After nearly a year of following social distancing rules and being unable to visit many local businesses during the current pandemic due to curfews and capacity limits, many households have missed the experience of a restaurant-created meal, which Styrofoam containers left by delivery services cannot match. For downtown Cuyahoga Falls restaurants, however, a better plan has now been implemented.
Beginning with HiHO Brewing Company’s pizza kit, the Downtown at Home Take and Make Experience offers a one day-only special from a different downtown restaurant each Wednesday through April 14, allowing customers to “take and make” a meal with instructions from the chef.
“Take out is an easy option for both the restaurant and consumer, so we built an event series around that idea,” explains Kaylee Piper, Executive Director of the DTCF Partnership.
For HiHO Brewing company, the response was phenomenal, making January 20th one of their most profitable days of the month. “I think this is a fantastic program that highlights the great businesses we have downtown and hopefully it brings all the participating businesses new customers and a boost in sales!” said HiHo co-founder Ali Hovan. “It was fun seeing their pictures on social media.”
“Participants not only bought a pizza kit, but added other items to their order such as beer, salads, additional pizzas, and merchandise to show support and enhance their experience,” recalled Piper.
Following HiHO’s breakout offer, Pav’s Creamery had their very own “Sneak Peak” sample package on January 27th, consisting of five different new flavors of 2021, including Strawberry French Toast, Brookie Dough, and Bourbon Butter Pecan. While some kits may have only be available the one day, new kits will become available when Pav’s launches a new special for “Ice Cream for Breakfast Day” on February 6.
“We as restaurant owners need to do whatever it takes to get our products to our customers. If they can’t come to your location, finding new ways to get to our products to them is imperative,” Pav’s owner Nik Pappas said.
Other restaurants along Front Street will continue this trend of Wednesday specials, including a build-your-bowl from Clean Eatz, a grilled PB&J from Butcher & Sprout, and even a three-course early Valentine’s Day dinner from the newly opened family entertainment/restaurant business The Workz.
After picking up their meal kit, diners are encouraged to share a photo of their finished meal on social media, showing their love for the community’s restaurants.
For a full list of participating restaurants and weekly specials, visit https://www.downtowncf.com/events/downtown-home.
