Southwest Florida’s culinary scene is turning up the heat in September! Sizzle Dining is a charity dining event that started as a week-long event 7 years ago and has grown into a 21-day phenomenon drawing thousands of visitors to restaurants.

More than 90 restaurants are participating in this year's charity dining event, held Sept. 7-27, 2023, where local restaurants roll out special menus with special pricing with proceeds benefiting Blessings in a Backpack, a local charity that provides free backpacks (donated by designer Vera Wang) filled with food to feed 6,000 elementary school-aged children every Friday during the school year to help ensure food-insecure children eat over the weekend.