Houston diners have a long-running excuse to try somewhere new this late summer: Houston Restaurant Weeks, the region's annual "Dine Out & Do Good" fundraiser, returned Aug. 1 for its 23rd year, running through Labor Day, Sept. 7. Organizers say nearly 400 restaurants across Greater Houston signed on for this year's 38-day run, offering fixed-price menus with a charitable donation built into every check.
The mechanics are simple. Participating restaurants design multi-course, prix-fixe menus for brunch, lunch and dinner, with brunch and lunch priced at $25 and dinner offered at either $39 or $55, according to the Cleverley Stone Foundation, which produces the event. Dinner participation is required for every restaurant that signs up, while brunch and lunch offerings vary by location. A portion of each meal's price is donated directly to the Houston Food Bank, and because of the food bank's purchasing power, organizers estimate every donated dollar generates roughly three meals for people facing hunger in Southeast Texas.
The event traces back to 2003, when the late Cleverley Stone founded it as a way to bring diners into local restaurants during what's traditionally a slower late-summer stretch, while giving the Houston Food Bank a reliable late-year funding boost. Since then, the campaign has generated more than $23 million for the food bank and its regional affiliates — a total organizers say has translated into more than 70 million meals distributed across Southeast Texas. Last year's campaign alone brought in $1,651,698 for the food bank, according to figures released by the foundation.
"Houstonians are truly special. I don't know of another city that comes together in quite the way Houston does to support one another," Katie Stone, president of the Cleverley Stone Foundation, said in a statement announcing this year's kickoff. Stone, who took over the foundation from her late mother, said the event continues her mother's vision of bringing people together "around the table" to make a local impact.
This year's lineup mixes Houston institutions — Brennan's of Houston, Bludorn, Hugo's, Xochi, Rainbow Lodge, and multiple locations of Perry's Steakhouse & Grille and Fadi's Mediterranean Grill among them — with newcomers to the program, including Bistro Mistral, Cafe Brasil, Caribbean Jerk Palace, several El Tiempo Cantina and North Italia locations, and Truluck's Ocean's Finest Seafood & Crab. Organizers post the full, continually updated list of participants and menus on the Houston Restaurant Weeks website. For readers looking for a low-cost way to support a well-established local charity while trying a new restaurant, the event runs through Sept. 7 — with the Houston Food Bank, one of the largest food banks in the country, the direct beneficiary of every meal sold.