How Buying Gift Cards Now Helps Save Your Favorite Independent Restaurants Later

If you’ve ever attended a Harvest Week dinner in October at the GrowHaus or dined your way through the Big Eat in July at the Denver Performing Arts Complex, you have EatDenver to thank for those epic parties. Or, have you ever scored discounts at restaurants like Ace Eat Serve or Leven Deli Co. through the Dining Deck that comes out each year? That’s EatDenver’s work, too. Even if you’ve simply enjoyed a meal or a drink at one of the more than 200 independent restaurants listed below—all EatDenver members, from the DTC to Boulder—then you owe a debt of gratitude to the nonprofit association that connects some of the most creative, collaborative, and craveable restaurants on the Front Range.

Those restaurants are in peril right now, quite literally, with in-person dining off-limits and takeout orders bringing in just 15 to 20 percent of the revenue needed to pay bills for rent, utilities, insurance, internet, and third-party reservation and delivery platforms. Not to mention covering payroll for the employees our local owners have been able to retain—more than 83 percent of EatDenver’s member restaurant staff have been furloughed and more than 70 percent of those restaurants are at least temporarily closed.

There are myriad initiatives and fundraising websites begging for support for those struggling independent restaurants right now, and all are doing good work. But Stephanie Bonin, owner of Duo Restaurant in Highland and creator of the Double Down for Denver Restaurants campaign, says that what restaurants are desperate for the most is cash. “It’s the one tool we need,” she says. “And with so many people asking how they can help, it occurred to me that gift cards, with matching donations, would work double time. It helps operators with liquidity now but also acknowledges that when we reopen, we’ll need so much more help. Which is where EatDenver comes in; we need that organization to make sure restaurants navigate the new dining landscape the right way.”

The idea for #DoubleDownDenver is simple: Buy a gift card at any EatDenver member restaurant (full list below) as of April 20 and a matching donation (up to $43,000) will be allocated to EatDenver from a sponsor-contributed fund. Thus far, Campari America, Restaurant Solutions Inc., Ecolab, Tito’s Handmade Vodka, Messner Reeves LLP, New Belgium Brewing, ToMarket, Curtis Corrado Farmers Agency, Moody Insurance, Seattle Fish Company, and What Chefs Want have stepped up to sponsor the campaign; Bonin and EatDenver board members and executive director Katie Lazor are working to secure even more matching funds. “Buying gift cards is like extending your favorite restaurant a no-interest interest loan,” Bonin says. “Takeout and gift cards let restaurants inch along until we can reopen, but with Double Down for Denver Restaurants, your purchase has twice the power and helps EatDenver be there for us when we need it.”

Bonin isn’t the only restaurant owner grateful to EatDenver for its advocacy and assistance in weathering the COVID-19 crisis. Dana Faulk Query, co-owner and “creative cat” of the Big Red F Restaurant Group (the Post Brewing Co., West End Tavern, Centro Mexican Kitchen, Lola Coastal Mexican, Zolo Grill, and Jax Fish House & Oyster Bar), marvels at the community that EatDenver has fostered. “True community is created through shared experiences, helping and supporting one another,” she says. “EatDenver is an organization worth fighting for, and Big Red F is honored to be a member and supporter of the Double Down campaign.”

Bonin also praises the way EatDenver connects the local independent restaurant community, providing legislative, marketing, and public relations services and opportunities for networking which “create a camaraderie that is priceless,” according to Bonin. “The EatDenver list serve, in particular, is like our own private Google; who has a gift card platform they love? Who has recycled vegetable oil? What are the issues we need to rally around?,” she says. “Any small business owner needs a second set of hands, and EatDenver is that for us.”

Lazor, who has served as EatDenver’s executive director since late 2016, credits the nimbleness of the organization, which is funded through (now canceled) events and (dried up) membership dues, to its small size; the nonprofit functions with a paid staff of two. “We’re so adaptable, we were able to give restaurants the information they needed to make quick but crucial decisions for their business in the early days of this crisis,” she says. “Now and moving forward, our members need the information sharing and trusted voices of the EatDenver community to give best practices and advice on how to reopen. It’s ironic that when our members need us more than ever, we can’t fund ourselves. EatDenver is in peril just like our restaurants.”

Front Range diners can play a crucial role in ensuring the survival of both their favorite dining establishments and the nonprofit that supports them by going to EatDenver’s website to buy gift cards from participating member restaurants. Lazor stresses that holding on to those gift cards until restaurants reopen is crucial: “Profit margins on takeout and delivery are a lot smaller than those of full-service dining, so waiting to use those gift cards will provide more benefit to the restaurants and show support when they need it the most.”

To buy gift cards for EatDenver member restaurants and have your purchase matched, click here.

EatDenver Member Restaurants

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