Celebrate Vidalia onions and check out two block parties coming soon in metro Atlanta

Find upcoming food-focused things to do in metro Atlanta, including a week of Vidalia onion restaurant dishes, a block party combining barbecue and Baja-style cuisine and a food festival at Sweet Auburn Barbecue celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

This May, check out several restaurants around Atlanta offering special dishes featuring Vidalia onions during Shuman Farms' RealSweet Vidalia Onion Restaurant Week, including Table & Main. (Courtesy of Shuman Farms)

RealSweet Vidalia Onion Restaurant Week

Shuman Farms is bringing back its fourth RealSweet Vidalia Onion Restaurant Week, a celebration of Georgia’s beloved Vidalia onion. Shuman Farms, a sweet onion grower in Southeast Georgia, will partner with restaurants in Atlanta, Athens, Macon, Savannah, Columbus and St. Simons Island for a week of special dishes highlighting their Vidalia onions, according to a news release.

Participating Atlanta restaurants include Stable Comfort Food & Cocktails with a Southern lazy Susan appetizer plate and a grilled New York strip steak with Vidalia onions and mushrooms; Murphy’s with Vidalia onion soup and caramelized onion flatbread; Evergreen Butcher & Baker with a Vidalia onion dip Danish; Minhwa Spirits with a caramelized Vidalia onion patty melt and cocktail with allium syrup; Table & Main with a wood roasted Vidalia onion gratin; and the Woodall with a Vidalia onion tart.

Vidalia onions are a sweeter and milder-tasting variety of onion that grow exclusively in Southeast Georgia.

May 15-24. Multiple locations. shumanfarmsga.com/restaurant-week

Smoke & Spice Block Party

Fox Bros. Bar-B-Q and Chicheria Mexican Kitchen will hold a Smoke & Spice Block Party at the Works development in west Midtown. The party will blend Southern barbecue and Baja-inspired dishes, according to a news release. Tickets include unlimited food, two drink tickets and live music.

There will be four food stations with smoked meats and coastal Mexican dishes and dessert stations.

2-6 p.m. May 16. $60 per person. 202 Chattahoochee Row, Atlanta. chicheriamx.com/smokeandspice

The Good Luck Smoke Show returns to Sweet Auburn Barbecue this year with more than 15 chefs and restaurants sharing bites and cocktails. (Courtesy of Peter Ho)

Good Luck Smoke Show

Head to Sweet Auburn Barbecue on Wednesday, May 20, for a celebration timed with AAPI Heritage Month that will feature more than 15 chefs from Atlanta and beyond, according to a news release.

The event will feature chef‘s tasting stations, cocktails from Doraville distillery Minhwa Spirits, beer and wine, lion dancers, live music and local artists. A portion of proceeds benefits We Love Buford Highway, a nonprofit that supports small businesses along Buford Highway and aims to preserve its culture.