South Florida Sun Sentinel
Aug 23, 2021 8:00 AM
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Keisha Allison, owner of Pan d Endz Jamaican Restaurant. Allison will participate in the city’s restaurant scavenger hunt from Sept. 1-30. The event is part of a six-month long program to promote the city’s diverse mix of mom and pop restaurants, including help with social media marketing, business workshops, people’s choice contests and an interactive foodie map at FlavorsOfTamarac.com. (Susan Stocker / South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Tamarac is cooking up a restaurant hunt in September that will shine a light on its international mix of family-owned eateries.
The idea is to decipher clues that introduce you to 54 restaurants divided into four geographical areas spread over the city’s 12 square miles. And once your answers have been Sherlocked, then you leverage that to increase your chances of winning raffles.
“It’s a one-of-a-kind, never-been-done-before-on-this-kind-of-scale event,” says Lori Funderwhite, Tamarac’s economic development manager. “We think we figured out a fun way to showcase our restaurants and have some fun prizes.”
Food is prepared on a hibachi grill at Chow Time Grill & Buffet in Tamarac on Tuesday, April 13, 2021. Chow Time will be a part of the upcoming restaurant scavenger hunt in September. (John McCall/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
- Foodies are asked to sign up at FlavorsOfTamarac.com. Clues will be sent by email, or you can play solely online.
- The initiative runs from Sept. 1-30. Participation is free.
- There will be four sets of clues, with each set covering a different part of Tamarac. There are about 15 restaurants per route.
- Participants will pick a route and then start deciphering clues. “You match clues to the restaurant on the route,” explains Funderwhite.
- You can work on your own, with friends, co-workers or family.
- Funderwhite adds, “You can also play virtually online or people can spread out the routes and timing so [they] can visit restaurants … and still play on their own time through the entire month. Or [they] can order take-out instead, if they like.”
- You can add points to your entry by taking food shots and selfies and post on social media using the #FlavorsOfTamarac hashtag. “You can double and triple or quadruple your entries in the raffle,” Funderwhite says. “Or you can simply compete … and submit online.”
- The more points you have, the more entries you get in a raffle for $1,000 in prizes, which include restaurant gift certificates, an in-home wine tasting experience for 16 people, memberships to the Caporella Fitness Center, and a foursome of golf at Colony County Club (with dinner for four people at The View restaurant).
Harry Sinclair and Christopher Alexander, owners of Butter Flakes Bakery & Grill in Tamarac on Monday April 12, 2021. (Carline Jean / South Florida Sun Sentinel)
“The economic development goal is to drive business to our small business restaurants … to these mom-and-pop restaurants that were hurt by the pandemic,” says Funderwhite. “And to raise their profile, both in our own community and in the region, for the excellent authentic cuisine in Tamarac.”
The scavenger hunt is part of a larger initiative that has been spread out over the last six months. Under the umbrella title of “Savor the Flavors Tamarac,” the promotion included an interactive foodie map, marketing help for social media, business workshops for the owners, a chef competition for the “Tastiest Appetizer in Tamarac” and a “Tasty Tamarac” People’s Choice Award.
The city boasts eateries from mid-price dining to fast casual serving Jamaican, Haitian, Dominican and Aruban, Argentinian, Peruvian, Colombian, Italian, Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese, Indian, Japanese and American cuisine.
And the program has paid off, according to owners such as Smoothie Jungle Cafe’s Luiza Faical.
“Twenty three years ago I opened my restaurant in the city of Tamarac [and] this was the best decision of my life [because] they helped from day one,” she says, before adding that because of Savor the Flavors Tamarac, “We got new customers and we had fun.”
Ejola Cook, a board member of the Tamarac North Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce, told the Sun Sentinel via email, “We had such a good time with it. We picked restaurants from the Tasty Tamarac competition, ordering lunch takeout for our department. Savor The Flavors Tamarac introduced us to a variety of restaurants we never knew in our area. It was a fun way for our team to enjoy our work lunch and explore new cuisine.”
Jerk chicken cooks on the grill at Pan d Endz Jamaican Restaurant on Monday April 12, 2021 in Tamarac, Fl. (Susan Stocker / South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Crab cakes at Chow Time Grill & Buffet in Tamarac on Tuesday, April 13, 2021. (John McCall/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
The City of Tamarac’s first city-wide Restaurant Hunt will take place Sept. 1-30. In the scavenger hunt, foodies decipher clues that take them on a culinary trip of the city’s restaurants. There are four routes to explore. You can register for free at FlavorsOfTamarac.com. (Savor The Flavors Tamarac / Courtesy)
The City of Tamarac’s first city-wide Restaurant Hunt will take place Sept. 1-30. In the scavenger hunt, foodies decipher clues that take them on a culinary trip of the city’s restaurants. There are four routes to explore. You can register for free at FlavorsOfTamarac.com. (Savor The Flavors Tamarac / Courtesy)
The City of Tamarac’s first city-wide Restaurant Hunt will take place Sept. 1-30. In the scavenger hunt, foodies decipher clues that take them on a culinary trip of the city’s restaurants. There are four routes to explore. You can register for free at FlavorsOfTamarac.com. (Savor The Flavors Tamarac / Courtesy)
The City of Tamarac’s first city-wide Restaurant Hunt will take place Sept. 1-30. In the scavenger hunt, foodies decipher clues that take them on a culinary trip of the city’s restaurants. There are four routes to explore. You can register for free at FlavorsOfTamarac.com. (Savor The Flavors Tamarac / Courtesy)
