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Auburn launches 'Eat Local' promotions and summer downtown events; Pie Styles to expand into larger City Hall Plaza space
Summary
City podcast hosts outlined Eat Local Auburn — a promotion for downtown restaurants — and announced a series of Friday-night street events, National Night Out plans and an expanded Pie Styles bakery across from City Hall Plaza.
The City of Auburn is promoting downtown businesses with a new Eat Local Auburn program and a series of summer events that include Friday-night street activations, a car show and a National Night Out family night, local podcast hosts said.
“We're essentially creating a platform for our local businesses, restaurants particularly, to promote themselves,” Jonathan Glover, communications manager for the City of Auburn, said on the Auburn on Main podcast. The promotion — branded Eat Local Auburn — will feature weekly social posts, an online listing of participating restaurants and periodic discounts or special menu items promoted through a city-run webpage and QR codes at events.
The economic development office’s webpage for the program is ecdev.auburn.gov, hosts said. Participating downtown businesses include Chaska, Oddfellows, Happy Crab and JJ Islander; examples cited on the podcast included a 15% off offer at Oddfellows on Mondays, and a Happy Crab promotion described as “5% off their regular menu items” plus a free chicken nugget offer. Chaska is promoting a grab-and-go “lunchbox” item priced on the podcast at $13.99.
Separately, the city will stage a sequence of Friday-night downtown events starting June 27 with food trucks, live music and a beer garden; a later event will include a car show in August, hosts said. The city plans to close portions of Main and Division streets around City Hall Plaza for those events, and organizers said they will provide parking guidance — including free parking in the transit center garage (floor 4 and floor 6 were cited on the podcast).
National Night Out is scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 5 from 5 to 8 p.m. in the same downtown plaza area; organizers said that event is family focused and will include a Parks & Recreation “rec and roll” truck, disc-golf activities and a police-community presence.
Podcast guests also described a local bakery, Pie Styles, that is expanding from a roughly 750-square-foot Main Street location into a more-than-3,000-square-foot downtown space across from City Hall Plaza. The podcast said Pie Styles plans a full café menu with fresh-baked goods, breakfast, lunch and dinner offerings, beer and wine and outdoor seating; the hosts noted the business would need an additional license to add liquor.
City hosts encouraged residents to check the city’s community calendar for tickets and details on arts performances and other community events in May and June, and to scan event QR codes for Eat Local Auburn offers. “We want to provide that platform and provide something new and exciting, and give our residents something new and give them a purpose to come downtown,” one host said.
Organizers emphasized that the events are free to attend and that vendor lists and specific dates will be posted on the economic development calendar.
