This year’s Restaurant Week to help culinary community, too

Restaurant Week is back — but with a few strategic changes.

While the normally annual event (it was canceled in 2020) usually is a major fundraiser for Three Square food bank, this year’s edition, June 7-18, will be devoted to helping the Las Vegas-area restaurant community. The changes are designed to drive business to local restaurants, which have been greatly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Instead of a designated amount — in recent years $4 to $6 for every special Restaurant Week menu sold — being donated to Three Square, only $1 will go to the hunger relief organization. Plus, takeout as well as dine-in will be available, and restaurants will have the option of offering the traditional three-course menu, a specialty menu or a strictly takeout menu.

Three Square president and CEO Brian Burton said in a statement that the food bank appreciates the culinary community’s support over the past decade-plus and asks food lovers to support restaurants as well as Three Square, “demonstrating what a great city can do when good food is combined with kindness and generosity.”

Restaurant owners and chefs interested in participating are asked to call Will Edwards at 702-909-5529 or email wedwards@threesquare.org. The mobile-friendly website restaurantweeklv.org will be launched by about May 23 with information on participants and what they’re offering.

Contact Heidi Knapp Rinella at hrinella@reviewjournal.com. Follow @HKRinella on Twitter.