DENVER Denver Restaurant Week broke records for participation this year as more operators signed up to offer fixed-price meals in hopes of driving traffic during the annual event.
Atotal of 225 restaurants, 37 percent more than last year, participated in the week-long promotion that ran from Feb. 21-27, Denver’s Convention & Visitor’s Bureau, VISIT DENVER, said Tuesday. The number of meals served also rose 84 percent from last year.
Restaurants offered multi-course meals for the “Mile High” fixed prices of $52.80 for two, or $26.40 for one. The price represented Denver’s elevation of 5,280 feet, or one mile above sea level.
“In this economy, most business and promotions are happy to be flat with last year,” said Richard Scharf, president and chief executive of VISIT DENVER. “We are very pleased to see an 84 percent increase in the amount of people participating in this event.”
Denver Restaurant Week was started in 2005 in hopes of stimulating local restaurant business as well as show off the city’s dining scene to residents and visitors. Denver is one of several cities across the country, including New York and Los Angeles, which host special dining offers for a week or even more. The promotions are becoming more popular as ways to drive traffic during these tough times.
Up to 175 restaurants in Denver extended the promotion for an additional week. VISIT DENVER calculated the restaurants served 202,500 meals during the first week and 95,700 meals the second week. The total of 298,200 fixed-price meals served is an 84 percent jump from the 162,000 meals served in 2008.
Contact Dina Berta at [email protected].