MTA and James Beard Foundation partner to bring New Yorkers to local restaurants

New Yorkers may seem to need no encouragement to visit the city’s bounty of local restaurants, but independent eateries could use a boost after Covid restrictions kept everyone at home. DineAWAY is a joint effort by the MTA and the James Beard Foundation to get residents and visitors to explore New York City’s local restaurants and neighborhoods via subways, buses, and commuter rails. DineAWAY sweepstakes offer fabulous foodie prizes like dinner at favorite restaurants and VIP tickets to food festivals.

As of last month, though MTA ridership remained over three million on weekdays, it stood at only 60 percent of what it was pre-pandemic. With the MTA’s fare-based revenue at $170 million below budget according to Crain’s, the joint campaign hopes to bring back riders to the transit system as well as give a much-needed boost to the struggling local restaurant sector.

Participating neighborhood restaurants include FIELDTRIP in Harlem, Nneji in Astoria, Good Wine in Park Slope, Rincon Melania in Sunnyside/Long Island City, and more. Sweepstakes prizes include restaurant dinners, tickets to Brooklyn Magazine Festival and Westchester Wine and Food Festival, and a stay at Hotel Indigo East End.

You’ll find more information, restaurant suggestions, chef profiles, and more at MTAaway.com. The MTA’s “Plan My Trip” feature can also help map your DineAWAY experience via subway, LIRR, or Metro-North Railroad.

RELATED: 

• New food hall at Pier 57 will be curated by the James Beard Foundation
• NYC subway ridership hits highest level since start of Covid
• NYC-area transit agencies seek ways to restore ridership post-Covid
• NYC subway ridership topped 3.2 million riders in one day for the first time since