There’s still time to send that Happy Hour receipt to Tucson Foodie and be in the running for some nice prizes.
Addie Ibarra, Tucson Foodie’s community director, had a great idea for the summer: When you go out to eat, keep your dollars local and win prizes.
Here’s how 12 weeks of Foodie Summer works. Every week there’s a different food theme such as Happy Hour, this week’s theme. Next week, beginning Monday, June 22, the theme is frozen dessert. When diners buy food in that category from a locally owned restaurant — not a chain — digitally send the receipt to Tucson Foodie. If that receipt is randomly chosen, you win a prize. There are always three to five prizes so several people can win. For Happy Hour, the prizes are tickets to America’s Best Mexican Food Festival, (2) $100 Visa gift cards, $50 gift card to Reilly Craft Pizza & Drink, (4) $20 gift cards to Hop Shop, $50 gift card to North Italia and a $20 gift card to Ghini’s.
Eat a bit of dessert next week and be entered to win tickets to America’s Best Mexican Food Festival, (2) $100 Visa gift cards, $20 gift card to Ghini’s and a $50 gift card to North Italia.
It’s all done electronically. Go to summerfoodie.com, hit the yellow button and create an account. The computer selects the winners at the end of the week and the staff notifies that week’s winners.
People may enter three times a day: one for breakfast, one for lunch and one for dinner.
According to the rules of the campaign, qualifying restaurants are defined like this: “Any locally owned Tucson spot that fits the week’s theme. Restaurants, cafés, bars, coffee shops, food trucks, breweries, wine bars — if it’s local and it fits, it counts.”
Tucson Foodie Summer is one way to keep dollars local. Ibarra’s aim is to help Tucson’s food dealers of every strata to survive. Even one dinner can make a difference. In three weeks, Ibarra said, 12 Weeks of Foodie Summer has kept more than $7,000 in the community.
“I think that’s worth highlighting,” she said. “It’s money that could have been spent elsewhere and (people) chose to spend it locally and I think that’s a great story to tell.”
Foodie Summer is also a good incentive to branch out, try something new.
“What a fun way to explore Tucson’s amazing restaurant scene and win some sweet prizes just for supporting local!” Shane Reiser, owner of Tucson Foodie, said. “12 Weeks of Foodie Summer builds upon the success of Sonoran Restaurant Week. Both are designed to drive revenue into locally owned restaurants during Tucson’s slow season. And they need our support more than ever. Tucson’s restaurants are a big part of what defines our unique culture. I’d like to see every one of them survive and thrive this year. That’s quite literally our mission at Tucson Foodie.”
Other themes for the summer include:
June 15 -21: Happy Hour
June 22-28: Frozen Dessert
June 29-July 5: Burgers
July 6-12: New Me
July 13-19: Italian (Pizza and Pasta)
July 20-26: Breakfast and Brunch
July 27 – August 2: Steak and Carne Asada
August 3-9: Sonoran
“Every week we give away at least $200 in cash in local gift cards so by the end of the campaign we will have given back to our community over $6,000 in prizes,” Ibarra said.
Among the partners donating are Art State Arizona and
“That’s what’s great about our community, these restaurants that essentially need the support and appreciate the support are the ones that are giving back,” Ibarra added.
