by Mitchell Brown, Reporter
Food can become part of an area’s regional identity. Philadelphia has the cheesesteak, Chicago has deep dish pizza and what would Kansas City and St. Louis be without barbeque?
Although Warrensburg, Mo. is not famous for any one dish in particular, the town contains a collection of homegrown restaurants serving up local fare.
Local restaurants are celebrated during Warrensburg Restaurant Week, which started March 2 and ends March 11.
During that time, customers will be able to purchase a special lunch plate for $10.00 and a dinner plate for $25.00 at participating restaurants, which are Cafe’ Blackadder, Cross Eyed Cricket, Culton Street Eatery/Monetti’s, Fitt Kickers, Fitter’s Pub, Heroes Restaurant & Pub, The Market LLC, Mazzio’s, Muddy Creek BBQ, Old Barney’s, Planet Sub, Players Restaurant, Rib Crib, Rise Cafe’, Spin Pizza and Zaxby’s.
Restaurant Week is sponsored by Warrensburg Main Street and the Warrensburg Chamber of Commerce and a byproduct of the Love What’s Local campaign. The now annual event came to be in 2016, making this week the third time around.
Barbara Carroll, Director of Community Development for the city of Warrensburg, said word goes out to local restaurants in December.
“We invite every restaurant in town to participate,” Carroll said. “Ultimately, they choose if they want to register or participate.”
Suzanne Taylor, Executive Director of the Warrensburg Chamber of Commerce, said she’s received positive feedback concerning the two previous installments of Restaurant Week.
“I received feedback of individuals that have gone into some of the restaurants that are participating that they’ve never been in before, and they will go back,” Taylor said.
Although the Love What’s Local campaign was created before Restaurant Week, it’s an event that fits with the overarching theme of Love What’s Local.
“The background to Love What’s Local is to educate the consumer and our business owners of the significance of thinking local first, purchasing local items and using local facilities before you go elsewhere,” Taylor said.
“It’ not just the shirt you buy and the shoes that you buy,” Carroll said.
Carroll spoke of a civic significance of shopping local, emphasizing that revenue from sales tax goes to support functions of the city government, like the police department and the fire department.
“Communities are very interconnected, and we just want to shine a light on that with Love What’s Local,” Carroll said.