For two weeks, discounted menus at local restaurants will highlight Bloomington’s food scene. From March 20 to April 2, more than a dozen restaurants will offer special menus featuring three-course, value-priced meal combinations.
Devour Btown also includes discounted rates at some Bloomington hotels, including Candlewood Suites, Fourwinds Lakeside Inn, Holiday Inn Express & Suites and Hyatt Place.
The restaurants featured in Devour Btown will serve menus including vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options.
The promotional event allows local restaurants to bring in more business, and the deals encourage customers to try new places, said Bloomington Independent Restaurant Association executive director Steve Swihart.
“The public loves it because it is less expensive to go out to eat, and it is fun to eat at a different selection of restaurants, and it is always fun to find somewhere new,” Swihart said.
Marketing consultant Susan Decker, who worked with the Indiana Restaurant and Lodging Association to support the event, said Devour Btown appeals to both regular and first-time customers.
“By trying three-course, value-priced menus, there’s that incentive for that diner to try something maybe they’ve always wanted to try but they just hadn’t had the extra push to go make it happen,” Decker said. “Or they can go to one of their favorite restaurants they’re used to eating at.”
Decker said she wants visitors from outside Bloomington to take advantage of the hotel and restaurant deals. The promotional event is an opportunity to explore Bloomington and an excuse to go out to eat, she said.
Allison Smith, general manager at C3 Bar, said the restaurant is offering a menu that highlights the public’s favorite options. She said Devour Btown is enjoyable for the community as a whole.
“It brings local restaurants together,” she said. “It celebrates its vibrancy of restaurants.”
Devour Btown draws in many first-time customers to Function Brewing, co-owner Arlyn Llewellyn said. Many have returned to the restaurant after participating in the promotional event.
She has also received positive feedback from regulars at the restaurant.
“We’ve had regular customers who try different things because of the combination package available during Devour, and we’ve had people like things they don’t normally get,” she said.
Function Brewing’s Devour Btown menu allows customers to choose between appetizers, sandwiches and desserts in different meal combinations.
Llewellyn said it knocks $3-7 off the original pricing, depending on the meal.
Function Brewing will offer 90 percent of its normal menu, but the discounts will encourage people to try multiple courses, she said.
Decker said Devour Btown exhibits Bloomington’s wide variety of local restaurants.
“It’s got such an eclectic mix of restaurants, so it’s a fun event to be able to showcase all the different types of cuisine in one area,” Decker said. “It’s hard to find areas that have all of those different flavors and all of those different tastes and cultures.”
