CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — You'll soon be able to try all the flavors of South Texas at a great fixed price. The 2023 Coastal Bend Restaurant Week kicks off Friday and lasts the rest of the month, from Sept. 22 to Oct. 1.
This is the third year for the Coastal Bend Restaurant Week, and they rounded up 18 restaurants for this year's event.
"Our aim is to put the spotlight on our award-winning talent and share their unique stories with everyone," the group says on its website. "We hope to attract new customers to our restaurants, strengthen bonds within the community and put a spotlight on our food and service industry."
Cuisines include steak, Italian, American, seafood, Indian and Southern, plus many others. The menus are already out.
Participating restaurants for the 2023 Coastal Bend Restaurant Week include:
- 495 Chesapeake Eats
- Backstreet Cafe
- Bellino Ristorante Italiano e Bottega
- Blackbeard's on the Beach
- Boarri Craft Butchery
- Doc's Seafood and Steak
- Dylan's Coal Oven Pizzeria
- The Galley Bistro & Bake Shop
- Harrison's Landing
- Lazy Beach Brewery
- Nueces Whiskey Library
- Persis Indian Grill & Bar
- Prime Steakhouse Whiskey Bar
- PKK LLC Pure Kountry Kooking
- Sam & Louie's Pizzeria
- Sarcastic Susie's
- Southern Style Sweets Bakery
- Taste at 555
Hungry? Check out our look at the Latino flavors in Corpus Christi in our Hispanic Heritage Month series.
Restaurant Week helps showcase local talent
The third annual Coastal Bend Restaurant week kicked off Thursday morning with the help of Del Mar College's culinary and hospitality institute. Founder of Coastal Bend Restaurant Week Mirza Mirely says that she sees those students being the future of the Coastal Bend's restaurant scene.
"If we keep these restaurant jobs here in the area, grow our talent, which is what Del Mar is primarily doing, and put them into the market, we can really thrive and make this place a gastronomic destination," Mirely said.
Culinary student and restaurant manager for the kickoff celebration, Joseph Lemus believes in the talent of his classmates. He says they hope the attention that restaurant week brings to the area makes people realize the talent that lies in the community.
"I mean how often have you gone to a different city and been like, 'I want to go try this place out that I've seen on TikTok or Facebook but it's like three hours away.' That's what we want. We want to be that place like 'I'm gonna travel a few hours away to come to Del Mar and eat some of this food,'" Lemus said.
Mirely says that restaurant week comes at time that is a perfect opportunity for people to try special menus at participating restaurants right after the peak of summer tourism.
"This is the time of year where things really slow down. Kids have gone back to school and vacation is over. In order to kind of stream up the economy, coastal bend restaurant week establishes basically so you can go into the restaurant and enjoy it," she said.
Del Mar's business department chair Chip Campbell says culinary and hospitality students are being trained by the best and knows they'll be equipped to serve and grow their community, should they decide to stay in the area.
"It's a growing area and with some of these big companies coming in, there's gonna be an explosion of opportunities, so we want to make sure they're prepared," Campbell said.
