Offering people good deals on good meals isn’t the only motivation behind Corpus Christi’s Dine Downtown Restaurant Week that started Friday.
“The goal of the Downtown Management District is to help bring more businesses and more visitors to the downtown area, and this is one way that we’re doing that” DMD Communication and Events Manager Jordan Michael said.
By arranging for 12 restaurants to offer special deals over a ten day period, the DMD hopes Restaurant Week will draw more people downtown to see what the area has to offer.
“Downtown’s a great place to be,” she said. “It’s important that we have an area that people want to come, they want to visit, they feel safe.”
The Executive Surf Club on Chaparral Street is one of the dozen restaurants participating in Dine Downtown Restaurant Week.
“The great thing about Dine Downtown is that we start to see new people, people who wouldn’t typically come down here,” Surf Club Executive Chef Danyela Hinojosa said. “We can introduce them to who we are and what we do.”
The DMD is encouraged by three businesses that are opening this year within blocks of each other in the southernmost part of downtown. It’s unclear exactly when the new Frost bank building on Shoreline Blvd. and the Residence Inn By Marriott on Water St. will open. The co-owner of Nueces Brewing Company, also on Water St., hopes to be open by late spring.
“We’re exited about downtown,” co-owner Brandon Harper said of his brewery’s location. “It seems to be making a comeback. People are excited about it. We’re getting a lot of traction so, we’re looking forward to getting the doors open.”
A couple of people walking into the Executive Surf Club gave Downtown Corpus Christi mixed reviews overall.
“There’s a lot of construction going on, but it’s easy to get around,” Thomas Vallier said. “Lots to do and big buildings.”
“There’s definitely potential,” Alexis Bodenheimer said. “I feel like the nightlife could be a little bit better, but of course downtown is under a lot of construction. It could be better, but it’s doable.”
