Get ready to eat! Newport Beach Restaurant Week begins Jan. 14

Newport Beach has long been known as a culinary destination.

So it’s no surprise that Orange County’s first restaurant week was established there in 2007 and is returning this month for its 13th edition.

The event, which actually spans two weeks, will be presented Jan. 14-27 by Dine Newport Beach and the Newport Beach Restaurant Assn., two marketing groups that showcase the city’s dining options.

Restaurant Week will feature prix fixe menus from more than 60 participating restaurants throughout Newport — from Crystal Cove and Corona del Mar to the Back Bay and Balboa Peninsula. The discounted fixed prices will range from $10 to $25 for lunch and $20 to $50 for dinner.

No tickets are required. Simply show up to one of the hot spots, preferably with a reservation.

For Orange County eaters, it’s a chance to check out the new or rediscover the old. Thus, there are flavors of established Newport — such as Five Crowns and Malarky’s Irish Pub — along with newer spots such as the Mayor’s Table Pacific Pub & Kitchen at the Lido House hotel and Olea in Westcliff.

Avila’s El Ranchito’s Balboa Peninsula location has a $15 lunch with a cup of Mama Avila’s chicken soup (or a salad) with a mole enchilada, chicken taco or chile verde.

Bluewater Grill, which fronts Newport Harbor, has a $40 dinner with clam chowder, cedar plank salmon with maple dijon and ending with cinnamon chocolate bread pudding. If salmon isn’t your thing, you can try mahi mahi, cioppino (an Italian-American fish stew), top sirloin or prawn linguine.

Campus Jax, by John Wayne Airport along Campus Drive, offers a $10 lunch. You can go New Orleans-style and try the gumbo and jambalaya.

On the top end is a $50 dinner from Farmhouse at Roger’s Gardens in Corona del Mar. This will get you two courses (such as a roast butternut squash tart with goat cheese and caramelized onions, and a winter citrus and avocado salad) followed by entrée choices including pink peppercorn-crusted yellowfin tuna. That’ll be topped off with a cheese platter and Meyer lemon olive oil cake, to name a few.

To see the full list of menus and participating restaurants, go to visitnewportbeach.com/restaurant-week.

Bradley Zint is a contributor to Times Community News.