With spring in full swing and the economy starting to rebound, local restaurateurs are welcoming diners for Peninsula Restaurant Week starting Friday, May 13, and running through Saturday, May 21.

More than 115 eateries from South San Francisco to Sunnyvale and out to the San Mateo County coast will be offering deals and special dishes. Diners can find a wide array of participating restaurants in 32 cities and towns and view their special menus online at PeninsulaRestaurantWeek.com.

The celebration of the diverse local food and dining scene is being sponsored by The San Francisco Peninsula — the region's convention and visitors bureau — in partnership with Embarcadero Media, parent company of the Palo Alto Weekly.

"The Peninsula dining scene has quietly emerged as a unique place for innovative restaurant entrepreneurs offering locally sourced food prepared by highly respected chefs," said John Hutar, president and CEO of The San Francisco Peninsula. "It has a diversity of restaurants, from fine dining to the most informal, that rivals anything in San Francisco or other Bay Area cities."

But coming out of two years of pandemic hardship, Hutar added, "This industry needs our support more than ever.

"With so many people still working remotely, this is a perfect time to have a wonderful dining experience," he said.

There is no cost to the restaurants to participate.

Vanessa Garcia, owner of 7 Mile House in Brisbane — a former stagecoach stop that's now a restaurant serving American and Filipino fare — is one of the Peninsula Restaurant Week eateries.

"It's such a great time for this event, to open up our region and revive the restaurant industry, and to support small businesses like ours on the Peninsula," Garcia said.

Restaurant Week participants in the Palo Alto, as of May 12, include Asian Box, Bevri, Bistronomie by Baume, Celia's Mexican Restaurant, Coupa Cafe (three locations), Cudos, Fish Market Restaurant, Hobee's, Jing Jing Gourmet, Kanpai Sushi Japanese Restaurant, Kirk's Steakburgers, LuLu's at Town & Country Village, Pizzeria Delfina, San Agus Cocina Urbana & Cocktails, State of Mind Slice House, Taverna, The Port of Peri Peri, Tin Pot Creamery, Vitality Bowls, Wild Onion Bistro & Bar, Wildseed, Zadna Bowl and Zareen's.

In Menlo Park, restaurants include Bistro Vida, Celia's Mexican Restaurant, Fey, La Stanza Cucina Italiana, Left Bank Menlo Park, LuLu's on The Alameda, Mama Coco Cocina Mexicana, Menlo Tavern, Ristorante Carpaccio and The Refuge Menlo Park.

Peninsula Restaurant Week, which is now in its second year, also features restaurant gift-card giveaways. Diners can win up to $850 in gift cards during the nine-day event by posting a photo of their meal from a participating restaurant to Instagram, tagging @peninsulafoodist, @thesixfifty, @thesfpeninsula and the restaurant they are visiting, and using #penrestaurantweek in the caption.

More in-depth information about select restaurants, including interviews by the Peninsula Foodist with local chefs, is featured at TheSixFifty.com, an online publication on the best of what to see, do and eat on the Peninsula.

One featured restaurant is La Viga, a seafood restaurant in Redwood City that was in the article, "Instagrammable eateries: The original art of Silicon Valley's most photogenic restaurants."

Chef Manuel Martinez, chef and owner of La Viga Culinary Group, has arranged for three of his restaurants to be in Peninsula Restaurant Week.

"La Viga Culinary Group is excited to contribute to showcasing the many diverse flavors of the SF Peninsula," he said. "We look forward to the many new faces we get to welcome and experience our featured dishes and cocktails along with supporting fellow local restaurants."

Visit PeninsulaRestaurantWeek.com for a searchable directory of restaurants and their menus and more information on the giveaways.