'About time!' - What you had to say about Sunderland Restaurant Week

In celebration of the increasingly diverse range of eateries on Wearside, Eat Drink Sunderland Restaurant Week will run from Saturday, September 24 until Sunday, October 2.

News that the city would host its first restaurant week, an international scheme which sees restaurants slash their prices to encourage people to try new venues, was welcomed by people on Wearside.

Commenting on our website, Wumran said: “Brilliant. They should have done this years ago.”

Readers also took to Facebook to have their say.

Jo Lawrence said: “Brilliant, about time! Newcastle’s has been an enormous success for a few years now. We have some lovely restaurants here, glad to see us following suit.”

Amiee Henderson said: “Just after we gone back to uni as well. Looks like we’ll be eating out every day.”

Becka Lesca said: “There’s some cracking restaurants in Sunderland, some absolute gems.”

Louise Bradford said: “Brilliant for the city. And the Restaurant Week concept started in New York, not Newcastle, so definitely not copying our near neighbours.”

During the nine-day event diners will be able to tuck into two courses for £10 or three for £15. Cafes will also be offering special deals to draw people through the doors.

Port of Call in Park Lane; Revolution in Low Row, Karbon Grill at the Hilton Garden Inn, The Glass Yard at the National Glass Centre and Papadoms in Sunniside have all been confirmed for the week, with more participants due to be announced in the coming weeks.

Papadoms restaurant tweeted: “This is going to be special! Can’t wait to be involved in Sunderland’s first Restaurant Week.”

The initiative is being led by Sunderland Business Improvement District (BID), with support from a number of Sunderland business partners as a spin off from New York Restaurant Week which launched in 2010 and has been adopted by cities across the world.