Buy your ingredients locally and fresh. Promote your local suppliers to build goodwill in the community. As we lose our taste for imports and fight the contracting economy, people are shopping at their farmers markets and shopping locally. I think a restaurant would get a lot of support for supporting other local businesses.
The Hereford-n-Hopps you mentioned is here in my hometown...Nice to see the UP get some notice...lol
rabidralph’s advice about partnering with local microbreweries rings true to me (as a consumer). Microbrew fans (like me) will clear their schedule for a tasting night hosted by a local microbrewery. Create some type of frequent visitor rewards program, gather patron email addresses, and send out regular email newsletters (it’s cheap advertising) with announcements, events and digital coupons to keep your place top of mind.