DJA’s Culinary Crawl to give patrons taste of downtown Jonesboro

Jonesboro, AR – (JonesboroRightNow.com) – In Celebration of Small Business Saturday, the Downtown Jonesboro Alliance (DJA) will be holding its second annual Culinary Crawl in downtown Jonesboro.

“We started this event last year to honor Small Business Saturday and find a way to celebrate our small businesses and small business owners in downtown,” said DJA executive director Sarah Doss. “Last year was such a success and we had so much fun doing it. Plus, people have been asking us to bring it back. So, we were excited to do it again this year.”

According to Doss, the Culinary Crawl is the DJA’s take on a progressive dinner. Every ticket purchased comes with four vouchers to designated restaurants for each food category: an appetizer, an entree, a dessert, and a beverage.

“You’ll purchase your ticket online, and then you’ll come downtown the evening of the event and pick up your four vouchers,” Doss said.

For example, Doss said those who want to start with an appetizer can look at the back of the appetizer voucher, where there will be between two and five restaurants to choose from. Each of those restaurants will have a special menu. Once the appetizer is finished, the corresponding voucher is cashed in, and then participants move to the next restaurant.

Vouchers from the 2024 Culinary Crawl. (Photo provided by Sarah Doss)

“You can get a taste of several restaurants all in one evening and see the variety and all we have to offer downtown, culinary-wise,” Doss said. “The only thing we ask is that people do bring cash for tips, but besides that, everything else is covered by your voucher.”

Although the complete list of restaurants has not yet been finalized, there will be some returning restaurants along with some new ones, such as the Cotton Club, all of which will have some exclusive menu items specially created for the event, Doss said.

“Even the restaurants you know and love will have something new for you,” Doss said.

The Culinary Crawl will be on Nov. 29 from 5-9 p.m. in downtown Jonesboro. Tickets are limited. Individual tickets are available for $48 on the DJA website.

“It’s a pretty fun event but it’s also pretty straightforward,” Doss said. “It’s a good time to try new restaurants and go to restaurants you already know and love and just kind of get a full taste of downtown.”