The rapid growth of Local Restaurant Week is a testament to our region’s renewed focus on reviving the local economy through supporting local eateries. From the businesses’ perspective, the cost of reducing entree prices is offset by the exposure and customers driven by the week that reels in $10 million annually.

Local Restaurant Week returns from Oct. 15 to 21, where over 130 restaurants will offer entrees for $20.12. Depending on the eatery, sometimes the deals will be “two entrees for $20.12,” so the values differ by location. Each restaurant listed in Local Restaurant Week’s handy guide details the specials, which, if anything, are good for whetting an appetite.

Peter Longo, past President of the New York Restaurant Association’s Western New York Chapter, took the sentimental route in introducing the event.

Do you consider culture something that is reserve for grand spaces and reverential hushed tones? Or is it something so embedded in our daily lives—such as dining out at your favorite local restaurant? We obviously think of it this way. So, too, do many of us in Western New York. And that is why we are so proud to live here.

Restaurant Week-goers have different motives for joining in the festivities, so here are a few takes:

1) Try a hole-in-the-wall, family-owned restaurant that’s off-the-beaten-path, take Scharf’s Schiller Park Restaurant for example.

2) Leave your comfort zone by sampling unfamiliar ethnic cuisine, as your options are bountiful. May Jen, Sun Restaurant, Kabab and Curry, O’Brien’s Pub and Steakhouse, and Jewel of India are a few good options.

3) Go up-scale: At least from my budget’s standpoint, very upscale joints like Mike A’s, Buffalo Chophouse, the Roycroft Inn (East Aurora) and Mangia (Orchard Park) are usually well out of my price range, but Local Restaurant Week affords me the opportunity to try a few of those out.

4) Go hip-hop inspired. Hey, YOLO is on the Local Restaurant Week menu as well. Small chance you could run into Drake.