Foodie Events / Restaurants

Houston Restaurant Weeks Returns With Even More High-Profile Restaurants: Some of City’s Most Anticipated New Foodie Havens Jump Into the Mega Eating Holiday

BY // 07.17.18

It’s round 16 for Houston Restaurant Weeks, and it’s gonna be a big one. With the initial list of participating restaurants revealed, almost 250 eateries are participating — and even more are expected to sign up until the August 1 cutoff.

“We started in 2003 and we had about 16 restaurants, and we donated about $5,000 to the Houston Food Bank,” founder Cleverley Stone tells PaperCity. “Then in 2017, we had 279 participating restaurants, and we’ve sent the food bank over $2.5 million so far.”

With everything from seafood to sushi, from barbecue to Bolivian, this restaurants bonanza is a month-long embarrassment of riches. We won’t blame you for blushing.

Houston Restaurant Weeks runs from August 1 until Labor Day (September 3rd) this year. Perennial participating restaurants such as Backstreet Cafe are joined by notable newbies such as the recently opened (and much debated) International Smoke from Ayesha Curry and celebrity chef Michael Mina.

All the restaurants are offering carefully curated, special pre-fixe menus like usual. Brunch and lunch are a steal at $20, and dinners run $35 or $45. Donations between $3 and $7 are sent to the Houston Food Bank from every meal served.

“We strive to offer value and exciting menus,” Stone says.

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The Houston food scene expert started it all back in 2003. It’s been a mouth-watering whirlwind in the past decade and a half, with Houston Restaurant Weeks growing to its current month-plus-long format.

 And 2017’s still not all tallied up, with Harvey causing some serious setbacks for some participating restaurants. All said — more like all eaten — the Houston Food Bank has received more than $12.2 million total from Houston Restaurant Weeks over the years.

The event owes part of its popularity to the sheer diversity of the dishes. “We feel it’s very important to be as inclusive as we can with different types of cuisine. We strive for that,” Stone says. “We’re the most diversified city in the country as far as ethnicities.

“I think that translates over into Houston Restaurant Weeks.”

That’s clear as crystal just looking at the 12 “first-timers” on the list. Most are new to the entire Houston restaurant scene, but there are some restaurants that have been around for awhile but are just now stepping into the HRW spotlight.

Take Ambrosia, the ambitious Asian newcomer serving up bulgogi-style steak frites and Texas Bass with truffled coconut cream.

When it comes to the shiny-brand-new, there’s also Fig & Olive, the new Galleria Mediterranean spot with a Restaurant Weeks menu featuring Moroccan chicken with tajine and paccheri pasta with porcini truffle mascarpone.

Then there are some bold restaurants with menus that are still under wraps. You’ll have to check back to see the veritable smorgasbords Fusion Eats and International Smoke are destined to offer. (Houston Restaurant Weeks’ site has menus.)

Houston Restaurant Weeks First Timers

Looking for some more ambitious HRW debuts? Consider Adair Kitchen, Poitin, Night Heron, Goode Company Kitchen & Cantina, Bloom & Bee, Emmaline, Beaver’s, Freso Cafe Italiano, Tobiuo Sushi & Bar and Maison Pucha Bistro.

For Stone, it remains a  simple concept. Diners get a great meal, and they give while eating it.

“We call it a win-win-win,” she says. “The restaurants win because they have extra traffic in audience. The diners win because they get to visit great restaurants for a set price. The food bank wins because they’re getting donations. It’s a win-win-win.”

Stone, host of the regular Fox 26 TV segment Cooking with Cleverley, is giving out $100 Restaurant Weeks gift cards to lucky listeners of The Cleverley Radio Show. Every show on Saturday from 9 am to 12 pm, Stone will hand out the gift cards, each good for $100 at a participating HRW restaurant.

Sometimes, a great meal is about even more than the food.

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