Make the most of Restaurant Week's final days
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The Esquite Burger from Ale's Kitchen at Straight to Ale in Campus 805 will only be around a few more days. Photo: Derek Lacey/Axios
Restaurant Week wraps up Monday.
Why it matters: If you don't make it out this weekend, you'll have to wait another year for a chance at special menu items around town.
Catch up quick: Restaurant Week is the centerpiece of Huntsville Culinary Month, which is working to highlight Huntsville's diverse and ever-growing food scene.
- Check in via the Rocket City Dish Pass for chances to win prize packages valued $900-$1,600.
What they're saying: Brent Boyd, Huntsville/Madison County Convention and Visitors Bureau communications manager, told Axios that as of Thursday, 3,549 pass sign-ups have resulted in 712 check-ins.
- That's higher than last year, Boyd said, but they're hoping to see more by the end of the month, and are emphasizing the check-in part of the pass, as there are also rewards for the restaurant that garners the most check-ins, and the one where the winning check-in was made.
- Winners are announced in September, and you can check in all month.
The latest: After perusing the offerings, I notched a couple more check-ins Thursday, swinging by Ale's Kitchen at Straight to Ale and Pizzelle's Confections for dessert.
Zoom in: I love a good burger, and the Esquite Burger is Ale's Kitchen's lunch offering for Restaurant Week, an updated offering from the 2024 version.
- It pulls their Esquite side, essentially Mexican street corn, and puts in on the burger alongside pickled onions.
- Their Restaurant Week beer offering is a crisp apricot-infused take on Straight to Ale's Block Party Blonde. It's crisp, light and fruity without tasting fake or overpowering.
What they're saying: Bartender Christer Dreisbach told Axios that so far this week, the beer is selling better than the burger, the latter of which he said he's served about half a dozen.
- But after trying both, my recommendation is: have both.
Driving the news: I didn't stop there.
- I took the opportunity to get a couple steps in and walked over to Pizzelle's Confections, where general manager Jennifer Sherman said Restaurant Week is always a big deal.
Case in point: This year they're bringing back a crowd favorite, the cannoli, which Pizzelle's only offers during Restaurant Week, and which I ordered with the pistachio orange filling.
- They're made with a dark chocolate-lined cookie shell filled with house-made ricotta, and their deliciousness was confirmed by a customer coming in expressly for one while Sherman and I were talking.
- Also on offer at Pizzelle's are a warm cookie sundae and The Large Marge, which is drinking chocolate over ice cream, with marshmallows, whipped cream, chocolate or caramel sauce with sprinkles and a cherry.