TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Rising food costs are prompting some local businesses to find ways to keep meals affordable, and one Tucson restaurant is stepping up with $10 take-out meal deals.
Renee's, an Italian restaurant on Tucson's eastside, is offering $10 to-go meal deals with options including a one-topping 12-inch pizza, pasta, or salad.
If you want to add protein to your pasta, that would be an extra charge.
Owner Renee Kreager said the deals were designed with families in mind. The restaurant has limited seating and is centered around creating a conversational experience for adults, so she wanted a way for families to also enjoy her food.
"We have a lot of our guests, like two women will get off work, they'll come in here and eat. They'll take home a couple of pizzas to go. As long as they order it in time, we're happy to make those," Kreager said. "If you pick up one spaghetti dish and you have three little kids, I'm gonna guess you could feed those three kids for that $10. So it was like really just looking at what's a way that we can create affordable meals for people here."
Renee's has been serving Italian food since 2005. She runs the business with her husband Steven Kreager. Renee says the restaurant was also the first in Tucson to offer gluten-free pizza.
"So we've been doing that over 15 years. We currently use the Gourmet Girls and have for about a decade, so that really works well," Renee said. "It's not the least expensive option for us or for our guests, but we know they really appreciate that it's a local investment that we're making and it's fresh."
Vegan options are also available at no extra cost.
"You could do a vegan cheese pizza. We don't upcharge for vegan cheese here, so that's also included. So if you wanted to do like some fresh heirloom tomatoes, basil, and garlic, that's still gonna be $10," Renee said.
Kreager said she sees the to-go meals as a good introduction to the restaurant and a win for both customers and the business.
"If we can really attract, you know, 10 to 50 people a day to get those items, you're keeping us cooking. You're keeping our kitchen cooking and we can totally navigate that experience for you at a lesser cost point than our other experiences which, you know, we can't," Renee said.
For instance, she says some of the meat entrees wouldn't be worth lowering the price.
"We use a local Arizona beef for example. That's not gonna be included in that deal because we know that that cost point wouldn't fit for that. We can't do that," Renee explained.
At least one regular customer has noticed the deals drawing a crowd.
"I've seen a lot of people pull up here and get to-go pizzas," Jackson said.
Renee says she hopes this deal will be a success forever.
You can place your orders at Renee's online.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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Vanessa Gongora is KGUN 9's Westside reporter.. Vanessa fell in love with storytelling by growing up in sports. She was fascinated by how sports reporters go beyond the x's & o's to tell players' stories, and how sports bring people together, inspiring Vanessa to provide the same impact as a journalist. Share your story ideas and important issues with Vanessa by emailing vanessa.gongora@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, Instagram, and X.
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