Kansas City’s Restaurant Week is well under way, continuing through January 25, with 160 restaurants participating for lunch and/or dinner. At lunch two courses will be served for $15 and at dinner 3 for $33. Check out Restaurant Week’s website where most restaurants have posted the lunch and or dinner menu they will be serving. Restaurants typically offer a combination of dishes that are normally featured and some that have been created specifically for this event. Diners will have a choice of several appetizers, entrees and desserts, but be forewarned that it is a limited menu.

Restaurant Week was originally devised during the 1992 Democratic Convention in New York City. For an interesting account of what its goals are and what has been accomplished in NYC, click here.

As the story suggests, it’s a terrific way for restaurants to promote themselves and for diners to try a restaurant that they otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford (or several, judging from the way in which some diners attack the Week, trying one or two a day to take advantage of the great offers). It also drives traffic to restaurants during what is traditionally a slow time of year for the industry.

Three new charitable partners have been added as beneficiaries of 2015 Kansas City Restaurant Week. The donations raised during the 2015 event will benefit BoysGrow, Children’s Center for the Visually Impaired and Cultivate Kansas City. The Kansas City Regional Destination Development Foundation and the Greater Kansas City Restaurant Association Education Foundation, will again also receive a portion of the donations.

You’ll need reservations, so get dialing and enjoy Restaurant Week!!