How does DFW Restaurant Week work? Here’s where and when to eat for a good cause in 2022

Reservations are open and it’s time to eat for a cause at DFW Restaurant Week 2022, an annual foodie fundraiser.

DFW Restaurant Week officially kicks off Aug. 8, 2022, and restaurants can offer lunch, brunch and dinner deals through Sept. 4, 2022, if they choose.

Reservations might get snapped up quickly for the hottest spots in town, which this year include Al Biernat’s, Billy Can Can, Don Artemio, Fachini, Harper’s, Joe Leo, La Stella Cucina, Nobu, Nonna, Rye, Sloane’s Corner, Wits Steakhouse and more. Find the full list here.

How DFW Restaurant Week works

Contrary to its name, DFW Restaurant Week is not actually a week, but rather a month-long event. Participating restaurants can choose how long they offer their special menus, which often feature their most popular items.

Visit contemporary Mexican restuarant Don Artemio in Fort Worth during DFW Restaurant Week...Visit contemporary Mexican restuarant Don Artemio in Fort Worth during DFW Restaurant Week and you’ll surely see the ebullient Adrian Burciaga, general manager.

(Shafkat Anowar / Staff Photographer)

Pre-pandemic, more than 100 restaurants had participated. DFW Restaurant Week did continue in 2020 and 2021, but restaurant owners in 2022 will have their first opportunity in two years to make the event feel like it used to. It tends to be a lively celebration of food, for which people in North Texas drive from all over to visit a restaurant they love for a better-than-usual price.

The effort has continued for 25 years in Dallas-Fort Worth. Restaurant Week was started by Jim White, a North Texas radio host and food and wine fan who died recently.

Those who make reservations will find two- and three-course lunches, brunches and dinners. About 20% from each meal goes to a North Texas charity, and nearly $11 million has been donated in the last 25 years.

Restaurants in the Dallas area will donate their proceeds to the North Texas Food Bank. Fort Worth-area restaurants donate to Lena Pope, a nonprofit that helps Tarrant County kids in need.

New this year: Prices range from $24 to $99

Restaurants can choose whether they serve lunch, brunch or dinner — or all of the above. Here is the pricing for DFW Restaurant Week 2022.

  • Dinner: Three courses cost $39 or $49. Price depends on the quality of ingredients and the restaurant’s preferences.

  • New this year: A “signature experience dinner” for $99 is the most expensive DFW Restaurant Week offering so far. Each restaurant can format their experience differently, but options may include cocktails, sitting at the chefs’ table, or serving more than three courses, according to a DFW Restaurant Week press release.

  • Lunch: Two courses cost $24.

  • New this year: Weekend brunch, which includes two courses, costs $29.

  • Customers can also order the above options via takeout. (You’ll want to ask the restaurant if the “signature experience dinner” is available to-go.)

  • With the exception of the “signature experience dinner,” wine and cocktails are not included in the listed prices. Many restaurants offer wine, beer or cocktail pairings for an added fee.

Other perks

FedEx shoppers can earn an additional course at dinnertime. Those who spend $10 at a North Texas FedEx Office store on July 11, 2022, or later, should ask for a “fourth course certificate” and then present it at the beginning of their DFW Restaurant Week dinner.

DFW Restaurant Week’s preview weekend started Aug. 4, 2022. The event officially runs Aug. 8 through Sept. 4, 2022. Restaurants opt in to participate; not every North Texas restaurant will be involved. Reservation Day — the day when foodies can first snag a seat for DFW Restaurant Week — is July 11, 2022.

For more food news, follow Sarah Blaskovich on Twitter at @sblaskovich.