Dining Out for Life

Tonight is the annual "Dining Out for Life" event here in Washington. Other cities have their events on different days, but this is the day for the D.C. metropolitan area. On March 11 it's in Dallas, April 23 Atlanta, April 24 Chicago, Houston, Las Vegas, Phoenix, San Francisco, Seattle, and Tulsa, May 1 Philadelphia, Miami, Fort Lauderdale and the Palm Beaches, and September 18 Baltimore. Quite a number of other cities will have events, as well, throughout the year.

What is Dining Out for Life? It's a charity fund raiser that is one of the easiest things you can do. By eating at a participating restaurant, you'll pay normal restaurant prices for your meal, and the restaurant will donate between 25 and 100% of their gross revenues tonight to charity. In Washington, the charity will be Food & Friends, a non-profit group that provides daily, home-delivered, specialized meals, groceries and nutrition counseling to people living with HIV/AIDS, cancer and other life-challenging illnesses.

Dining Out for Life and Food & Friends are both great charities, and I encourage everyone in the D.C. area to eat out tonight—even if only for an appetizer or a dessert—at one of the participating restaurants. Remember: this doesn't cost you anything extra for a normal restaurant meal.

Participating restaurants giving 100% of their gross tonight are Blacksalt Tasting Room, Carlyle, Freddie's Beach Bar and Restaurant, and Ristorante Tosca. Luigino will give 75%. Giving 50% are Annie's Paramount Steakhouse, Cafe La Ruche, Georgia Brown's, Hank's Oyster Bar (D.C. and Old Town), Jack's, Little Fountain Cafe, Mehak Indian Restaurant, Neyla, Santa Fe Cafe, Skewers, and The Old Siam. Argia's, Arucola Osteria, Bistrot du Coin, Bombay Curry Company, Busboys & Poets (D.C. and Va.), Delhi Club, Fusion Grill, Il Radicchio, Lounge 201, Luna Grill and Diner (D.C. and Va.), Mr. Henry's, Radius, and Sake Club are all giving 35% of their take. Think especially about going to these places tonight.

Here's a list of the other participating restaurants that are each contributing 25% of their gross receipts tonight: 15 Squares American Bistro, 18th & U Duplex Diner, Alero (U Street), American Grill, Aroma Indian Cuisine, Asia Bistro/Zen Bistro, Banana Café, Bangkok Garden Restaurant, bd's Mongolian Barbeque, Beacon Bar & Grill, Black Market Bistro, Black's Bar and Kitchen, Bourbon, Cactus Cantina, Café Berlin, Cafe Ole, Cashion's Eat Place, Cee Fine Thai Dining, Chadwicks, Clarendon Grill, Colorado Kitchen, Coppi's Restaurant, The Diner, Dino, Dos Gringos Café, Dupont Italian Kitchen, Ella's Wood Fired Pizza, Floriana Mercury Grill, Foxfire Grill, Geppetto Restaurant, The Grille, Grillfish, Guapo's Restaurant (Shirlington and Bethesda), Hard Times Café, The Heights, indebleu, J. Paul's (Georgetown), Komi, La Ferme Restaurant, La Fourchette, La Plaza, La Tomate, Las Placitas, Lauriol Plaza, Logan Tavern, Lotus Lounge, M Street Bar & Grill, Mark's Kitchen, Marshall's Restaurant, Medaterra, The Melting Pot (D.C., Arlington, Gaithersburg), Merkado Kitchen, Meze, Mosaic Cuisine and Café, Mourayo, Nage Restaurant, Oakville Grille & Wine Bar, Old Glory BBQ, Panache Restaurant, Paolo's Georgetown, Paya Thai, Perry's, Persimmon Restaurant, Pesce, Pizzeria Paradiso (Dupont & Georgetown), Raku-Asian Dining, Sushi & Sake (D.C. & Bethesda), Restaurant K, Ristorante Piccolo, Rosemary's Thyme Bistro, Saigon Saigon, Sala Thai (Arlington, Bethesda, Dupont, U Street, Uptown, Ashburn), Sesto Senso, Starfish Café, Straits of Malaya, Sushi-Ko Restaurant, Tabaq Bistro, Tabard Inn, Tempo Restaurant, Thaiphoon (Dupont & Pentagon Row), Trattoria Alberto, Tuscana West, U-topia Art & Eat, Urbana Restaurant and Wine Bar, Vegetate, Vicino Ristorante Italiano, Zed's Ethiopian Cuisine, and zPizza (Alexandria, Arlington, Columbia, Fairfax, Falls Church, Herndon, Leesburg, Lorton, Manassas, Merrifield, Rockville, Silver Spring, South Riding, Springfield).

Please join us for Dining Out for Life!