MIKE RICCETTI
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  • The best of Houston dining
    • Best Values
    • Breakfast
    • Chinese
    • Cocktails
    • Fajitas
    • Hamburgers
    • The Heights
    • Italian
    • Indian / Pakistani
    • Mexican
    • Middle Eastern
    • Pizzerias
    • Sandwiches
    • Splurge-Worthy
    • Steakhouses
    • Sushi
    • Tacos
    • Tex-Mex
    • To Take Visitors
  • Musings on Houston Dining
    • The best new restaurants to open in 2023
    • Houston's Italian restaurant history
    • Restaurants open for lunch (or brunch) on Saturday
    • Restaurants open for Sunday dinner
    • Restaurants open for lunch on Monday
    • Restaurants open for dinner on Monday
    • The top 10 new restaurants of 2022
    • The top 10 new restaurants of 2021
  • The margherita pizza project
  • The martini project
  • Italian restaurant history
  • Italian & Italian-American
  • Entertaining tips
    • Booze basics
    • Styles of Cheeses
    • Handling Those Disruptive Guests
  • Wine
  • Beer
  • Cocktails and Spirits
  • Miscellaneous
  • Blog
MIKE RICCETTI

Mostly food and drink...

...and mostly set in Houston

Do some good, dine out during Houston Restaurant Weeks

8/6/2019

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​One of the most anticipated, if not the most anticipated, annual area restaurant-related event began the other day on August 1, Houston Restaurant Weeks.  Running through September 2, when diners visit one of the 282 participating restaurant locations and order from the Restaurant Weeks menu that will feature a set multi-course menu with several options, the restaurant will donate $7 during dinnertime and $3 for lunch to the Houston Food Bank.  Lunches are $20 and dinners are $35 or $45, with some optional upcharges at some places.  If you don’t know, the Houston Food Bank is a rather worthwhile local charity, a non-profit organization that collects and distributes food to hunger relief charities, which happens to be the largest food bank in the country. 
 
Helping the community is rather easy, just dine out at one of the restaurants and order from the Restaurant Weeks menu.  It’s not only easy, but enjoyable.  It has resonated with locals: since Cleverley Stone started the event in 2003, it has raised well over $10 million for the Houston Food Bank.  Houston Restaurants Weeks seems to encourage people to visit restaurants, and especially restaurants that are new to them.  In addition to aiding the charity, it has definitely increased traffic for local eateries, both new and familiar.  August was once about the slowest of months for area restaurants.  No longer.  This has helped not only the bottom line for the restaurateurs but also their staffs, who are among the lowest-paid workers.
 
With so many restaurants, there is certainly plenty from which to choose.  The restaurants from Hugo Ortega and Tracy Vaught – Backstreet Café, Caracol, Hugo’s and Xochi – which are known for doing a very good job for Houston Restaurant Weeks, are taking part again.  Some other notables include Amalfi, Etoile, Latin Bites, Pappas Bros. Steakhouse, Potente, Riel, Reef, and Houston’s grand dame, Tony’s.  Do some good and have some fun, visit one of them or one of the many other participating restaurants during this next month.

A delectable dish from one of the participants, Bistro Menil
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    Mike Riccetti is a longtime Houston-based food writer and former editor for Zagat, and not incidentally the author of three editions of Houston Dining on the Cheap.

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