There's certainly no shortage of food events in Indianapolis.

But an event coming to Indianapolis for the first time shines a spotlight on black-owned restaurants.

Black Restaurant Week will debut in the city July 21-28, showcasing 15 restaurants with specially priced menus. Participants include Michael's Soul Kitchen, R&R Extreme Wings, Kountry Kitchen, Jamaican Breeze Sports Bar & Grill, Chef Oya's The Trap and Epic Ultra Lounge.

New restaurant alert:This Italian restaurant rises above spaghetti and meatballs

Founded in Houston in 2016, Black Restaurant Week began as an effort to promote minority businesses, and quickly grew to add bartending competitions, a food truck festival and business panel discussion.

Soon, other cities wanted to join, including Atlanta, New Orleans, Oakland, Dallas, Los Angeles and Philadelphia. Indianapolis is the eighth city to sign up.

"Indianapolis is our first stop in the Midwest, and we're pretty excited about that," said Falayn Ferrell, managing partner for Black Restaurant Week. "It's about driving traffic to the restaurants ... and being able to put a name and face to some of the local businesses for the community. That's how we measure success in the campaign."

Black Restaurant Week will run in conjunction with the the National Urban League's annual conference July 25 to 27 at the Indianapolis Convention Center.

Widening exposure

Ferrell said providing exposure is one of the main reasons for Black Restaurant Week. Many residents learn of these businesses for the first time through the week's festivities and come to realize there are many black-owned restaurants in their own neighborhoods.

In Indianapolis, a number of the participating restaurants are new to the scene, so Black Restaurant Week is a chance to draw in customers and become more savvy at marketing and social media.

Lance George, co-owner and chef at Comida, a Mexican fusion restaurant that opened in February, said the campaign helps mom-and-pop establishments that don't have big restaurant groups or central locations to help boost their profiles.

"It's a great opportunity to really showcase a lot of other places throughout the city that are fantastic," he said. "We can let people know there are fantastic chefs that are not the norm serving Caribbean food and soul food. I'm an African-American chef but I do a fusion of Asian and Mexican as well. There's so much diversity out there and the focus is on bringing it to light."

Austin Bonds, general manager at Maxine's Chicken and Waffles, sees Black Restaurant Week as a chance to attract customers from all over, especially with the National Urban League conference at the same time.

"We're starting to get a nice following from other cities, and our top city is Cincinnati," Bonds said. "We even had a catering order from Cincinnati a couple weeks ago for a wedding because the couple loved our food so much. We want to gain more business like that."

Expanding your horizons

Bonds said Maxine's participates in Devour Indy and Savor Downtown which offer many different cuisines at various price points. But Black Restaurant Week will be a good chance to highlight his family's story and culture that is so central to the business.

"We were the first chicken and waffles restaurant in Indianapolis, and have been a staple here for coming up on 12 years," Bonds said. "We do a lot of stuff in the community and help out with fundraisers for different black organizations ... It just made sense to be part of this."

Maxine's will also debut some changes including obtaining a liquor license and adding a bar service area, as well as applying a fresh coat of paint, installing new TVs and furniture, and adding a wall in front of the kitchen. Maxine's is normally closed on Mondays, and will also be closed July 23 to finish renovations.

Joining forces

Ferrell said the campaign gives minority business owners a chance to get to know each other better, and help strengthen the community together.

"Restaurant owners begin to network with each other, call each other and ask for advice," Ferrell said. "It becomes a collective communicative effort with businesses supporting each other throughout the year, not just during the campaign."

Tea's Me Cafe, owned by former WNBA player Tamika Catchings, will participate in Black Restaurant Week. General manager for the cafe, Joi DeFrantz said, being open and collaborative is important.

"We pride ourselves on being a community space," DeFrantz said. "We want to help black-owned businesses in the city and partner with them. It's great to have this networking opportunity and know who else is in the city."

Tea's Me hosts events regularly from poetry readings to book signings to live music. DeFrantz said Catchings often talks about how the cafe is a "safe space" for people to come relax and enjoy themselves.

What's on the menus?

The participating restaurants include paleo-friendly soul food, seafood, Caribbean cuisine, barbecue, hot wings and pizza. The Indianapolis Black Restaurant Week website will list all of the special menus and pricing.

At Comida they'll highlight creative sandwiches including a catfish sandwich with Szechuan flavors, a fried eggplant sandwich with black bean hummus, spicy peppers and pickled vegetables, and a beef, pork and chorizo sandwich.

Maxine's Chicken and Waffles will offer a $20 three-course menu with cornbread and peach butter as an appetizer, a choice of chicken and waffles, smothered chicken, fish or baked chicken for the entree, and a slice of cake for dessert that will change daily, such as caramel, lemon, strawberry or red velvet cake. The special also includes a non-alcoholic drink.

Tea's Me, which offers breakfast and lunch, will have a $12 breakfast that includes quiche, a scone and tea, and a $15 lunch with a chicken salad sandwich, The Larson sandwich (turkey, bacon, pesto, cheddar) or Tomato Treat sandwich (tomato, pesto, mozzarella, cumin, basil, lettuce), served with a side and tea.

Contact IndyStar reporter Kellie Hwang at 317-444-6032 or kellie.hwang@indystar.com. Follow her on Twitter: @KellieHwang.