As the second annual Arizona Restaurant Week continues with big turnouts, many Tempe and Phoenix restaurant owners are hoping the event will give a boost to the local economy.

Since Saturday, customers at participating Arizona restaurants have been able to get a three-course meal at a discount price of $29 per person or $58 per couple. Restaurant-goers can take advantage of these prices through this upcoming Saturday.

Sara Anderson, marketing and events manager at the Arizona Restaurant Association, said this week could be a helpful boost to many restaurants that have felt the effects of the recession.

“Arizona Restaurant Week is a special promotion to get patrons to dine out in Arizona,” Anderson said.

Tim James, a research professor in the Department of Economics at the W. P. Carey School of Business, said he has recently seen a large reduction in the number of people eating out.

“[People are] moving down the food chain, tending to go to cheaper restaurants rather than better and more expensive ones,” he said.

This is having a negative effect on the economy because of the number of people employed by the restaurant industry, James said.

He compared it to the manufacturing industry — when the average American buys a TV, it often comes from a location outside of the U.S. like China, he said. The only American jobs that consumers end up supporting are those of the people in the stores that sell the TVs, he said.

“When you go and spend some money in a restaurant, nearly all of the money stays in-state and circulates around,” James said. “The money goes to the people who prepare the food and provide you with it so it plays a crucial part in how the economy works.”

James said he thinks this year Restaurant Week will focus more on getting people to resume spending money on dining out.

Michael Monti, owner of Monti’s La Casa Vieja on Mill Avenue in Tempe, said Restaurant Week is a great opportunity for local restaurant owners.

“The beauty of Restaurant Week is it … aids many restaurants without great expense to them,” Monti said. “In an economy like this, we need to reach as many people as possible, and it’s hard for any individual independent restaurant to [do this].”

Monti said he usually sees a decrease in customers in September because all the bills from summer vacations and back-to-school shopping need to be paid, which makes Restaurant Week’s timing perfect.

House of Tricks, located on Seventh Street just east of Mill Avenue in Tempe, is participating for the first time this year, and owner Robin Trick said the restaurant’s efforts have already been successful.

“Saturday night and Monday it was a huge increase in business,” Trick said.

It looks like the event will give a boost to the economy, Trick said, based on what she has seen so far.

“It’s sort of jump-starting the season,” Trick said. “The timing is good because coming off of a slow summer, it’s putting people back in the mood for dining out.”

Reach the reporter at vajones2@asu.edu.