After celebrating its centennial last year, the Burbank Chamber has been focused on supporting small business recovery coming out of the Pandemic. With a phased recovery approach starting with the restaurants, Chow Down Burbank is a 90-day campaign in partnership with the City of Burbank. It’s designed to showcase the incredible eateries in town and encourage diners to embrace delicious new dining experiences.
CEO of the Burbank Chamber, Jamie Keyser shares “The restaurant industry, more than any other industry in the nation, has suffered the most significant sales and job losses since the COVID-19 outbreak began. Small and micro business, long-term recovery is a priority of the Chamber and the City.”
Chow Down Burbank launched at the end of June. In the past two months, there has been an incredibly positive response from both restaurant owners and diners. All of the Burbank City Council Members have embraced the campaign and are doing their part to support our local restaurants. They are valued partners and continue to champion the city’s small business recovery efforts.
The Mayor has embraced the campaign by endorsing mixers throughout town. “I am excited to bring friends and community members together to participate in the Chow Down Burbank campaign while having fun. As a member of Council, I believe we must remain engaged and support our restaurants and our small businesses. Burbank’s small businesses are the heart of our city and as we all know these restaurants need support with economic recovery. Friends, please join me to spread the word regarding Chow Down Burbank and let us continue to support our restaurants.” – City of Burbank Mayor Bob Frutos.
Mayor Frutos hosted events at The Morrison, Tequilas Cantina & Grill, and Barragan’s. Tequilas Owners, Patricia Franco Rivera and Carlos Rivera said, “We commend The Burbank Chamber of Commerce for its innovative idea in creating Chow Down Burbank. It’s a fun vehicle to assist restaurants in recuperating from the global pandemic, Covid 19. It also provides an opportunity to meet more Burbank community members. It furnishes a sense of being connected. This is particularly important, again, since Covid 19 separated us all. As small business owners and restaurateurs, this event gives us energy! We felt the support we believe the Burbank Chamber is conveying.”
In addition to the community supporters, celebrity influencers have stepped up to offered their support. American Restaurateur and host of a variety of Food Network shows, Guy Fieri, recommended the Chow Down Burbank campaign to his followers. Barry Weiss, an entrepreneur known for his A&E reality show Storage Wars supports Chow Down Burbank and highlighted some of the best sub sandwiches in town! You can watch these fun videos on the Chow Down Burbank website and social media.
Chow Down participating restaurant and a Burbank staple for over 60 years, Tallyrand was named “Small Business of the Year” for 2021 formally presented by Assemblymember Laura Friedman at a luncheon in Sacramento. “The past year-and-a-half has been incredibly hard for all of us – especially our small businesses, those family-owned, local landmarks that are the core of our communities. They don’t just sell products or provide services; they establish a sense of place and spirit within our community and help make our neighborhoods what they are. These local small businesses have had to fight hard against the health and economic impacts of the pandemic. Our small business owners have had to work every single day to keep their doors open, customers served, employees working, and bills paid. The Tallyrand in Burbank is that establishment, and owners Karen Ross and Mark Thomas are small business owners who exemplify rising to the challenge of successfully operating a business during a pandemic. They went above and beyond to take care of their employees, their customers, and to keep their business alive while struggling against a shifting and uncertain landscape. They’ve done everything to meet these challenges head-on while maintaining the special role the Tallyrand plays in our community. It was an honor to name them the 43rd Assembly District’s Small Business of the Year.” – Assemblymember Laura Friedman.
There’s a contest component to the campaign and the first set of prize winners have been selected. There were close to 300 contest entries and three lucky winners will enjoy tickets to a Dodger game, a 2-night staycation at the Hilton Garden Inn, and a VIP tour of Jay Leno’s Garage, located in his personal hangar at the Hollywood Burbank Airport! It’s not too late to participate in the contest and all you need to do is eat! Then, upload photos on social media while dining in or taking out from participating restaurants, and you’ll be entered to win more fabulous prizes. The second round of contest winners will be announced on September 1st.
The contest, as well as the overall Chow Down Burbank campaign, was developed by the Burbank marketing firm Counterintuity in partnership with the Burbank Chamber of Commerce. To date, the campaign, which Counterintuity is managing with the Chamber, has logged more than a quarter-million impressions across social networks and has increased diners at local restaurants and high engagement among diners who share and post content with #chowdownburbank.
There’s more work to be done and we encourage restaurants to sign up and share their tasty bites! Diners, continue to frequent your favorites, but don’t forget to try something new. Together we can all play our part and make sure Burbank remains the vibrant city it has always been.
The Chamber is hosting a Chow Down Networking Mixer on September 23 at Story Tavern. Join us and find out why so many in Burbank have made this restaurant their second home!
Learn more at www.chowdownburbank.com
