After a hiatus last year due to the pandemic, Restaurant Week, Three Square food bank’s annual fundraiser, is back this year better than ever. From June 7-18, more than 120 local restaurants will be offering three-course menus in price points from $20-$80.

This is the 14th installment of the annual foodie fest, and in response to the altered dining landscape, some changes have been implemented.

“A couple of the things that we’re doing different this year and the restaurants are offering, in addition to their regular three-course prix fixe menus, is an added takeout option,” says Michelle Beck, Three Square’s chief development officer. “Additionally, in an effort to support the culinary community this year, we are taking [just] $1 from every cover that they sell. In years past, it’s been anywhere between $4 to $6 per cover, but this year we just want people to get out, dine out, get into the restaurants and give back to our Las Vegas culinary community, while at the same time feed some of the most vulnerable people in our city.”

This year, Three Square’s mission to fight hunger in Southern Nevada has taken on a greater urgency. “Pre-pandemic, we had about 272,000 people in Southern Nevada who were food-insecure,” Beck says. “At the height of the pandemic, that number rose to 440,000. Right now, we’re back down to about 363,000, which is one in six people.”

Children are impacted even more, with one in four facing food insecurity. Since the start of the pandemic, Three Square has focused its efforts on emergency food distribution. Every dollar earned during Restaurant Week goes directly to Three Square’s mission to eradicate hunger.

The culinary community has taken quite a beating as well during the health crisis. Now, with more people feeling comfortable dining out, many are optimistic that the restaurant industry is on the road to recovery. Supporting the restaurants participating during Restaurant Week is certainly a good place to start for diners looking to break out of their quarantine pods.

“It’s a fun way for people to be able to go out with their family and friends, and get back out if they want or take out a meal and come home. They’ll be doing something to give back to our restaurant community and at the same time doing something to give back to those who are less fortunate,” Beck says.

For a complete list of restaurants participating in Restaurant Week, go to restaurantweeklv.org. You can filter by location, cuisine type, price point and dining options such as patio seating. Reservations are recommended if you choose to dine in. Also, it’s been a tough year for the hardworking folks in the restaurant industry. Do tip generously.

All the Fixings

You have 12 days to check out some bucket-list restaurants in town and revisit some old favorites. Scroll through the menus at restaurantweeklv.org to whet your appetite. Here are a some menus we are eager to try out:

Bouchon at the Venetian (Dinner, $60)

• First course: Smoked and fresh salmon rillettes

• Second course: Sautéed Idaho rainbow trout with haricot verts, toasted almonds and beurre noisette; or roasted chicken with petits pois à la Française and chicken jus

• Third course: vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce or vanilla bean custard

Lawry’s The Prime Rib (Dinner, $60)

• First course: The Famous Original Spinning Bowl Salad with iceberg, romaine, spinach, shoestring beets, croutons, egg and vintage dressing

• Second course: California cut of roasted prime rib with mashed potatoes, Yorkshire pudding and a choice of creamed corn or creamed spinach; or Salmon Rockefeller, with Skuna Bay salmon, sauteed spinach, scampied shrimp and a choice of creamed corn or creamed spinach

• Third course: Flourless chocolate cake

Kona Grill (Dinner, $40)

• First course: Choice of potstickers, with seared chicken and vegetable dumplings and Asian slaw; Picasso Roll, with spicy yellowtail and avocado; Sweet & Bleu Salad, with fall greens, grilled honey crisp apples, applewood bacon and bleu cheese

• Second course: Choice of cilantro lime chicken, market fish or prime rib

• Third course: Carrot cake or coconut cake

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