By SOPHIE MARTIN
The Ramspondents
Hundreds of Colorado State University families arrive in Fort Collins every May to celebrate graduation, and festivities continue after the commencement ceremony. In Old Town and across the city, graduation dinners are expected to make the weekend one of the most profitable events for Fort Collins restaurants.
However, commencement is unlike other holidays profitable for restaurants, such as Valentine’s Day. While new specials and exclusive menus are featured, little to no advertising is necessary for graduation weekend.
“We start seeing reservations come in all the way up to a year in advance. Sometimes the current graduation gets people thinking about the graduation to come and it starts the planning process.”
“Graduation is a big weekend, I would say it’s similar to a holiday weekend for us as far as revenue is concerned,” said Corey Barnes, owner and operator of Sonny Lubick Steakhouse. “CSU has adjusted how they execute graduations from years past so it’s always interesting to see how that affects flow and timing for reservations at the steakhouse.”
Due to the event’s high attendance, restaurants fill up quickly. Reservations are in high demand and begin selling out up to a year in advance. Consequently, a restaurant will often invest time and resources into managing private dining reservations and rooms, large family parties, and catering orders. Promotional content and curated specials take a backseat to this priority.
“We start seeing reservations come in all the way up to a year in advance. Sometimes the current graduation gets people thinking about the graduation to come and it starts the planning process,” Barnes said.
Isabella Arciniaga, Marketing and Activations manager at Brinkerhoff Hospitality, said, “We have to push a lot more of the catering side,” noting how smaller locations rely on catering opportunities if they are less equipped to handle larger parties.
Restaurants in a college town like Fort Collins may not market directly toward families, focusing instead on developing positive relationships with student demographics. When graduation arrives, those students are more likely to recommend a well-liked location to their families. Small, new, or developing restaurants can also use commencement weekend as an opportunity to improve their visibility.
“I probably would do a lot of marketing around that time… community outreach… the more involved, the better,” Arciniaga said.
This can be achieved through targeted campaigns, community outreach, or presenting a restaurant as a supporter of students and the university.
“The more people that you can connect with… the more they’ll remember you for something they might need in the future.” Arciniaga said.
Celia Khalaf, a senior who is about to graduate and a staff member of the Ramspondents this semester, plans to have her celebratory dinner at The Cache at Ginger and Baker.
“I’ve loved going to Ginger and Baker for their pies, and over the summer when my mom came to visit, we tried out their dining and loved it,” Khalaf said.
Shortly after that dinner, the Khalaf family made their reservation. Although they only planned on four people in their party, they wanted to secure their spot a year in advance. Ginger and Baker was a familiar location for Khalaf through her time at CSU and a clear choice for her graduation celebration. She said she valued the quality of the steak and pies and appreciated the friendly yet classy atmosphere.
“One of the walls is all glass windows, and if you’re dining in the evening there’s a nice kind of sunset atmosphere,” Khalaf said.
This familiarity combined with an upscale location create a unique dining experience for families creating memories of a life milestone.
Sophie Martin is a reporter for the Ramspondents. For this article, AI was used to assist in generating interview questions and transcribing interview audio with human review. All other research and original content were gathered and curated by the reporter without AI assistance.