One of Houston’s biggest dining dynasties is serving up a restaurant week of its own. Pappas Restaurants has announced its first-ever Pappas Restaurant Weeks, featuring all 10 of its culinary concepts in the city and across the country, with a portion of the proceeds benefiting local food banks.
From Aug. 1 through Sept. 7, the family-owned restaurant group will be dishing out special prix fixe menus and featured items at Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen, Pappasitos Cantina, Pappas Bros. Steakhouse, Pappas Bar-B-Q, Pappas Seafood House, Pappas Delta Blues Smokehouse, Pappas Burger, Little’s Oyster Bar, Dot Coffee Shop and its recently revived restaurant, Yiayia’s Greek Kitchen.
The five-week event will span dozens of locations in states from coast to coast: Texas, Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, New Mexico and Ohio, supporting 16 food banks, including the Houston Food Bank.
“For decades, our restaurants have been dedicated to bringing people together around exceptional food and hospitality,” Christina Pappas, chief marketing officer at Pappas Restaurants, said in a Friday release. “Pappas Restaurant Weeks is an extension of that commitment on a national scale, giving guests at more than 80 restaurants across eight states the opportunity to experience thoughtfully curated menus while deepening our commitment to giving back to the communities we serve.”
The Pappas restaurant empire dates back more than 50 years ago, when Jim and Pete Pappas opened the first Dot Coffee Shop in 1967. The tiny diner became the first restaurant in what would grow into the Pappas family’s expansive portfolio.
The new Pappas Restaurant Week launch marks the first time the Houston-based hospitality group has created a restaurant-week promotion of its own.
Houston Restaurant Weeks, which also benefits Houston Food Bank, was founded in 2003 and bills itself as the city’s largest annual fundraiser of its kind. Pappas concepts have participated in previous years, but none were listed among this year’s participants as of publication.
Chron reached out to Pappas Restaurants about why it launched a separate event and its participation in HRW. We will update this story if and when we hear back.