You can have it all

First Bite, Boulder County’s restaurant week, offers a chance to sample the best in the area

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If there’s one drawback to having a vibrant food scene in Boulder County, it’s this: It’s hard to try everything you want to try. Time and money prohibit most of us from trying all that our local food creators have to offer.

However, for nine days in November, we get to sample well-priced meals at some of Boulder County’s best restaurants during First Bite, Boulder County’s restaurant week.

Kate Lacroix co-founded First Bite in 2005, and now is the sole proprietor of the operation. She says her experience in the restaurant industry helped diagnose a need for a unified restaurant week in our then-burgeoning food landscape.

“I’ve worked every back- and front-of-house position you can imagine,” Lacroix says. “We chose a time of year that was traditionally a low-revenue time of year [for restaurants]. … I knew the first part of November was a safe time to slip in a week.”

The concept proved successful, and over the years, more and more restaurants — and more establishments throughout Boulder County — have signed on to participate. At first, guests could get a three-course, prix-fixe meal for $26, but after “needing to adjust for inflation” over the years, the price for 2018 lands at $34. Not too bad for a full dinner at, say, Japango, Wild Standard, River and Woods or Parma Trattoria.

Lacroix says this year will also bring improvement in the form of broader scope — restaurants that aren’t necessarily suited for three-course meals can participate in family or group meals. Snarf’s, for instance, will feed a family of four for the $34 price tag.

Lacroix will launch several new events to encompass more food events next year: Boulder Burger Week in March; Boulder Cocktail Week in June; and Boulder Beer Week in September.

For more information, visit firstbiteboulder.com.