Good morning. Welcome back.
It’s a great time to try new
restaurants and support local
businesses. Right now. It’s
Latin restaurant weeks in
Houston. Joining us this
morning is co-founder of Latin
restaurant weeks. Kareen Sugar,
Ria, good morning. Thank you so
much for coming on the show
to chat about this is week 2,
0, yeah.
>> We to tell them all about
it’s well. Thank you so much
for having me larochelle weeks.
It’s what it sounds like.
It’s an opportunity for you
guys to discover a new flavor.
Discover the culture and the
diversity of Latin America.
And to really go out and
support your local culinary
businesses, who we feel are the
heartbeat of our community.
Absolutely. What inspired you
to launch this this event?
Yeah. One of the things I
always say is look around at
any restaurant who D C in the
restaurants from House
Backhouse. It’s typically that
the you know, so we wanted to
give them a platform where they
can shine spotlight them and
really create something where
we’re supporting them. Just
outside of Hispanic Heritage
Month. And, you know, just
continuing help them build
because they give so much to
us. Absolutely. Without those
people without those
>> positions, we wouldn’t have
the delicious food that we have
to enjoy on a on a daily basis.
Now. Yeah, it’s it’s truly,
really amazing.
>> Who’s participating? How
many restaurants are
participating? What are the
boundaries where getting
restaurants and which places
participate?
>> Houston area and surrounding
areas we have. We’re bigger and
better than ever over 90
restaurants are participating
but not just restaurants, maybe
Rees. Yeah. Wow. Bakeries,
coffee And now our very first
and they range is from small
mom and pop shops. Places in
Bellaire, to fine dining.
And we really want to showcase
the resilience and the
creativity that line ownership
as here in Houston not to put
in this spot. You know, the
name of the brewery at the top
of the Big Al Brewery. Okay.
We’ll have to pass it along
to meteorologist Justin
Stapleton. I think he’s out
of the studio but he just
launched a new series Reason.
And and and then you’re done
wineries and distilleries.
So we’ll we’ll pass that
information along to you.
>> People not familiar with the
restaurant week or weeks.
How does it work? How do they
work? What can people expect?
>> Traditionally, you can
expect some kind of special,
some kind of deal with Latin
restaurant weeks because we
have such a myriad of different
types of businesses. The chefs
have the opportunity to create
something very special, select
limited time, only specials.
There’s definitely a discount
in each special. So all they
have to do is go to our website
and peruse through all the
different participants and
they’ll see, you know, maybe
it’s a $5 discount here.
Maybe it’s like a taco fly.
You know, they really get
creative with it. And it’s just
a way to discover something.
They’ll sometimes it can be
fixed menus with fixed prices.
Exactly. Exactly. So we have
some some kind of trendy You
know, some great offerings out
like that say like the limb
bar, which is down at the ion,
they’re doing a prefix. Many a
dinner for 2 for $88 where
normally would be, you know, a
lot more. So you’re going to,
you know, try some of their
offerings there, too. If you
want to go to your favorite
restaurant, but you don’t want
to participate the menus being
offered through restaurant
weeks. Are you still able to
get the regular menu? Oh, yeah,
absolutely. The ideas that this
is the draw, you know, they
create something custom for you
guys enjoy for the 2 weeks.
But if you want to visit them
after the 2 go right ahead.
This is all for a good cause,
too. Yes, yes, well, our
philanthropy is really about
giving back to the community,
giving back to the Latin
community specifically. But we
do have a philanthropic arm.
It’s called Feed the Soul
Foundation and through Feed the
Soul Foundation. Our
participants are able to have
access to
educational resources. They’re
able to apply for grants.
Most recently, 4 of our
participants in Houston were
awarded $10,000 to help scale
and build their business.
Money means so much. It does.
It goes a long way. And on top
of that, they’re also paired
with like a you yeah, it’s it’s
really special to be able to
give back. Not only from a
monetary standpoint, but also
from education and really
helping build them a while.
Honing your craft, learning
more on what works, what
doesn’t work exactly as you
don’t always have all the
answers. You know, running a
business is small and they’re
still dealing with a lot of
the remnants of the pandemic.
It’s like Post-pandemic post,
you know, got jet lag. We’ve
got post jet lag and he got
close and Ma, you’re still
dealing with guys. You know,
rise and, you know, a little
bit inflation and they got the
labor shortage and then, you
know, everything that that has
happened to them recently.
So it’s always something.
And we is supported that.
Always always. This is a whole
week, too. As we mentioned,
Karin, how when does it wrap
up? Which does wrap up July
21st? So still have plenty of
time to go to our website and
discover more.
And yeah, discover. Also one
thing we love to say is, you
know, it’s not just Mexican
food in Houston, although, you
know, that’s a fan favorite.
But we do you know, Dominican
food. We have yes, fusion.
We have Peruvian and Colombian
been a swell in a little bit of
everything for people to really
discuss. Guys are city. Yeah.
All the spices. Yeah. But you
love tacos and out of here