Denver has long been underestimated as a food city. But over the last decade, it’s rewritten the script, trading steakhouse clichés for chef-driven concepts, nationally celebrated food halls, and independent operators turning local ingredients into headline-grabbing menus. And while the food has evolved, so has the strategy behind the success.
The secret? PR that knows how to tell the right story to the right people at the right time.
Food Halls, Press Hits, and the Power of the First Look
Photo credit: Emma Heirendt
Walk into Stanley Marketplace today and you’ll find more than 50 Colorado businesses, including some of the city’s best-loved restaurants. But Stanley wasn’t always a go-to destination. Early coverage—from feature profiles in The Denver Post to trend pieces in national travel outlets—was the result of carefully orchestrated press visits, story development, and relationship-driven pitching. The payoff wasn’t just visibility. It was foot traffic. It was buzz. It was credibility.
That model, elevating a space through consistent storytelling, is now standard playbook for restaurant collectives, but Feed Media helped pioneer it here in Colorado. From the launch of food halls to the repositioning of iconic spaces like Casa Bonita, PR has been part of the build, not an afterthought.
Local Flavor, National Stage
Photo credit: Steven Miller
Denver’s dining evolution didn’t happen in a vacuum. National media started paying attention as local chefs landed spots on Top Chef, earned James Beard nods, and brought fresh perspectives to classic cuisines. But coverage didn’t just materialize on its own.
Behind the scenes, PR teams were tracking editorial calendars, anticipating trends, and packaging stories for editors at Bon Appétit, Eater, Forbes, and beyond. A great dish is a start. But the best press? That comes from knowing what a reporter will care about before they ask.
PR Is Placemaking
As Feed Media has seen in our work across travel, hospitality, and real estate, the way you talk about a destination, or a restaurant, can shape how people experience it. This is where PR crosses into placemaking.
For restaurants in neighborhoods like RiNo, LoHi, and Five Points, media coverage helps define not just a menu, but a mood. It gives first-timers a reason to explore. It reintroduces locals to what’s next. And increasingly, it drives decisions by investors, event planners, and food media scouting for “what’s hot.”
The smartest operators aren’t waiting for lightning to strike. They’re investing in proactive campaigns that position their brand within Denver’s broader dining narrative, and that narrative has legs far beyond the city.
What Makes It Work
What makes Denver’s restaurant PR so effective isn’t just volume; it’s strategy. Great PR means knowing when to pitch a human-interest story versus a trend piece. It means building relationships with freelancers and editors before the big ask. And it means turning even “quiet” seasons into opportunities, whether by highlighting culinary sustainability, cultural roots, or leadership lessons from the kitchen.
At Feed Media, we’ve seen time and again how a single, well-placed story can open doors: to new guests, new investors, and entirely new markets. But we’ve also seen how intentional visibility, over time, builds something even more valuable: trust.
Denver’s food scene didn’t just grow. It told a better story. And with the right media strategy, your brand can too.
