Houston Restaurant Weeks 2022 dates released: 'The past couple of years have been extremely difficult for the restaurant industry'

This year's version of Houston Restaurant Weeks (HRW) is slated to take place for 36 days from Aug. 1 to Sept. 5, according to Houston-based media outlets.

Founded in 2003 by the late Cleverley Stone, HRW gives Houstonians the opportunity to dine out and give back to the community. 

Houston NBC affiliate KPRC reported that Bayou City food enthusiasts can partake in two-, three-, and four-course prix fixe menus at designated prices for brunch, lunch and dinner, with eateries from The Woodlands to Galveston expected to participate.

According to KPRC, dinners cost either $39 or $55 while lunch or brunch are fixed at $25.

The restaurants themselves will make donations based on the following: $2 per $25 meal, $4 per $39 meal and $6 per $55, the station reported.

July 15 is when the full list of participating establishments will be published on the HRW website.

Restaurateurs interested in joining the event are asked to email Katie Stone at katie@cleverley.com.

Katie serves as the president of the Cleverley Stone Foundation since her mother's death in 2020.

In a 2021 interview with the Houston Daily, she explained that her mother was aware that restaurants tend to see slow business in the month of August.

"She had the idea to create the event to encourage business for the restaurants at the same time, adding the fundraiser aspect, which supports the Houston food banks," Katie told the publication. "So it does two things at the same time, it generates revenue for the restaurants in Houston, and then it is also a fundraiser for the Houston Food Bank."

Katie assumed leadership over her mother's cherished initiative just as the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on the restaurant industry.

Aside from a global health crisis, eateries are having to deal with supply problems, labor shortages and inflation, she said.

“The past couple of years have been extremely difficult for the restaurant industry, impacted by the pandemic, supply chain, labor issues and the rising cost of food and packaging,” Katie said in a press release ran by KPRC. “Surely the most difficult time for restaurants, employees and the Houston Food Bank. We are hopeful that demand for dining and a return to normalcy will have Houstonians dining out and doing good this summer.”

In the last 18 years, HRW has raised $17.6 million for the food bank, the station reported.

Houston CW affiliate KIAH reported that construction firm Tellepsen has signed on as a new sponsor.

"When the opportunity arose to help support [Houston Food Bank] through a partnership with Houston Restaurant Weeks, we were all in," Tellepsen CEO Tadd Tellepsen said, according to KIAH. "We wanted to recognize the importance of the work done by the Houston Food Bank and the Cleverley Stone Foundation."