Dine, Give to Forgotten Harvest and Win During Birmingham Restaurant Week

During the 8th annual Birmingham Restaurant Week, diners will be able to sip and savor their way around Birmingham's restaurant scene.

Except this year, food fans will also have the chance to give back to an organization that looks to feed the hungry throughout Metro Detroit.

For the second year in a row, Forgotten Harvest is the official charity partner for Birmingham Restaurant Week, a two-week celebration of the city's food scene scheduled for Jan. 28-Feb. 1 and Feb. 4-8.

During Restaurant Week, chefs from 20 Birmingham's restaurants will create special, three-course menus for lunch and dinner. Most menus include appetizers and desserts, with dishes like a bacon-wrapped twin filet and a BBQ shrimp chopped salad taking a sharring role.

Lunch menus are $15 while three-course dinners cost $30.

"Eight years ago, Birmingham was the first city in Michigan to hold a Restaurant Week event," said John Heiney, executive director of the Birmingham Principal Shopping District (PSD) — which sponsors the event — in a press release. "We're pleased to see it gain popularity around Michigan, as it has all over the country."

Since launching it's Restaurant Week in 2006, Birmingham has since been followed by several other high-profile cities including Detroit, Ann Arbor and Troy. Birmingham's Restaurant Week expanded to two weeks in 2010.

While Forgotten Harvest was the official charity partner for Birmingham Restaurant Week for the first time last year, 2013 will give diners even more incentive to give back.

This year, diners will have the opportunity to purchase raffle tickets at several participating restaurants and at the PSD office, located in City Hall, for $5 each or three for $10. All proceeds from ticket sales benefit Forgotten Harvest.

Afterward, three lucky diners will win an "Enjoy Birmingham Package" valued at $500 in gift certificates for shopping, dining and entertainment in Birmingham. Merchants who donated gift certificates include Adventures in Toys, The Spice and Tea Exchange, Margot European Day Spa, J. McLaughlin and more.

"Forgotten Harvest is the official charity partner for Restaurant Week," Heiney said. "We look forward to supporting this great cause again this year."

Diners can purchase raffle tickets at 220, Big Rock Chop House, Cafe Via, Forest Grill, Streetside Seafood and Townhouse.

New this year to Birmingham Restaurant Week the Hyde Park Prime Steakhouse, which opened on South Old Woodward last summer, and the city's newest bistro, Social Kitchen, located on East Maple. Also returning to the event this year is Tallulah Wine Bar and Bistro, which was on the menu in 2011 but absent in 2012.

Missing from this year's line-up, meanwhile, is the upscale Mexican restaurant Barrio, as well as two Birmingham eateries that closed in 2012: Zazios, which will officially close on Jan. 31, and South Bar, which closed its doors amid controversy last summer.

For a complete list of everyone participating in this year's Restaurant Week, visit Need to Know: Your Guide to Birmingham Restaurant Week 2013.