ASWSU and GPSA will host Restaurant Week Nov. 1-5. 

Restaurant Week allows undergraduate and graduate students to get $5 off their meal at the restaurant assigned to each day, said GPSA Programming Chair Ajay Barman. The discount applies to any menu items except for alcoholic beverages. 

On Monday, students can visit Birch and Barley, Tuesday will be Sella’s Calzone and Pizza, Wednesday is Zoe Coffee and Kitchen, Thursday is Porch Light Pizza and Friday is O-Ramen, said Fatimah Albaqshi, ASWSU director of community affairs. 

Each restaurant will have a sign-in sheet for the first 40 undergraduate and first 40 graduate students. Once each sign-in sheet is filled, the discount will no longer be valid, Barman said. The discount will begin once the restaurant opens for the day. 

Students are required to bring their CougarCard to prove their enrollment and status, he said. 

This is the fourth semester GPSA has organized Restaurant Week and the third semester that ASWSU has helped, Albaqshi said. 

Restaurant Week serves as a way to get students more involved in the Pullman community while also supporting local businesses that have struggled during the pandemic, Barman said. 

“We believe our local businesses are also a part of the Coug family,” Barman said. “Through Restaurant Week, we want to show our love and support to them.”

WSU has an extremely diverse community, Barman said. Restaurant Week allows for international students to experience food they may not have tried before. 

“Maybe they don’t know what a calzone is,” he said. “They get to go to the restaurant and explore, and they will see their menu. It is like a cultural experience for them.” 

Albaqshi said she believes many students fail to acknowledge the Pullman community as separate from the university. Getting students downtown allows them to experience new restaurants and hear about upcoming events elsewhere. 

“There’s so much more to Pullman,” she said. “It’s no big city, it’s no Seattle obviously, but it does have its own unique kind of flair, I think, and I’d really love for students to be able to explore that.” 

Barman said despite current restrictions, he hopes Restaurant Week will grow to allow for multiple restaurants on one day and no limit on how many students can participate. 

Students are encouraged to reach out if they have any suggestions for future restaurant weeks, Barman said. Contact information can be found on GPSA’s website.