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Back for Seconds: San Diego Restaurant Week 2021 Returns

This round of San Diego Restaurant Week runs from Sept. 26 to Oct. 3, 2021

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San Diego Restaurant Week 2021 is back for round two, hoping to give local eateries another boost as the pandemic continues to pose challenges for the industry.

The 18th annual installment of the local dining event – which is presented by the California Restaurant Association – is running from Sept. 26 through Oct. 3.

This round will feature just over 90 restaurants and will have a familiar set-up: Each participating SDRW eatery will offer prix fixe lunch and dinner deals. As always, it’s a way for locals to try that new restaurant they’ve been hearing about without spending too much – and a way for restaurants to bring in new customers.

According to SDRW organizers, the prix fixe lunch menus are two courses and range from $10, $15, $20, or $25 per person. The dinner menus will feature three courses and range cost either $20, $30, $40, $50 or $60 per person.

Dozens of restaurants will be participating in the Fall 2021 rendition of Restaurant Week. Here's what you need to know.

Participating restaurants span all parts of San Diego County, from the South Bay and downtown San Diego to La Jolla, Carlsbad, Oceanside and lots of communities in between. Here’s the full list of SDRW 2021 restaurants.

Diners don’t need special tickets to take part in SDRW, but reservations are recommended. Once you get to the spot of your choosing, ask to order from the Restaurant Week menu and that’s it. Easy as pie.

This fall installment of SDRW is the event’s second round of 2021. Like most events in San Diego County, the pandemic has caused some modifications to its plans.

The first round is traditionally held in January but this year, it SDRW was delayed to April 2021 as pandemic-era restaurant restrictions eased up across San Diego County. At that time, our region was still under the state’s color-coded COVID-19 tier system, so it wasn’t a great time for the local event to shine.

During that first SDRW of 2021, San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria noted the deep impact of the coronavirus pandemic on local eateries and small businesses. Some local business owners also reflected on the devastating toll of the pandemic on their restaurants.

San Diego Restaurant Week returns in 2021 a little later than normal.

At this time last year, in September 2020, SDRW had to shift gears to adapt to COVID-19 restrictions of the time. Instead of hosting Restaurant Week in its traditional format, an event called “Dine Diego” temporarily took over the fall edition of the foodie affair. That round focused on showcasing local restaurants offering outdoor dining and to-go options, since that’s what was allowed for restaurants at the time.

A hugely important event each year for San Diego's restaurant industry kicks off this week and it may be more valuable to local restaurants than ever. NBC 7 photojournalist Calvin Pierce spoke to Chef Ken Irvine about how much the support means.

To learn more about the Sept. 26 to Oct. 3, 2021, version of SDRW, click here.

Happy dining, San Diego.

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