Restaurant Week meets San Diego's “Taste Of” events with a new and innovative dining experience: The Grub Sprawl! Gaining its name from the popular activity of pub crawling, grub sprawling is a restaurant-sampling event that gives participants an opportunity to sample select items from a host of neighboring restaurants.

Occurring one evening per month, each Grub Sprawl is organized to feature a specific neighborhood and its variety of local specialties. Attendees of all ages can come to the event, collect a free wristband that signals their participation, then stroll and sample the participating restaurants, cafes, and bars (for those 21 and over) within a given community. The kicker: each participating restaurant's dish comes at a seriously discounted price of $5.00. Not a penny more.

The concept of grub sprawling was sprouted in the mind of Alternative Strategies' owner, William Lopez. A creative thinker, Lopez recognized a need for better ways to highlight the hot spots of up-and-coming, as well as already established neighborhood restaurants and bars. A process of strategic planning and marketing followed Lopez' idea, and shortly thereafter, the first Grub Sprawl introduced itself to the growing community of North Park.

The North Park Grub Sprawl, held June 6th, was met with a tsunami of enthusiasm, and a turn-out of over 400 attendees proved the Grub Sprawl's power to capture public attention. Participants eagerly collected their wristbands from tables set up outside headliners West Coast and True North Taverns, and from there they spent the next four hours scouring the neighborhood for a wide variety of eats; from tacos to pizzas and even deep fried turkey legs! By the end of the night, restaurants found that they had sold out of their special dishes, as they welcomed a huge influx of customers, many of them first-timers.

Jay Porter, owner of North Park's El Take It Easy and The Linkery, says, “The people were great and everyone had a good time. I couldn’t be happier with how much new business we received with the Grub Sprawl, not to mention that it’s also a fun event to be a part of!”

Oscar Mouet at Ranchos Cocina Mexican Restaurant adds, “Alternative Strategies did a great job planning and coordinating the Grub Sprawl. Having over 400 people in attendance wasn’t by accident. They really pushed attention to both the event and participating restaurants through PR and creative promotional designs, and really utilized social media to market the North Park Grub Sprawl. We could hardly keep a table open, and seeing each seat taken up by guests with wristbands and Grub Sprawl menus was a thrill.”

The North Park Grub Sprawl went above and beyond to showcase a neighborhood that had rarely before seen such patronage. With this success behind them, the Alternative Strategies team has begun planning out several months' worth of Grub Sprawl events, to take place in the Coronado, Hillcrest, La Jolla, Little Italy, and North Park communities. The intent is the same: bring increased exposure to restaurants and bars in a particular neighborhood and see how, just like North Park, Alternative Strategies can orchestrate a successful and exciting culinary experience.

Join Alternative Strategies at the next Grub Sprawl on August 8th from 6-10pm, taking place on the beautiful island of Coronado, along Orange Avenue a.k.a. “Restaurant Row.” Participants need only show up with a hearty appetite, collect their complimentary wristbands from stands set up along the strip, and spend the evening perusing through nearly a dozen tantalizing restaurants like The Brigantine Seafood, Miguel's Cocina, Costa Azul, Bistro D'Asia, and more. Get your grub on, island style!

Alternative Strategies manages the design, marketing, and public relations initiatives for all Grub Sprawls. For more information about the events, please visit the Grub Sprawl website at www.grubsprawl.com