Atlanta’s annual Black Restaurant Week kicked off over the weekend, and this year it’s more than just a week long with nearly 100 local restaurants from around the city and metro area participating.
Black Restaurant Week runs from Sunday, August 6, through Sunday, August 20, highlighting local African American, African, and Caribbean restaurants throughout Atlanta. Taking part this year are restaurants like Delilah’s Everyday Soul at Chattahoochee Food Works, Gocha’s Breakfast Bar in Southwest Atlanta and Fayetteville, Atlanta soul food institution Paschal’s, Buford Highway restaurant Continent from chef Scotley Innis, vegan ice cream shop the Creamy Spot at the Met, and Flavor Rich restaurant and food truck in Suwanee.
Founded by Warren Luckett, Falayn Ferrell, and Derek Robinson in Houston in 2015, Black Restaurant Week now features weeks in eight cities across the United States, which also include culinary and educational events and complimentary marketing services for Black-owned food businesses.
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24835550/image003.png)
“COVID-19 changed the landscape since 2020. The price of food is soaring. From being overlooked for revitalization funds to inflation, most Black-owned culinary businesses cannot afford advertisements/PR/marketing to build awareness and attract consumers,” Luckett says in a press release.
Black Restaurant Week spotlighted 1,250 restaurants around the U.S. and Canada last year, with participating restaurants seeing an average 15-percent bump in sales from events, according to the organization. This year the organization is offering free entry-level business registration, inclusion in a national restaurant directory, and small business grants and business development training from its Feed the Soul Foundation.
The motivation behind creating Black Restaurant Week eight years ago was due in part to the police killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014, Luckett told Eater in 2020, when the event first debuted in Atlanta. Luckett, Ferrell, and Robinson hope these weeks continue sparking conversations around the table about the challenges facing the Black community and Black businesses and showcase the “abundance of cultural cuisines” representing the African diaspora found at Black-owned restaurants throughout country.
A grand tasting for Atlanta Black Restaurant Week takes place Thursday, August 10, from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., at State Farm Arena. Expect food and drinks from dozens of Black-owned restaurants, chef demonstrations, and live music during the Nosh Culinary Showcase on Thursday. Tickets are between $50 and $75 per person.
Atlanta Black Restaurant Week, August 6 – August 20. Check out the full list of participating Atlanta restaurants.