Excitement is building in the city centre as popular eateries prepare for the inaugural Coventry Restaurant Week.

The event will take place from Friday, March 7 to Sunday, March 15 and will see the city’s top restaurants and food spots providing special offers for diners.

The foodie festival, organised by Coventry Business Improvement District (BID) in partnership with M.ad Agency, will see around 20 restaurants from across the city centre take part during the 10-day event.

The full line-up of restaurants will be revealed soon, but an extensive list of restaurants are already confirmed to be taking part including Bistrot Pierre, China Red and Wagamama.

All restaurants involved will be offering 20 per cent off food when showing a Coventry Restaurant Week pass.

The free pass is available from www.coventryrestaurantweek.co.uk and passes will be sent out from March 3.

Coventry BID has brought the festival to the city centre to kick-start spring for hospitality businesses and encourage people to head back to their favourite restaurants or discover new food experiences.

The BID works with its levy payers to make the city centre a vibrant and safe place to visit and work, and levy-paying businesses were able to register free for the event.

Coventry Restaurant Week is the latest in a string of initiatives being implemented by Coventry BID to support hospitality businesses and the night-time economy.

It builds on the success of last year’s debut Coventry Cocktail Week which generated a direct economic impact of £291,250 and saw businesses welcome an average of 154 extra customers.

Joanne Glover, Chief Executive at Coventry BID, said: “We’re excited to announce the first ever Coventry Restaurant Week and would urge everyone to head into the city centre to take advantage of deals at the brilliant restaurants taking part.

“After the success of Cocktail Week, with positive feedback from festival goers and the businesses taking part, we made the decision to introduce another week to celebrate our wonderful hospitality businesses.

“It will present the perfect opportunity to revisit favourite venues or discover hidden gems in the city. It’s fantastic to see so many restaurants taking part and it is all set to be a fantastic week in the city centre.”

Alice Christison, Company Director at M.ad Agency, added: “We cannot wait to be bringing restaurant week to Coventry and showcase the quality of restaurants and eateries within it! With an amazing range of cuisines on offer, this event provides the perfect opportunity to explore everything your city has on offer for less! We hope everyone loves the affordable concept – which is free to sign up to be a part of.

“I am thrilled to be working with such a proactive BID to support the hospitality industry in the cities biggest and first ever food showcase. We hope you love exploring the delicious culinary scene while saving 20% this March.”  For more information about Coventry Restaurant Week or venues looking to sign up, visit www.coventryrestaurantweek.co.uk.