Challenge:
Post-COVID dining behavior had shifted. Fewer people were going out, and local restaurants needed renewed energy and visibility. Our mission was to reestablish Denver Restaurant Week as a cultural catalyst that inspired exploration and drove meaningful foot traffic citywide.
With a four-tiered pricing structure designed to make participation accessible, there was an opportunity to create a platform that genuinely offered something for everyone, from casual diners to culinary enthusiasts. The challenge was to unify branding, technology, and user experience into one seamless system that served restaurants, diners, and Visit Denver alike.
Response:
While Defy Them All led the visual identity development, I directed the digital strategy and experience architecture in parallel. We envisioned a dynamic platform that functioned as both an operational engine and an engaging discovery tool.
The site needed to empower restaurants with intuitive account creation, menu uploads, media management, and profile customization. At the same time, it had to provide diners with personalized tools to plan their week, favorite restaurants, and track reservations. Every decision balanced administrative efficiency with front-end delight, ensuring the system worked as beautifully behind the scenes as it did in the public-facing experience.
What We Did:
We designed and developed a streamlined backend ecosystem that allowed restaurants to quickly onboard, manage content, and update menus with ease. Administrators were given powerful yet intuitive tools to oversee restaurant participation, manage user accounts, and monitor engagement.
For diners, we built a comprehensive account experience that enabled favoriting restaurants, receiving event notifications, and curating a personalized itinerary for the week.
On the frontend, I led the creation of an immersive brand-driven interface that captured the excitement of culinary exploration. A robust filtering system allowed users to discover restaurants by neighborhood, price point, cuisine type, and additional parameters, creating a highly tailored browsing experience.
To bring personality and storytelling into the platform, we developed animated SVGs that brought the cartoon spokesperson, Chef Tasty, to life. Modern motion design techniques introduced fluid transitions and interactive moments, making the site feel energetic, playful, and unmistakably Denver.
Following the event, we extended the experience with “DRW Wrapped,” an interactive data visualization feature inspired by Spotify Wrapped. In a tap-based flow, diners could explore personalized statistics and highlights from their week, transforming participation into a shareable, memorable digital moment.
Results:
The 20th anniversary marked the most successful Denver Restaurant Week to date. The event achieved record-breaking reservations, restaurant signups, and user profile creations, with nearly 300 participating restaurants citywide.
Year-over-year growth has continued across all key metrics, reestablishing DRW as a cornerstone of Denver’s cultural calendar and creating palpable FOMO among those who missed it.
With a scalable tech stack and comprehensive visual system now in Visit Denver’s hands, the organization is positioned to evolve, expand, and build upon the robust foundation we created, ensuring Denver Restaurant Week continues to grow as both a culinary celebration and a citywide economic driver.
