Restaurant Week In Claremore Supports Small Businesses Impacted By Tornado

The Claremore Area Chamber of Commerce is in the middle of its annual restaurant week. It allows people to eat at local restaurants for a chance to win prizes and save money.

This year, it also means a little more to both the restaurants participating and the town itself. Many of the participating restaurants were hit hard by the recent tornado.

This includes Smokelahoma. The restaurant suffered lost wages, inventory and sales due to the severe weather.

Lindsay Adolphson, the owner of Smokelahoma said restaurant week is great because she has loved seeing more people visit, but she also knows how much it helps her business and others.

"A lot more seeing on Facebook, social media, people posting about let’s get out and support local businesses. These are the families that need us the most at this time. So we do the best we can to help and do these deals to provide at a hard time for everyone in Claremore," Adolphson said.

While businesses like Smokelahoma are directly impacted by the increase in traffic at the restaurant, Ashley May, the chamber's communications director said the town of Claremore also gets a boost when more people shop and eat local.

"These are our friends. These are our neighbors, and we want to support them. In addition, all of that has such a positive economic impact on our community because we are a municipality, and we are funded by sales tax. So that’s a really important thing for people to spend their dollars here in Claremore," May said.

Restaurant week runs through June 23 and by participating, you not only help show support for Claremore, but you could potentially win a gift card from the chamber.