There is something wonderful about sinking your teeth into a mouth-watering meal. Next week will be all about the food when over 20 black-owned restaurants fire up their ovens for the first Charlotte Black Restaurant Week.

From Caribbean food to sweet treats, crab cakes to classic southern, soul food to salads, there will be a little something on the menus for everyone.

Organized by the Black Business Owners of Charlotte, you can visit the participating restaurants and receive 25 percent to 50 percent discounts on select menu items.

The organization hopes to bring exposure to an array of black-owned restaurants that have planted roots in Charlotte and surrounding areas.

“This event is open to everyone,” Cathay Dawkins, founder of Charlotte Black Business Owners of Charlotte, said. “I am excited about the opportunity for people to try to restaurants for the first time.”

The restaurants for the week have a wide background of flavors.

Take Caribbean cuisine, a fusion of tastes from all over the world with unique styles to the Caribbean region, where you can start with jerked chicken and sweeten up with plantains.

Southern-style food, from corn bread to mac and cheese, can be found on another menu. Classic but decadent hamburgers and fries fill up part of one menu. You can also indulge your sweet tooth and enjoy delicious apple pie, gourmet pecan turtles and enough chocolate to make Willy Wonka jealous.

B.B.O.C. was founded in late 2014 with a goal to empower current and future business owners with resources needed to sustain a lucrative business. Dawkins said that another important element is to inspire businesses to uplift their surrounding communities.

Besides the discounted prices available at the participating restaurants during the week, a couple offshoot events will kick off and close out the week.

To get things started, on Sunday, Oct. 15, at The Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts and Culture, there will be the crowning of the best black chef. Five chefs will go head to head, and the public will have an opportunity to watch them in action creating their perfect dish.

On Friday, Oct. 20, Three Spirits Brewery will host Food Truck Friday from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. A variety of food trucks, vendors, music and karaoke will be on site.

If you have an inspiring story to share, please email Kevin Campbell, community affairs manager for WSOC-TV, at Kevin.Campbell@wsoctv.com

If you want good food, there is plenty to choose from. You can view all of the menus and locations by clicking this link or the image below.