EL PASO CO. — Today kicks off the start of Pikes Peak Restaurant Week. Since the pandemic began, restaurants need the community's support now more than ever.
If you want to enjoy some great meals for restaurant week, there are about 50 restaurants in Colorado Springs to choose from. Most of them are in the downtown area, with others in the northern part of the city like near Briargate, and some options in Manitou Springs.
Restaurants around the Pikes Peak region will be offering discounts on delicious meals. If you want to check out what's on the menu at participating restaurants, you can sign up for the
Restaurant Week passport on the City of Colorado Springs website. It's free to use, and once you sign up you can show your passport on your phone at participating restaurants.
Every time you check in, you earn a chance to win one of four grand prize giveaways, which is a gift card worth $250 to support shops in downtown Colorado Springs.
This is the first restaurant week in the Pikes Peak region since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
Restaurant week will go on until Sunday, April 18.
Hear from restaurant owners Eric Brenner and Jay Gust, who both gave back to the community and their employees during the pandemic, despite facing challenges of their own.
Brenner and his staff helped feed 4,000 healthcare workers at local hospitals. Gust helped pay for groceries for his employees when they were without a job during the pandemic.
"We're excited about restaurant week, we always are. It's great, especially in these times with the pandemic going on," said Brenner. "This last year has been very challenging, but in a good way. I think restaurant owners and chefs, by nature, are problem solvers. So we're always looking for the upside of everything, and early in the pandemic I challenged myself to find a way to give back to the community."
"After last year, it's really a breath of fresh air. It's starting to bring back that normality of what we once had, and restaurant week is only a great way to showcase our foods, but also to give discounts for people who wouldn't normally go out to eat or couldn't afford it," said Gust, who owns is the president of Ascent Restaurant Group. He also owns Pizzeria Rustica and TAPAteria and is a partner with HOMA at Kinship Landing.
