A year ago, Bill Panzica wasn’t sure Chocolate Bar, his Chippewa Street restaurant, should expand its soup-and- sandwich food offerings to participate in the first Western New York Restaurant Week.

“I was very skeptical and apprehensive about ordering a lot of perishables,” said Panzica. “We ended up selling about 600 steaks that week, and we weren’t a business that had entrees, per se, on our menu.”

Spring Restaurant Week, where local places lure customers with value-priced meals, returns to Western New York from March 8 through 14. The list of participating restaurants, at Restaurant Week, is already at 125, with more expected to join before the curtain rises.

The specials, many priced at a timely $20.10, are different at each restaurant and range from full meals with entree and dessert to other courses and choices. But they’re all chances for diners to try a new place at a relatively modest cost, said Restaurant Week organizer Vince McConeghy.

Panzica, like a lot of his peers, is welcoming its return. “The first time this happened in March it caught everyone by surprise, the sheer number of people who came out,” he said.

There are 25 new places signed up for the week, and they’re not just the fine dining standouts, McConeghy said. From sushi at the Fuji Grill in Amherst and Orchard Park, to barbecue at Depew’s Kentucky Greg’s, diners should find a reason to try something new.

Restaurants that haven’t signed up yet for the promotion are still welcome to join, McConeghy said.