Downtown Kalamazoo Restaurant Association discount cards are back, and better than ever. Valid at 20 restaurants around downtown, this card will provide discounts ranging from 10% off your bill to buy one, get one free. Cards are valid until April 1, 2007, and may be used an unlimited number of times until the card expires. While the card will be available at participating DKRA and other retail locations, the DKRA is also reaching out to our nonprofit friends, allowing these organizations to sell cards as a fundraiser. (Nonprofits keep $5 of the $10 sale!) Interested parties are encouraged to order cards by emailing ajelias@chartermi.net.

Cards are available for purchase from the following nonprofits:

Kalamazoo Animal Rescue

WMU Department of Dance

Community Advocates for Persons with Developmental Disabilities

Parent to Parent of Southwest Michigan

Community AIDS Resource and Education Services

Or from the following restaurant or retail locations:

Main Street Café

The Soup Kettle

The Union

Fieldstone Grill

Epic Bistro

Black Swan

Michigan News Agency

Bimbo’s Pizza

Zazios

Vintner’s Cellar

Want more info?  Click HERE.

The Downtown Kalamazoo Restaurant Association is comprised of downtown Kalamazoo Restaurateurs dedicated to the growth and vitality of the restaurant industry in downtown Kalamazoo. Rather than focusing energies against one another as competitors, the DKRA members have joined together to create a downtown environment that is sought after, thriving, and successful.

Our Mission

With the support and cooperation of city officials and agencies, our Mission is to create a downtown Kalamazoo that is the premier and preferred dining destination in the greater Kalamazoo area.

The Vision of the DKRA

In creating the DKRA, the vision was clear. It must be an organization comprised of the Downtown Kalamazoo Restaurant community, for the purpose of driving downtown traffic through collective marketing, networking, event planning, and the training and education of staff and students in a collective Center of Excellence and Education.

We hope to accomplish:

•  A restaurant industry that satisfies all cultural and all ethnic tastes.

•  A Center for Education and Excellence for culinary professionals and every level of restaurant employee.

•  An increased demand for downtown Kalamazoo restaurant space by restaurateurs offering every element of specialty dining experience.

•  A resource to support new business(es) in downtown Kalamazoo .

Since Our Creation

Since the DKRA was founded in October 2003, we have had many opportunities to showcase the talents of our downtown and of the many restaurants located there.  In the spring, the DKRA assisted in the first annual Kalamazoo Rendezvous Gala (a collaborative effort between the Western Michigan University Student Association and the Cool Cities Committee).  Since that time, the group has helped organize the Monday Night Movies event at the Arcadia Creek Festival Place, and has worked with the West Michigan Independent Music Association on the Rock the Vote Project (August 27 and 28, 2004).

Among the groups creations is also the GRUB CRAWL event, where locals visited multiple restaurants each month, getting stamps on their game boards along the way.  This game was created to encourage downtown workers, residents, and visitors to visit restaurants that they'd never previously visited, and with greater frequency, to great success during 2004 and 2005.  More recently, the DKRA is working to release the second annual discount card, which boasts more than 18 different downtown area business discounts.

There's no telling what could be next!