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Feeling hungry? Tired of always eating at the same places? Never fear — it’s Ogden Restaurant Week.
Now in its ninth year, the annual event promotes locally owned, independently operated restaurants.
The 2021 event is running now through Nov. 14, and features 20 restaurants offering everything from ramen and sushi to waffles and burgers. Alongside their regular menus, each restaurant has curated a special menu with items available only during Ogden Restaurant Week.
Foodies looking for fresh eats can sign up for the free Ogden Restaurant Week pass at bit.ly/3COcFgO. Those who use the pass to check in to two or more participating restaurants will be eligible to win prizes like gift cards and t-shirts. (Customers aren’t required to have the pass to order off special menus, however.)
Colt Jarvis, director of marketing and communications for Ogden Restaurant Week, clarified that the pass isn’t an app. Rather, after signing up on the event’s website, participants are texted or emailed a link that gives them access to all of the special menus.
All together, Jarvis said Ogden Restaurant Week helps people discover food they never knew existed within their community.
“[It’s] just a world-class fine dining experience that people don’t even know is there,” he said.
Helping economies and communities thrive
Jarvis said Ogden Restaurant Week is organized entirely by local restaurant owners and doesn’t make a profit; rather, it exists simply for marketing and promotion purposes.
It started as a series of lunch and dinner deals, he said, but has since morphed into its current form.
Jarvis also said when people support local businesses, it comes back around to them when those businesses donate to schools and host fundraisers.
“If your local economy is thriving, then your community is thriving, and you create a place that people want to visit. You create a place that people want to live,” Jarvis said.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Chicken Sliders at Warrens Craft Burger, one of the restaurants participating in Ogden Restaurant Week, onThursday, Nov. 4, 2021.
‘A fabulous thing to be a part of’
Leigh Dean knows a few things about investing in a community.
She and her husband are the owners of Warrens Craft Burger in Ogden, which offers pub-style burgers and beer. They’ve been running the restaurant for about eight years, she said, and prior to that, they did bar food for Ogden’s Century Club.
Dean said their burgers are made from 100% chuck meat and their chef gets “super creative” with sauces and flavors.
Their special menu includes offerings like mango sliders, a turkey tzatziki burger and the ABC salad (which has spinach, apples and avocados).
She and her husband have been involved with Ogden Restaurant Week since they opened Warrens Craft Burgers, Dean added, and “it’s a fabulous thing to be a part of.”
In particular, she said she appreciates the sense of community created by the event.
“We have such a variety of restaurants involved and a lot of different price points,” Dean said. “Everybody offers something unique to their restaurant at a price that we think is fair for the customer.”
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