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Local restaurants offer meeting rooms to feed workday creativity
Serving food at a business meeting is a sure-fire method to increase the likelihood employees will be there to share ideas and brainstorm, particularly when attendance isn’t mandatory. And if it is, healthy, energy-conscious food choices will brighten everyone’s day while keeping people awake, productive and not concerned yet another workday meeting is having a negative effect on their waistline.
Feeding your employees is also a good way to send a non-verbal message, as their employer, you believe their well-being is of utmost importance. The old adage food is the path to the soul is equally strong in workplace relationships. An employee who feels respected will give back in loyalty and higher production.
According to Harvard Business Review, “Food has a direct impact on our cognitive performance, which is why a poor decision at lunch can derail an entire afternoon.”
Healthy, smart choices are key. The goal is to provide foods that don’t make a lot of noise when consumed (the distraction of crunchy chips should be avoided), along with low-sugar options that provide sustained energy. Nutrients contained in fruits and vegetables have a direct correlation to increasing active thought and encouraging engagement. They are also high in antioxidants and are anti-inflammatory, which enhances memory while keeping blood sugars level.
Your business might have a location for in-house meetings sized to accommodate the entire staff. In that case, having catered food is a viable option.
But having facilities large enough to include a meeting room is not essential. Holding your business meeting in a restaurant’s conference space is a worthwhile alternative. A restaurant can provide multiple personalized options if you permit meeting attendees to order from the menu.
Alternatively, most restaurants offer a variety of banquet menu options to meet dietary preferences.
There are a number of restaurants to choose from in the Greeley-Windsor area, each having unique qualities to fit your needs — whether that be a quiet, think-tank atmosphere, or one offering a wide menu of tidbits to quell hunger while stoking brain energy.
Aunt Helen’s Coffee House, 800 8th Ave., Suite 101, Greeley
With options for room rental from two-hour increments up to all day, and a minimum drink or food purchase of $25 per two hours, Aunt Helen’s urban chic meeting room with comfy leather seating is yours. A large window facing 8th Street brings in natural light, while a 65-inch display monitor and large white board makes it ideal for presentations. Visit the online meeting room sign up form on the website. The coffee house serves up espresso based drinks, coffee, tea, and cold brew alongside bagels, pastries, breakfast bowls, sandwiches, salads, protein and snack boxes. A full catering menu is available.
Aunt Helen’s Express across from the Weld County Courthouse on the corner of 10th Street and 9th Avenue offers similar food and drink but will feature a business-like atmosphere with quick service for professionals on the go and limited seating.
Capacity: 10-12 people.
Epic Egg, 3830 W. 10th St. and 2305 W. 27th St. Greeley
With two restaurants at convenient locations, Epic Egg continues to serve Greeley with the same familiar, friendly welcome from owners Mike and Christy Moriarty. Since opening their first Egg & I restaurant in 1989, and after rebranding in 2018 to Epic Egg, the meeting space in both facilities continues to be epic, with a fresh, creative menu straddling both breakfast and lunch.
There is no room fee for dining guests. New meeting room reservations made in September will receive 20% off through the Epic Egg’s Meeting Room Promotion.
Capacity: Market Square — up to 40 people; Willow Station — up to 35 people.
Butters, 2170 35th Ave., Suite B, Greeley
This cheery, sometimes boisterous Westlake Shopping Center breakfast, brunch and lunch spot’s meeting room offers a midtown location with a quiet, enclosed space at no charge. To reserve, a party of 10 is required. The room accommodates up to 20 people. Order from a menu covering a vast canvas of culinary themes, from CAP’n Crunch coated French toast to a lengthy list of egg dishes for a sustained protein boost to encourage employee creativity. Lunch options are equally creative and hearty.
Capacity: up to 20 people.
Kenny’s Steak House, 3502 W. 10th St., Greeley
Kenny’s is renowned for their full service catering, with off-premise services and access to banquet and meeting rooms at the Event Center at Island Grove. Their longtime industry experience is pulled into play, providing a custom event any time of day or to fit any theme.
Take advantage of Kenny’s oak-walled back room, with tables that can be arranged to accommodate a variety of events. There is no charge for the room but a minimum number of people are required to guarantee room privacy. A set banquet menu is also required, depending on group size. Choose from a number of pre-designed cold or hot breakfast and lunch menus with choices ranging from the Health Nut (hard-boiled eggs, yogurt with granola and pastries) to the Hearty Rancher (beef sirloin hash with bacon or sausage and scrambled eggs). Lunch and dinner menus are equally diverse. Check out the website for details.
Visit with Leona to get the personalized Kenny’s touch for your meeting or event.
Capacity: Up to 50 people.
Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant, 825 9th St., Greeley.
The Rio offers plenty of banquet and meeting space that’s flexible to meet specific needs.
The Vera Cruz Room accommodates 80-100 people. There is no room rental fee but you must order from the banquet menu. The all-you-can-eat price ranges from $18-24 per person without tax or tip and includes non-alcoholic beverages. Cash or open bar plans are available at various price ranges, but the banquet facilities stick to the Rio’s Limit 3 cut-off.
For groups up to 12, the Godfather Room, situated in the corner of the larger banquet room, is completely private.
While the Rio reserves the right to refuse a rental based on total restaurant volume on a busy night, General Manager Peter Osterfelt said it’s not uncommon to find multiple banquets occurring at the same time in different areas of the restaurant. Contact Osterfelt or Leslie Kyle for details.
Capacity: from 12 to 100 people.
Tower 56 Distilling, 825 9th St., Unit B, Greeley
Meet behind thick, custom-crafted doors in this downtown craft spirits distillery in a private tasting room that can accommodate up to 16 comfortably at no charge.
Larger groups may opt to use the private meeting area as a home base and spill out into the main tasting room, which can also be sectioned off with pipe and drape to meet your space needs. The entire tasting room is also available for rental. For use of part or all of the tasting room, Tower 56 requires payment of a drink guarantee equal to the cost of one beverage per person for every two hours. Charges will be calculated and billed based on number of attendees.
As a distillery and cocktail bar, offsite food is encouraged.
Capacity: 16 people and up, depending on facility limits for full tasting room use. Less than 16 may use the private room, as well.
Coffee House 29, 1039 Main Street, #K, Windsor
Owners Sarah and Doug Tanner see Windsor as a meeting hub for all the northern Front Range cities and kept those logistics in mind when redesigning the coffee house when taking on ownership last February.
From tete-a-tete twosomes to a private conference space with a table large enough to seat 14, the coffee house is designed with meetings in mind. With a paneled tongue-in-groove vaulted ceiling, plus a double-sided fireplace shared with the coffee house’s main seating area, the conference space feels more like a mountain lodge than corporate boardroom. All that’s needed to seal the lodge look is a snowstorm.
The conference room is available for hourly rental as well as full space rental in off hours. The room has a white board and digital presentation capabilities.
Capacity: 14 and up, for full-space rental.
Meeker’s, a Colorado Kitchen & Bar, 919 7th St. at Lincoln Park
Located inside the DoubleTree by Hilton across from Lincoln Park, Meeker’s offers a private dining room with seating up to 16 people. Complimentary parking is available in the hotel’s lot. The hotel is situated in the epicenter of Greeley’s Creative District, adjacent to the Union Colony Civic Center. The pleasant room features a wall-to-wall vista of sunny Colorado agriculture.
Capacity: up to 16 people.
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