A national effort to celebrate Black-owned restaurants is coming back to Memphis for the second year in a row. Black Restaurant Week is starting this Friday, Sept. 29 and will run until Sunday, Nov. 8. Here is what you need to know.
What is Black Restaurant Week?
Black Restaurant Week is an annual celebration of African-American and Caribbean cuisine across the nation that started in 2016. The celebration travels between 15 regions across the United States to shine a light on Black-owned food businesses in those areas for a little over a week. This year’s festivities started in the Northwest on Feb. 24 and will end in Florida on Nov. 19.
Who is participating?
There are a total of 20 restaurants participating in this year’s Black Restaurant Week. Most restaurants will offer some sort of special during this time. Most of these spots also participated in the event last year. Here are all the businesses participating:
How can I join in?
The best way to participate in supporting these businesses is by ordering from them. There are 20 restaurants, bakeries, and juice shops to choose from.
Doesn’t Memphis already have a Black Restaurant Week?
There is a Memphis Black Restaurant Week which happened back in March, but this events is completely separate.
Founded by Warren Luckett, Falayn Ferrell and Derek Robinson, Black Restaurant Week LLC started seven years ago to celebrate the flavors of African American, African and Caribbean cuisine with a series of regional cultural events. Since its launch in 2016, the organization has supported more than 2,000 restaurants nationwide.
Jordan Green covers trending news for The Commercial Appeal. She can be reached via email atJordan.Green@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter@_green_jordan_