(Photo courtesy of Food & Friends)

Dining Out For Life celebrates its twentieth year in D.C., with more than 60 local restaurants pledging to donate a minimum of 25 percent from tonight’s proceeds to support Food & Friends. The nonprofit organization provides free nutrition services for people living with HIV/AIDS, cancer, and other life-challenging illnesses.


A few of the restaurants that have committed to participating in this year’s event include Hank’s Oyster Bar, Le Diplomate, The Pig, and Shaw’s Tavern, which have all pledged 25 percent of proceeds from Thursday’s dinner service. Diners can go online to see a complete list of participating restaurants and how much each one plans to donate, which might prompt some people to try out a new restaurant in order to make sure that Food & Friends gets a larger donation.

Some restaurants with deep ties to D.C.’s LGBT community are making the largest pledges for Thursday’s event. Famous for its weekly drag bingo, Freddie’s Beach Bar & Restaurant (555 23rd Street South, Arlington) in Crystal City is donating 110 percent of dinner proceeds, while Dupont Circle’s Annie’s Paramount Steakhouse (1609 17th Street NW) is donating 100 percent of proceeds from both lunch and dinner.

“Dining Out For Life is an opportunity for the larger Food & Friends family to help us and have a lot of fun with their friends at the same time,” says Craig Shniderman, executive director of Food & Friends. The organization’s goal on Thursday is to raise $150,000, which will support free meals and other services for 945 of their clients, covering about 35 percent of their total client base.