DFW Restaurant Week Returns With a Mega Sized Run and New Specialty Bites: And the Most Coveted Dallas Restaurant Reservations Will Be…

B&B Butchers' welcoming butcher shop helped it earn a place on the list.

Five Sixty by Wolfgang Puck in Reunion Tower is now permanently closed.

B&B Butchers' welcoming butcher shop helped it earn a place on the list.

It’s official. DFW Restaurant Week is almost back — and the list of participating restaurants has been revealed. By the looks of this year’s recording-breaking restaurant list, you’ll be drooling over the menus and making mental reservations in your head (just as I’m doing at the moment).

DFW Restaurant Week officially begins August 13 and runs for the next three weeks through Sept. 3, a new extension that supersizes the annual beloved foodie holiday. There is also a preview weekend (August 10 to 12 that lets you get an early start) in this 21st DFW Restaurant Week. Diners can choose from more than 150 restaurants with 20 percent of the proceeds from each meal going to the North Texas Food Bank and Lena Pope (the home and children’s agency).

Participating restaurants offer three-course meals for either $39 or $49. Additionally, some restaurants will serve two-course Restaurant Week lunches for only $20, providing new reason to treasure that lunch break.

This year, more casual eateries will offer a new Specialty Bites menu as well. Enjoy a spicy bite of prime beef on ciabatta bread at Butcher Board or Aguachile Verde — white shrimp with red onions, fresh avocado and serrano peppers — at Meso Maya.

But, you’ll have to act fast. Reservations are already being accepted and the most popular hotspots tend to fill up quick. After all, this is an opportunity to enjoy a meal at some of Dallas’ best restaurants at a reduced price point.

Contenders for the most coveted DFW Restaurant Week reservation spots this year include Abacus, Dragonfly at Hotel ZaZa, B&B Butchers and Restaurant in Fort Worth, Five Sixty by Wolfgang Puck and Stampede 66.

Another thing to look forward to? There will be a Specialty Bites Kickoff Party on August 9 at Fort Worth’s chic Crockett Row at West 7th. Tickets are on sale now. Party goers will get a sneak peak at Restaurant Week menu offerings and wine samplings. After all, it’s never too early to get started on Dallas’ Restaurant Week.

More than 90,000 Restaurant Week meals were served and $800,000 was donated to the charities during the 2017 event.