From Palmer’s mouthwatering crusted redfish to Grins’ delicious homestyle burgers, San Marcos restaurants showcased a wide range of flavors during Savor San Marcos Restaurant Week’s debut from Jan. 23 through Feb. 1. The event brought local chefs and longtime favorites together for the city’s first restaurant week.
In its inaugural year, Savor San Marcos offered special menus and a chance for residents to explore some of the city’s best places to grab a bite. Behind the scenes, organizers spent months shaping the concept into a coordinated, citywide effort to celebrate local flavor and support small businesses.
Page Michel, Chamber of Commerce President and CEO, wrote in a press release to The Star that she is excited for the first year of Savor San Marcos.
“Savor San Marcos is our way of highlighting the incredible flavors and creativity of our local restaurant community,” Michel said.
Kristin Sheffield, owner of Palmer’s and chair of Savor San Marcos, developed the plan with Michel for 20 participating restaurants to each contribute a $100 gift card, with winners selected twice a day for 10 days. The chamber selected winners through a social‑media raffle, where patrons entered by posting a photo with the restaurant’s Savor San Marcos sign.
Michel emphasized the impact this event has on a typically slow season due to students being home for winter break. As January is a slow season for restaurants not in a college town, Savor San Marcos boosts sales during the period after students return from winter break. Michel said shopping local, especially during the slow seasons, is the best way to benefit from one’s tax dollars.
“Your tax dollars are what supports your roads and schools and parks and libraries, so if you have a habit of always going to a nearby city … you’re basically sponsoring their police department and libraries,” Michel said.
Each restaurant varied in its promotions, from featured Savor San Marcos menu items to discounts. Cody Taylor, Grins’ and Valentino’s owner, said this format set San Marcos apart from other cities that have done restaurant weeks because it allowed restaurants to have autonomy.
For example, Palmer’s restaurant offered a fixed-price three-course menu for dinner at $49 and a three-course menu for brunch at $29. Grins offered 20% off for the entirety of the week, and Valentino’s took a similar approach to Palmer’s with a Savor San Marcos-exclusive meal of a cheese bread stick, a large pepperoni pizza and a choice of a large house or Caesar salad for $40.
“I thought this kind of leaving it open-ended [idea] was a unique idea that definitely made it ours,” Taylor said.
Palmer’s owners shared Taylor’s appreciation for the flexible structure, noting that the open‑ended approach made it easier for businesses of different sizes and capacities to take part. Some chose to highlight signature dishes while others experimented with limited‑time specials or discounts tailored to their regular customers.
Though many aspects made the city’s restaurant week unique, Savor San Marcos had its own set of challenges in its creation. Michel said the process of getting in touch with restaurant owners and managers took lots of outreach and persistence.
“[The key to creating Savor San Marcos] is just follow-through,” Michel said. “You can’t just send a message and sit back and wait for people to respond. You really have to follow through and make those personal contacts to make things happen.”
The event hit another obstacle when the extreme weather rolled in during the first few days of the promotion. Many restaurants closed their doors during the icy weather to protect the safety of staff and customers.
Sheffield said Palmer’s had a slow start with the recent extreme weather, but the promotion became very successful by midweek. She is excited to see how Savor San Marcos grows and changes in future years. Sheffield believes this first run of Savor San Marcos will teach the participating restaurants what works and what doesn’t to make the promotion even better in the future.
“I think more people will be on board and have a better idea of what is selling during that week, so they can pinpoint that and put that on promotion next year,” Sheffield said.
