Take a culinary cruise down Alberta Avenue this week with Dine the Ave, a special event promoting the diverse world cuisine in the 118 Avenue district.
Twenty different restaurants, cafes and pubs are offering special menus at $10, $15 and $20 price points, featuring everything from Italian to African fare.
Battista’s Calzones Co. helped put Alberta Avenue on Edmonton’s culinary map years ago and the owner, Battista Vecchio, says restaurant owners in Alberta Avenue all have the same thing in common.
“They have that passion for food and people,” Vecchio said.
READ MORE: Documentary shares stories of diversity and businesses along Edmonton’s Alberta Avenue
Dine the Ave has been around since 2016 with different formats. This year, organizers have ditched ticketed events in favour of the all-week-long menu discounts.
Joachim Holtz with the Alberta Avenue Business Association hopes this will put more new visitors into restaurants they’ve never tried before.
“We’re very proud of our independent businesses,” said Holtz. “We have a lot of family owned operations.”
Alberta Avenue doesn’t feature chain restaurants. Instead, it has dozens of small ethnic eateries featuring authentic, homemade cuisine.
READ MORE: 10 years later, has revitalization led to change along Alberta Avenue?
“The owners have an opportunity to give their story. Small business owners love to tell the story of their business,” said Holtz.
You can hear those stories first hand and take advantage of the special food discounts for Dine the Ave until June 23.
WATCH: Dine the Ave will take patrons on a culinary tour of 20 restaurants along 118 Avenue, sampling everything from Vietnamese to Indian to Italian. Joachim Holtz and Laura Truong share details on the morning news.