City of Pittsburg: Pittsburg's Culinary Crawl Returns June 5

Pittsburg's Culinary Crawl Returns June 5

Posted Date: 5/28/2014

Culinary crawl to start June 5 in Pittsburg's Old Town

By Eve Mitchell
Contra Costa Times

PITTSBURG -- The city's culinary crawl is back for its second year after sellout events during its inaugural run last summer.

The popular restaurant walking tour -- which lets participants sample mini-appetizers from six Old Town restaurants -- kicks off June 5. And like last year, the weekly crawls will alternate on Thursday nights, with classic car shows on Railroad Avenue throughout the summer months.

The three-hour crawl will make stops at New Mecca Cafe, LaVeranda Ristorante, Lumpy's Diner, EJ Phair Restaurant & Brewery, Dad's BBQ and the Hall of Fame Sports Bar & Grill. On average, between 135 and 150 people attended each crawl last year.

The crawl concept gets people out to new places, said Dietra King, one of the owners of Dad's BBQ.  "There were people who came to the restaurant who had never come to the restaurant," she said of last year's crawls. "It gave them the opportunity to do some tasters." It also helped improve business at the restaurant, she added.

One change this year is a higher ticket price: $10 instead of the $5, which covers all six restaurants.

"Last year was to get the word out and get people excited about something," said Kolette Simonton, the city's community relations manager.  Surveys taken of those who went on the crawls determined that people would be willing to pay from $10 to $20 for each walking tour.  "We didn't want to do $20; we figured $10 was the right amount," Simonton said. "And this year, we did not limit the tickets like we did last year."

If you want to buy a ticket, don't look to make the purchase online. Tickets will be sold only at the Railroad Book Depot. Not having online sales accomplishes a couple things: It avoids a service charge associated with the online transaction and gets people downtown.

"By selling tickets in the bookstore, it also brings traffic to the bookstore. We encourage people to purchase in advance," Simonton said. "That way, we know how many people are coming, and the restaurants have a better idea of how many people they are serving."

That said, there are expectations that some people will buy tickets at the last minute, she added.

For more information, go to www.pittsburgcrawl.com or call 925-252-4860.

Contact Eve Mitchell at 925-779-7189. Follow her on Twitter.com/EastCounty_Girl.

get ready to crawl
June 5 -- Culinary crawl hosting restaurant, New Mecca Cafe
June 19 -- Classic car show, Opening night, PHDs Band
June 26 -- Culinary crawl hosting restaurant, La Veranda Ristorante
July 10 -- Classic car show, All-American classics, Sam-One Band
July 17 -- Culinary crawl hosting restaurant, Lumpy's Diner
July 24 -- Classic car show, Car club night, Vocal Ease & The Boogie Men
July 31 -- Culinary crawl hosting restaurant, EJ Phair Restaurant & Brewery
Aug. 7 -- Classic car show, Back to the Future, Nicky D & the Extreme All-Stars
Aug. 14 -- Culinary crawl hosting restaurant, Dad's BBQ
Aug. 21 -- Classic car show, Closing night, Project 4 Band
Aug. 28 -- Culinary crawl hosting restaurant, Hall of Fame Sports Bar & GrillCulinary crawl tickets are $10 and sold at the Railroad Book Depot, 650 Railroad Ave. Each crawl starts at 5 p.m. at Railroad Book Depot and finishes at the hosting restaurant with a raffle and entertainment. There is free admission to the classic car show, which takes place from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Railroad Avenue between Fourth and Sixth streets.
(Events are not scheduled over the Fourth of July weekend and the weekend that follows the June 11 graduation ceremony for Pittsburg High School.)