Austin Restaurant Weeks

Austin Restaurant Weeks runs from August 28 through September 13, with participating restaurants across the greater Austin area offering prix fixe menus. The setup is straightforward: you get a two-to-three course lunch or brunch for $25, and a three-to-four course dinner for $50 or $75. A portion of each meal's price goes to the Central Texas Food Bank, where every dollar donated provides three meals.

That's the core of it, but the scale behind it is worth knowing. Since it started in 2018, the initiative has raised nearly 2.9 million meals for a food bank that serves close to 93,000 people every week. The bank supports more than 610,000 food-insecure people annually across a 21-county area, working through nearly 250 community partners. The whole thing was built around the region's hunger crisis: Texas ranks second in the US for food insecurity, at 16.9%.

This year's edition is presented by Delta Air Lines, with Tito's Handmade Vodka as Exclusive Spirit Sponsor, Sysco as Chef de Partie Sponsor, and Society Insurance as Pâtissier Sponsor. If you're drinking, there's a bit more to it: each Tito's cocktail adds a $2 donation, and each glass of wine or beer contributes $1. Between the prix fixe menus and the drinks, the money keeps flowing to the food bank throughout the run.

It's a good excuse to try a spot you've been meaning to visit, and since it's prix fixe, you know exactly what you're spending before you sit down. The $25 lunch or brunch and $50 or $75 dinner run from August 28 through September 13 at participating restaurants across the greater Austin area.