Long Island’s eight-day dining deal turns 20

The 20th anniversary of Long Island Restaurant Week’s fall edition runs Sunday, Nov. 1, through Sunday, Nov. 8, with more than 200 restaurants across Nassau and Suffolk offering prix fixe dining deals.

Participating restaurants may offer a $25 two-course lunch and three-course dinners at $30, $40 or $48.

As of Sunday, the promotion’s website listed more than 200 participating restaurants in Suffolk and Nassau.

First-time participants include Margaritas Cafe in Wantagh, Trento in Farmingdale, The Marin in Northport, Sundays on the Bay in Hampton Bays and Alma D’Oro in Blue Point.

To mark the anniversary, organizers are giving away 20 gift cards worth $100 each, redeemable at the participating restaurant of each winner’s choice. Entries are accepted on the Long Island Restaurant Week website through 11:59 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 9.

Long Island Restaurant Week has donated more than $40,000 to local food banks and charitable organizations over its history, according to the organizers. More than $10,000 of that has gone to its primary beneficiary, the Hempstead-based Interfaith Nutrition Network, which has served Long Islanders facing hunger, homelessness and poverty since 1983.

Organizers estimate each Restaurant Week serves more than 116,000 meals and brings in more than $6 million for Long Island restaurants.

The first edition, in fall 2006, generated an estimated $2.8 million in restaurant revenue, according to the organizers. It drew its inspiration from Hamptons Restaurant Week, which had launched five years prior. A spring edition was added in April 2011 and a winter edition in January 2016.

For more information and a list of participating restaurants, visit longislandrestaurantweek.com.