Tybee Island Restaurant Week kicks off early to beat end-of-summer tourism slump

by Stephanie Adkisson

TYBEE ISLAND, Ga. (WTOC) - Tybee Island’s annual Restaurant Week is underway, but this year it is arriving months earlier than usual. The two-week celebration, hosted by the city, runs Aug. 3–17, 2026, with eight local restaurants offering special menus, deals and dishes for the occasion.

Earlier timing marks a shift

The event is typically held in February, during the heart of the slow season. This year’s move to August is experimental, according to Mayor Brian West, who said the goal is to draw visitors to the island before back-to-school season further reduces tourism numbers.

“It’s terrible for the businesses because they really struggle to get through that off season,” West said. “So we do what we can to help bring people down here.”

West said the shift in timing is already being felt on the island.

“So we decided to try it this year in August,” West said. “So it’s already, it’s not as busy here as it was last week. And it’ll get less and less busy moving towards the winter.”

Bringing locals and visitors to the table

Maggie Wright Lannon, Main Street coordinator, said the timing change was intentional.

“August is when we start to see our tourism start to go down, so this year we wanted to do Restaurant Week in August to hopefully bring locals and visitors out to Tybee to experience Tybee’s very vibrant dining scene,” Lannon said.

West noted that Tybee Island does not host any chain restaurants, making it especially important for city leaders to support locally owned businesses when tourism slows.

“It’s brought people down,” West said. “But maybe they’re seeing if they can get even more to come during this time of year.”

Restaurants get creative

Steve Farace, owner of Farace’s Finest, said the event gives participating businesses a chance to collaborate and try something new.

“Our collaboration with the Slow Fire Barbecue guys who run a food truck in Savannah, we’re going to use that to feature on our next limited release pizza,” Farace said.