Diners find great lunch and dinner specials during annual Downtown Marquette Restaurant Week

MARQUETTE — If you’ve been meaning to stop by that restaurant downtown you haven’t tried out yet, this week is the perfect opportunity to do so.

The annual Downtown Marquette Restaurant Week kicked off Sunday morning, and it will continue through the evening of March 8. Each year, restaurants in the downtown area put on great lunch and dinner specials for the entire week.

About 20 different restaurants are participating for this year’s event. It’s an opportunity for these restaurants to highlight some of their best dishes, and even to try out some new ones.

“Downtown Marquette has a ton of really great restaurants,” said Marquette Downtown Development Authority Promotions and Events Coordinator Tara Laase–McKinney. “They’re all very different, and they really love to take Restaurant Week as an opportunity to highlight some great items that are on their menu and try out new menu items as well. So they test things out to see if it’s something they may want to add to their menu. It’s a way for restaurants to showcase their best work.”

Many lunch specials being offered this week will cost between $10–$15. Dinner specials will cost between $25–$30 at most locations, including restaurants like Donckers on West Washington Street.

“For Restaurant Week we have a lot of cool things going on,” Vanburen said. “We have a different sandwich special every day and burger specials from 4:00–8:00 every night. The burger specials are going to be two burgers for $25. That also includes two drinks and two chocolates. So lots of good stuff is going on. Our chef did a great job putting this together, and we hope you guys enjoy.”

Manager Michael Vanburen says that Downtown Marquette Restaurant Week is a perfect chance for Donckers to connect with the local community and serve up some delicious food while they’re at it.

“Donckers is all about giving back to the community and just being a part of the community,” said Vanburen. “Tom and Jen, our owners, are in multiple groups that are always looking to give back and help out where they can, so it means a lot to us to see as many locals as we can come in and enjoy our food and our great atmosphere.”

A full list of participating locations and specials can be found here.