Grapevine, Texas
The CVB fields several requests a year for help putting together dine-arounds, and the destination services team act as consultants, said Marcy Roitman-Boothe, director of destination services for the Grapevine Convention and Visitors Bureau. Those services include helping arrange shuttles and providing information at event booths, including at the CVB’s permanent kiosk at the Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center, one of the city’s most-used venues that also provides its own shuttles.
The CVB’s “Show Your Badge” program is a popular option that allows conference and meeting attendees to claim offers at participating restaurants, attractions and stores — maybe a buy-one-get-one-free deal or a free appetizer, she said.
Three areas work well for dine-arounds: Grapevine’s historic downtown, the 114 Corridor, and Grapevine Mills, a 1.6 million-square-foot outlet mall and restaurant hub.
Downtown has more than 80 locally owned restaurants, bars, boutiques and shops all housed in historic buildings that “really set a fun and energetic scene for attendees to walk around and enjoy,” said CVB communications manager Leigh Lyons. Dino’s Steak and Claw House is in a historic bank building where a group can dine in a former vault. Downtown also has several wineries and wine-tasting rooms that are part of Grapevine’s Urban Wine Trail. The CVB will provide a map that lists the restaurants in the historic district and their price points.
Along the Texas State Highway 114 corridor, visitors will find a mix of national chains and regional restaurants. Grapevine Mills is best for large conferences and events because most restaurants there can handle large parties.
Shreveport and Bossier City, Louisiana
The mere mention of Louisiana brings to mind two things: food and fun. And the sister cities of Shreveport and Bossier City are no exception.
Before meeting attendees arrive, the Shreveport-Bossier Convention and Tourist Bureau rounds up participating restaurants, gathers menus and price ranges, and puts that on the conference website “so everyone can make an informed decision ahead of time,” said communications coordinator Melissa Small. The CVB also sets up volunteer-staffed booths where attendees can flip through restaurant menus and ask volunteers — all locals — for their recommendations. A volunteer then makes reservations for the group, Small said. The CVB can also set up shuttles or buses to run on loops from the host hotel or convention center to the designated dine-around areas.
For larger conferences, dine-arounds are typically centered around two districts: Line Avenue and Louisiana Boardwalk Outlets. A couple miles from downtown is Line Avenue, a hub of locally owned restaurants and shops such as Wine Country Bistro.
“You can’t go wrong there,” Small said. “The locals love it, and so do guests and visitors.”
Louisiana Boardwalk Outlets is an outdoor shopping center with stores, restaurants and a movie theater located on the Bossier City side of the Red River. With views of the downtown skyline and the bright casinos lining the river, the shopping center is “really picturesque,” Small said. The mall has several restaurants, such as Joe’s Crab Shack, Copeland’s Cheesecake Bistro, and Sushiko Sushi and Grill, and the locally owned Chocolate Crocodile chocolate shop.
