Conflicting messaging - Should Elk Grove reschedule Restaurant Week as Sacramento County pushes 'Dry January'?

For the last several years, Elk Grove's economic development department, in association with Explore Elk Grove, has promoted Restaurant Week in early January. Part of the rationale for the promotion appears to be to give Elk Grove restaurants a shot in the arm in the post-holiday lull and to promote the city's larger goal of transforming it into a tourist destination.

Elk Grove's Restaurant Week starts today and runs through January 19. Sponsored partly by Sky River Casino, the promotion features 47 Elk Grove establishments. 

Several of the restaurants are specialty shops featuring products like donuts, coffee, yogurt, and other products that are not typically associated with a sit-down meal and do not serve alcohol. Many of the restaurants serve alcohol, and some have alcohol as their main feature. 

Notwithstanding some meager offers, such as a whopping five percent off your bill - which is worthless - many restaurants will discount meals if they can have you purchase a cocktail, beer, or wine. Any restaurant operator with an alcohol license of any type will tell you that is where they really make their money.

So, as Elk Grove's Restaurant Week starts, we wish all the business owners well, and the promotion helps their bottom line. 

However, it was coincidental that on January 9, Sacramento County distributed an email promoting the increasingly popular Dry January. The movement has conflicting claims of when and where it started, but in the last decade, it has gained popularity as it encourages people to set aside the excesses of the Holiday season and not consume alcohol during January. 

The county's email says, "Sacramento County hopes to encourage residents to reflect on their relationship with alcohol and drugs, take steps to improve their health, and support loved ones who may be in need. Remember, recovery is possible, and resources are available every day of the year to assist those on their journey." 

Since Restaurant Week starts in early January, when many people have yet to break resolutions that include exercising financial prudence or abstaining from alcohol, Explore Elk Grove should consider pushing the annual event to another month - or at least the last week of January, when most resolutions are in the dustbin!