Say whatever you want about Dallas sprawl, the heat, and the traffic. I like living here because we have some damn good food. And officially starting today, August 4, it’s DFW Restaurant Week!
Restaurant Week comes but once a year–and when it does, it brings great cheer. In the summer (in between the wedding and holiday seasons, basically) area restaurants get together to reach out to new diners with limited-time, multi-course menus. You can wine-and-dine for a fraction of the usual cost and support local charities at the same time.
DFW Restaurant Week is one of the oldest and largest restaurant week events in the country, with ~150 participating venues around the Metroplex. The 2025 beneficiaries are North Texas Food Bank of Plano and Lena Pope of Tarrant County (children’s services). Last year, DFW Restaurant Week raised $740,083 in donations for these two non-profits.
How does it work? Simply dine at any of the participant restaurants and ask for the Restaurant Week menu. The restaurant will donate a portion of your meal cost (usually 20% or a fixed dollar amount stated on the menu) on your behalf.
Now in its 28th year, DFW Restaurant Week has been so popular that it extends through all of August. (It really should be called “Restaurant Month.”) Restaurants can choose if they want to offer their special menu just the first week (August 4-11) or throughout the entire extended event.
Dining out in Dallas can be challenging when you have Champagne taste and a beer budget. I’ve loved Restaurant Week ever since I was a starving student. It’s a great way to try some white-tablecloth places that may normally be out of your budget. Of course, if you feel like splurging, many of the Restaurant Week menus offer special wine selections and other upgrades for an additional cost.
The 2025 participants include some of North Texas’s most luxurious steakhouses and chef-driven global concepts including Italian, Korean, and Thai. (See the complete list here.)
The set-price menus start at $29 for a two-course lunch or brunch. A three-course dinner is $49 or $59. Restaurants have some creative freedom on what they count as a “course.” It can be a drink, starter, main dish, or dessert. (Or even a dessert drink–gimme that Thai Tea!)
Some places also offer a “Signature Experience” dinner for $99 which may include wine and cocktail pairings and/or premium proteins such as Prime beef. So what are you waiting for? Make your reservations, turn off that calorie-counting app, and don’t forget to tip your server!
My can’t-miss Restaurant Week haunts include Lavendou Bistro Provençal (French), Chamberlain’s (old-school steak and seafood), Bulla Gastrobar (Spanish tapas), and Mexican Bar Company (flavorful, belt-busting Tex-Mex).
I’m looking forward to returning to some of these places in 2025 and finding new favorites, too. We kicked off our Restaurant Week/Month with a delicious Preview Weekend dinner at Steve Fields in Plano on Saturday.
What are your best DFW Restaurant Week experiences? Let us know in the comments!
Review disclosure: I was not compensated or provided any free products for this review. Opinions expressed on The Wine Fairy blog are entirely my own.
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