WACO, Texas — Bouncing back from the pandemic proved to be more difficult for some industries than others. This was especially true for restaurants, which then faced staffing and product shortages.
These are just a few reasons Waco Restaurant Weekend hasn't come back since 2019.
"It was an adjustment coming from such extreme changes back to where we are now which is pretty much back to normal," Cody Fergusson, Manager at Milk Bottle Cookies said. "We're back in full swing and ready to go."
Milk Bottle Cookies is just one of the more than 40 locations taking part in the 2023 event which started on Friday.
"I think it's a really cool community event that gets the entire food industry and service industry cohesively doing something together for the community," Fergusson said.
The event is all about highlighting locally owned businesses and encouraging community members to try something new.
"Every one of these restaurants, every one of these bars, they're all based on dreams and hopes and we want to make sure that we are supporting them to show that they can survive and not only survive but thrive in this community," one of the organizers of Waco Restaurant Weekend Eric Linares told 25 News.
It is sponsored by and also serves as a fundraiser for Keep Waco Beautiful.
"The entire structure of restaurant week is meant to support the initiative that Keep Waco Beautiful does in terms of fundraising to give businesses better opportunities to get more green certified, to do river clean ups or street clean ups," Linares said.
It's also meant to help build those connections between the organization and local businesses. Vanessa Rodriguez, owner of Maria Mezcaleria, said that partnership was one of the more important reasons she wanted to get involved.
"We are interested in switching to a more sustainable restaurant," she said. "I'm all about recycling at home but whenever you own a restaurant it's really hard because it can be quite expensive to use a lot of eco-friendly products."
For a full list of all participating locations, you can visit here.
