Denver Restaurant Week 2011 Offers Quantity And Quality

Nearly 300 Restaurants Will Offer Two Dinners for $52.80

DENVER, Feb. 15, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- During the seventh annual Denver Restaurant Week (DRW), Feb. 26-March 11, a whopping 295 Mile High City eateries will offer a multi-course dinner for the "mile high" fixed price of $52.80 for two ($26.40 for one, tax and tip not included). Denver is exactly 5,280 feet above sea level – one mile high. Tourism officials believe DRW is the largest restaurant week in the nation in terms of the number of restaurants participating.

(Photo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110215/DC48688 )

(Logo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20101210/DC15827LOGO-b )

The sheer variety available to diners during DRW is staggering: among the participants are 45 Italian eateries, 32 steak houses, 17 contemporary restaurants and 15 seafood restaurants, spread out over more than a dozen Denver Metro area neighborhoods. At www.DenverRestaurantWeek.com, diners can browse all menus by cuisine or by neighborhood, as well as make reservations. 

The unprecedented quantity of restaurants is matched by their quality. All six of Denver's 2011 AAA Four Diamond award winners (Panzano, Colt & Gray, Mizuna, Rioja, Restaurant Kevin Taylor and Palace Arms) are participating in DRW and offering $52.80 for two deals this year. In a testament to Denver's burgeoning reputation as a dining destination, only Atlanta and Las Vegas added more restaurants to the elite Four Diamond list this year. Download the full list of 2011 winners from AAA's website.

Many of the restaurants are supplementing their multi-course dinners with glasses of wine or drink specials. Denver brews more beer than any other city, so naturally there are also many beer specials included in the deals.  Patrons of DRW can enjoy premium wine selections from sponsors including Alamos Winery, Mirassou Winery, Louis M. Martini and William Hill Estates Wines. 

"There are a lot of hungry people in Denver spending their lunch hours going through menus and getting ready for the dining event of the year," said Richard Scharf, president & CEO of VISIT DENVER. 

Denver Restaurant Week was created by VISIT DENVER, The Convention & Visitors Bureau, in 2005 and has been growing by leaps and bounds with additional sponsors including: Denver Post, 5280 Magazine, 9News, Westword, RTD, Metromix, the Downtown Denver Partnership and the Colorado Restaurant Association. Some 335,580 meals were served during DRW 2010, up 13 percent over the 298,200 meals served in 2009. Website traffic at the DRW site increased 17 percent in 2010 with 376,372 unique visits and 5,374,406 million page views – almost 10 page views for every resident in the City & County of Denver. 

About VISIT DENVER, The Convention & Visitors Bureau

Celebrating more than 100 years of promoting the Mile High City, VISIT DENVER is a nonprofit trade association that contracts with the City of Denver to market Denver as a convention and leisure destination, increasing economic development in the city, creating jobs and generating taxes.  Tourism is the second largest industry in Denver, generating $2.8 billion in annual spending in 2009, while supporting 50,000 jobs. Learn more about Denver at VISITDENVER.com, on Twitter @VisitDenver and Facebook.com/VisitDenver, or by phone at 800 2 DENVER.

SOURCE VISIT DENVER, The Convention & Visitors Bureau