HRW returns
Houston Restaurant Weeks serves up highly anticipated dining dates
Houston's most popular charitable dining event will return in 2020. Although its founder Cleverley Stone died last month, Houston Restaurant Weeks will proceed, occupying its familiar time of August 1 until Labor Day (Monday, September 7).
Stone's daughter Katie will fulfill her mother's role of leading the effort, which includes recruiting the 250-plus participating restaurants, reviewing menus, and promoting the 38-day long event. In a release, she thanked the numerous people her encouraged her to keep HRW going in her mother's honor.
“I have been overwhelmed by the support I have received and words of encouragement to keep HRW alive,” Katie Stone said. “I am pressing forward and looking toward a successful month-long event. So many of my mother’s longtime ‘kitchen cabinet’ restaurant owners and operators are behind me, and I hope Houstonians will rally around HRW 2020!”
For those who are unfamiliar with Houston Restaurant Weeks, the event operates within a set format: participating restaurants run special two- and three-course menus at set price points of $20 (lunch and brunch) and either $35 or $45 (dinner). Each meal contributes a donation of between $3 and $7 to the Houston Food Bank.
All those small donations add up — participating restaurants raised more than $2 million last year. As Cleverley Stone liked to say, HRW is a win for restaurants that have turned one of the year’s slowest months into one of their busiest, a win for diners who get to try some of the city’s most popular establishments at a discount, and a win for the Food Bank, which has received more than $16.6 million since 2003. That mission will be particularly important in a year when the coronavirus pandemic has disrupted business at restaurants and placed increased demands on the Food Bank.
Participating restaurants will be revealed throughout July. The roster typically includes restaurants in all categories — from fine dining and steakhouses to casual neighborhood spots — in neighborhoods throughout the Houston city limits and beyond.
