NEWPORT BEACH : City Aims to Keep Dining Dollars Local
City officials are inviting local restaurateurs to join a cooperative advertising and promotions project.
The Newport Beach Restaurant Assn. will be similar to a neighborhood business improvement district, officials said.
“Restaurants are big business in Newport Beach. It’s a $250-million industry,” said Ken Delino, assistant city manager. That means $2.5 million a year in tax revenue for the city, he said.
The Restaurant Task Force of the city’s Economic Development Committee devised the co-op as a way to unite the city’s 400 restaurants to draw diners.
“The people in Newport Beach are having to scramble to compete,” Delino said. “There’s been an explosion of restaurants. It used to be that if you wanted a really good meal, you came to the beach.”
Diners who were drawn to the coast in the past, however, can now find a greater assortment of restaurants in their own neighborhoods, he said.
“They can go out and spend their restaurant dollars anywhere,” he said. “You have to give them something unique.”
The meeting is at 10 a.m. today in the City Council chambers at City Hall, 3300 Newport Blvd.
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