By Mandy Tempel
Northeast Beat Contributor

Several restaurants in Northeast are participating in an annual fundraiser Thursday to benefit agencies supporting people with AIDS or HIV.

Dining Out For Life raises more than $2 million a year in North America, with a portion of the day’s proceeds at more than 2,500 restaurants nationwide will be donated to licensed agencies in their cities.

This will be the 13th annual Dining Out For Life in the Twin Cities. More than $100,000 was raised locally in 2006 to benefit services for offered by The Aliveness Project. With the exception of an annual licensing fee of $600, all money stays in the city where it was donated.

Minneapolis and St. Paul have also declared April 26, 2007, is Dining Out For Life Day in both cities.

In 1991 Dining Out For Life was created by an ActionAIDS volunteer in Philadelphia. In 1993, ActionAIDS made it an international event offering licenses to AIDS Service Organizations around the country. Since Dining Out for Life international’s founding the event has grown to at least 33 cities.

This year, Dining Out for Life ambassadors will hand out 10-percent-off coupons at all eight Twin Cities Borders stores. The coupons are redeemable April 28 or 29 and an additional 10 percent of your purchase will be donated to The Aliveness Project.

There are many local establishments to support by eating out for breakfast, lunch and/or dinner. A full listing of the participating restaurants in Minnesota can be found here.

The Northeast Beat has a list of your local Dining Out for Life restaurants:

• Erte & The Peacock Lounge, 1304 University Ave NE. 623-4211. 25 percent donated. Dinner 5-11pm. Peacock Lounge Happy Hour 4-7pm.
• Kramarczuk’s East European Deli, 215 E. Hennepin Ave. 379-3018. 25 percent donated. Breakfast 7-10am. Lunch/Dinner Noon-8pm. Mention their website and receive $5 off one of Kramarczuk’s gourmet Polish dinners.
• Mairin’s Table, 23 NE 4th St. 746-4272. 35 percent donated. Lunch 11am-2pm. Dinner 5-9pm. Accessible; off-street parking; seating still available for lunch, early or late dinners.
• Mill City Café, 2205 California St. NE, #102. 788-6188. 15 percent donated. Dinner 5-10pm. Live music from Eliza Blue 7-9pm.
• Modern Café, 337 13th Ave. NE. 378-9882. 25 percent donated. Lunch/dinner 11am-9pm. Famous pot roast and patio seating.
• Pizza Nea Inc., 306 E. Hennepin Ave. 331-9298. 25 percent donated. Lunch/dinner 11am-9:30pm. Happy Hour From 3-6pm.
• The Sample Room, 2124 Marshall St. NE. 789-0333. 15 percent donated. Lunch/dinner 11:30am-10pm. Patio seating and featured samples.
• Signature Café and Catering, 130 Warwick St. SE. 378-0237. 35 percent donated. Dinner 4:30-8pm. Completely booked; three course prefix; menu for $30, plus 2-for-1 wine specials.
• Wilde Roast Café, 518 E. Hennepin Ave. 331-4544. 35 percent donated. Breakfast 7-11am. Lunch 11am-5pm. New menu has five new salads and burgers (lamb, beef, portabella mushroom).

Mandy Tempel is a Dining Out For Life volunteer. You can find her serving as an ambassador Thursday evening at Mairin’s Table.

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Filed under: Food and Drink, Health