Thirteen establishments join promotion next week

By Ally Lanasa, Staff Writer

(Jan. 7, 2021) Thirteen dining locations will offer special meal prices from Jan. 11-17 for the fifth annual Berlin Restaurant Week sponsored by Bunting Realty.

Cam Bunting, the event founder and owner of Bunting Realty on Broad Street, decided to bring restaurant week to Berlin after experiencing one in Bethesda, where she was visiting her daughter.

“It’s worked out really well,” Bunting said. “Everybody enjoys it. We get a lot of people that come to town, and some of the restaurants try something different that they normally maybe wouldn’t try to see how that goes over.”

The 13 businesses participating are Crush N Crab, The Atlantic Hotel, Fins Ale House and Raw Bar, Blacksmith, Burn Wood Fired Pizza, J & M Meat Market, Baked Dessert Café, Main Street Deli, Rayne’s Reef Soda Fountain and Grill, Boxcar on Main, The Globe Gastro Theatre, Pop’s Kitchen and On What Grounds?

“The restaurants change, and a lot of times people don’t know what’s here unless they come here and see,” Bunting said. “We actually have a couple new ones.”

Boxcar on Main, which opened last month, will offer a three-course meal for $37 with a choice of four roasted oysters, pork belly or baked brie and homemade preserves for an appetizer, a caesar or caprese salad and a main course of roast pork tenderloin, shrimp and grits, Kauaian salmon, or Brazilian grilled sirloin with chimichurri. Vegetarian options are also available upon request.

Boxcar on Main is open every day from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Pop’s Kitchen, another new restaurant in downtown Berlin, will offer pizza packages, $2 off a quart of soup and a small crab pizza for $12.95. In addition, customers will get a cup of soup for $2.95 when they purchase a sub or cheese steak at regular price.

Pop’s Kitchen is open Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The Globe Gastro Theatre will offer $10 boxed lunches with a sandwich, side and a drink. Sandwich options are pulled pork, smoked chicken salad or smoked turkey sandwich. Side options are succotash, power slaw, collard greens or mac and cheese.

The Globe is open Sunday from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., Monday from 12-10 p.m., Tuesday and Wednesday from 4-10 p.m. and Thursday through Saturday from 12-10 p.m.

On What Grounds? will have a made-to-order breakfast sandwich and small coffee deal for $6. Customers can upgrade to any other drink and get $1 off the additional price.

On What Grounds? is open Monday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Main Street Deli will serve chicken pot pie for $6.50, while Rayne’s Reef Soda Fountain & Grill will offer a free ice cream with the purchase of a sandwich, fries and a drink.

Main Street Deli is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday from 11 p.m. to 3 p.m.

The operating hours of Rayne’s Reef Soda Fountain & Grill are Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Crush N Crab will have a lunch special on a bowl of soup and a sandwich for $14.99 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. throughout restaurant week. The soup options are chili, cream of crab, Maryland crab or chicken and dumplings. The sandwich options are BLT, six-inch cheesesteak or chicken cheesesteak or tuna salad.

Featured specials available all day at Crush N Crab are a crab cake sandwich for $10, crabby fries for $10 and four pieces of fried chicken for $10

Crush N Crab will also offer dinner specials between 3-9 p.m., including Chef’s Special, two orange crushes, crabby fries, two pieces of fried chicken, and one pound of steamed shrimp, two mini crab cakes and a dessert for $60; a fried seafood platter with fish, clam strips, shrimp and oysters for $20; a crab cake platter for $20 and a steamed seafood platter with a half-pound of shrimp, a pound of mussels and a half-pound of Snow Crab legs for $30.

All dinner platters are served with two sides and bread.

All food specials are available for curbside pickup, carryout or limited inside dining.

Crush N Crab will also have drink specials for carryout only, including a four-pack of orange crushes for $20, a four-pack of Barefoot wine for $15 and a six-pack of Bud Light Orange for $6.

The restaurant is open Monday, Tuesday and Thursday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Baked Dessert Café will be participating in restaurant week from Jan. 12-16. The bakery is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. those days.

Customers have a choice of savory items for $6.99 each: sweet potato biscuit sliders stuffed with ham, pepper jack cheese and homemade mustard served with a side salad; Maryland Crab stew with a choice of sweet potato biscuit or scone served with a side salad; buffalo chicken croissant with pulled chicken in a spicy sauce with hints of blue cheese served with a side salad or a roasted vegetable penne pasta bake made with tender gluten free pasta,  roasted vegetables and five Italian cheeses served with a side salad.

Baked Dessert Café will also offer a $4.99 dessert sampler plate, which includes The Original Peach Dumpling, a “croclair” (a croissant and an éclair combined), cupcake bread pudding and a chocolate bomb.

All sustainable wines will be 20 percent off as well.

The specials are offered for carry-out, limited indoor seating and limited outdoor seating, weather dependent.

Free delivery to downtown Berlin will be available on Wednesday and Thursday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Customers must call 24 hours ahead.

The Atlantic Hotel, which has participated in Berlin Restaurant Week since its inception, will have a lunch special of fish and chips with cole slaw for $12.

The Atlantic Hotel will also offer a three-course dinner for $35, consisting of an Atlantic House salad made with spring greens, fresh vegetables and a choice of house-made dressings, Salmon Oscar served with big lumps of crab meat, jumbo asparagus and bearnaise sauce and a Lemon Lust dessert that has layers of lemon and cream on a pecan crust.

The restaurant week specials are available for dine-in and carry-out. Reservations are not required but accepted.

The Atlantic Hotel is currently closed through Jan. 14 for deep cleaning but will reopen 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.

Burn Wood Fired Pizza will have a side house or caesar salad, crab toast appetizer and chicken barbarossa entree for $20 for dine-in only. No reservations are required.

The restaurant is open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Friday and 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

The full list of restaurant week menus will be posted on social media.

“It’s good for the restaurants, which is good for the town,” Bunting added.

Customers can compete for a chance to win restaurant gift cards and $100 donated by Bunting by dining at three different participating locations and having their Berlin Restaurant Week passports stamped at all three eateries.

Diners can pick up Berlin Restaurant Week passports at either the Berlin Welcome Center on 14 S. Main St., Bunting Realty on 24 Broad St. or at any of the participating restaurants.

Then, diners will place copies of their receipts stapled to their passports in the drop box in the foyer of the Berlin Welcome Center.

The drawing will take place shortly after restaurant week, and the winner will be announced online.

For more information about the event, visit the “Berlin Restaurant Week” Facebook page or berlinmainstreet.com.