbridge
We already know how many great places there are to eat on this side of town. Restaurant Week is another chance to remind the rest of Grand Rapids.
If you are a Stockbridge Business Association restaurant member, I hope you will take a look at the program and consider participating this year.
The more Stockbridge restaurants involved, the more opportunities we have to bring new people into the neighborhood, showcase our local businesses, and hopefully turn some first-time visitors into regular customers.
Restaurant Week GR runs November 6–14, 2026. Registration information is available through Experience Grand Rapids, and participation materials are due October 1.
For questions, the recruiting sheet lists Experience Grand Rapids Marketing Partnership Manager Jaylyn McCloy at JMcCloy@ExperienceGR.com or 616-233-3565.