With COVID-19 still raging, diners might be inclined to take a pass on Smithfield and Isle of Wight’s annual Restaurant Week.

On behalf of local restaurants, please don’t. Your support is more important than ever as our community’s small businesses, especially restaurants, fight through the worst economic crisis in nearly a century.

The good news is that you can participate in Restaurant Week without compromising your health and safety. Twelve of the 13 participating restaurants offer carryout options, and eight allow curbside pickup, never requiring you to get out of your vehicle.

Restaurant Week started Friday and continues through this coming Saturday. Participating restaurants are offering $10 or $15 lunches and $20 or $30 dinners. Prices include an appetizer, entrée and dessert for dinner, and an entrée and dessert for lunch. Beverage, taxes and tip are not included, and we urge our readers to tip generously.

Just as the owners of our local restaurants have been affected by COVID-19, so too have their workers, many of whom depend almost entirely on their customers’ tips. Many of these restaurant employees were out of work completely at the height of COVID-19-related restrictions on indoor dining.

Restrictions have been largely lifted, but COVID-19’s impact lingers, and restaurants have a lot of ground to make up after a brutal 2020.

The complete list of restaurants and their Restaurant Week specials is on Pages 12 and 13 of today’s edition. We’ll caution you, having experienced it ourselves when putting together those pages, that reading the participating restaurants’ offerings will make you hungry.

Eat up, we say. The food is delicious, and you’ll also gain some satisfaction from supporting the small businesses that are the backbone of our community’s economy.