Incredible Black-Owned Restaurants You Can Support Right Now

In the wake of George Floyd's death after a police officer kneeled on his neck when he was arrested, citizens around the world have participated in protests, rallies, and vigils to support the Black Lives Matter movement. In addition to signing petitions and donating to a variety of organizations to create change, activists have emphasized the importance of supporting Black-owned businesses, including restaurants, now and forever. 

In a time where, due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the restaurant industry is struggling more than ever before, Black-owned restaurants and other small businesses have been even more substantially impacted, according to an in-depth report by NBC News in April 2020.

Bravo's Top Chef's Gregory Gourdet opened up about the importance of continued support of Black-owned businesses during a candid conversation as part of the Instagram Live panel Amplify Our Voices: An Open Dialogue on Being Black in America. "At the end of the day, if we’re able to walk away from this with a spotlight on all of these places that we’ve never heard of and we can continue to support them, this is not a fad, [but instead] this is: we’re reading these books and these books become part of our library; we’re going to these restaurants after they’re reopened and all of these other fine dining restaurants are open as well, but we’re still continuing to support these businesses," he said. "I think if we’re continuing to be aware of these resources, these Black and POC resources, and it’s not a fad [in that] as soon as the next thing happens we shift focus, then I think it all makes sense."

He added: "We need to recognize the contributions of Black and POC to this county in the finer details of everyday living. That presence is 100 percent there."

As many restaurants are operating for dine in, take out, or delivery, we've rounded up several Black-owned eateries from Bravolebs and cheftestants around the country that are currently open for at least one of those services.

For access to even more nationwide restaurants, there are several apps and websites users can turn to including the EatOkra app, a guide to Black-owned restaurants featuring thousands of listings across the country, and Black Restaurant Week, a website that collects and compiles information about nationwide Black Restaurant Weeks. 

Old Lady Gang

In 2016, The Real Housewives of Atlanta's Kandi Burruss and Todd Tucker founded the southern eatery chain's original Peters Street branch in Atlanta. It has since expanded to include three locations around Atlanta and offers delivery services via DoorDash. “As African-American business owners, it has been our goal to invest in our community by bringing jobs, quality dining, and a positive experience to the greater Atlanta area," Kandi has previously said.

Earlier this year, WSB-TV compiled a list of Black-owned restaurants in Atlanta that included the eatery, as well as 12 other businesses that you can check out here.  Atlanta Eats, meanwhile, rounded up a list of 50 Black-Owned restaurants in the city that can be found here. 

The Original Hot Dog Factory

With Atlanta and Smyrna, Georgia locations owned by RHOA's Porsha Williams' fiancé Dennis McKinley, the popular chain is also present in other cities within Georgia as well as Alabama, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Tennessee, New York, and Texas. The restaurant sells all-beef hot dogs, Italian sausages, Polish sausages, chicken dogs, and soy-based veggie dogs with several topping combinations, among other items. 

For those looking for food via delivery in Philadelphia, Detroit, and Atlanta, Black and Mobile is the first delivery service that connects consumers with Black-owned restaurants. 

Marc Daly owns the Brooklyn, New York eatery. "As a child of immigrants, I have embraced the ‘American Dream,’ but I strive to make it an ‘Inclusive American Dream.’ One of my goals was to create economic empowerment in the community. This included creating jobs for young men and women," Marc said in a 2019 interview with Yelp. "The hope is [that] one day they will seek to give back, creating a cycle of wealth built through entrepreneurship in the community."

"We serve traditional African American heritage cuisine in a modern and innovative way [that] has required me to delve into the history of the food," he continued, "This process of learning has brought me closer not just to my background and roots, but also with the history and culture of all brothers and people of the NY and North American diaspora."

In addition to SoCo, to support more Black-owned restaurants in Brooklyn, read through the Infatuation's list focused on the borough here, and check out Black Owned Brooklyn, a "digital publication spotlighting Black-owned, Brooklyn-based businesses and the people behind them," here. 

Marcus Samuelsson Group

Bravo's Top Chef Masters Season 2 winner Marcus Samuelsson owns worldwide restaurants including Marc Burger in Chicago as well as Eatery Social, Kitchen & Table, and Norda Bar & Grill in Sweden. His famed Red Rooster is now open for outdoor dining, takeout, and delivery while Ginny's Supper Club in New York, Marcus B&P in New Jersey, and Uptown Brasserie in New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, have temporarily closed due to COVID-19).

In an interview with NPR, Marcus discussed the beginning of his career as a Black chef. "The narrative of a black chef didn't exist. Black people have always cooked and been part of serving, but not from a chef perspective. Not in these establishments — the three-star, highest establishments. So when they say 'Marcus Samuelsson' coming in — that's a Swedish name, and then they saw me, it was a shock," he said. "I was not applying for the dishwashing job — I was applying for a chef job. So being able to, in a nonthreatening way, and getting the job just like anybody else — they were just not used to it. They had just never seen it, ever."

For those looking to support Black-owned restaurants across New York City, New Yorker food critic Hannah Goldfield rounded up a list of hundreds of establishments. The spreadsheet offers details including takeout, delivery, or pickup options available amid the pandemic, gift card options, and more. To view the list, click here. 

In addition to Marc Burger, other Black-owned restaurants in Chicago can be found at Black Chicago Eats, a website that also features interviews with Black chefs.

For New Jersey residents or visitors, NJ.com rounded up a list of 20 Black-owned restaurants to try, which you can view here. 

Timothy Dean 

Top Chef Season 7 contestant Timothy Dean's Bowie, Maryland bistro, currently available for takeout, combines aspects of French cuisine with traditional American fare. Menu items include butter poached Maine lobster mac & cheese, Thai curry mussels, and jalapeño cheese grits.

Website Eboneats rounded up a list of Black-owned restaurants, catering companies, and grocery stores in Maryland here. 

Catch

Keith Rhodes, the first African American chef in North Carolina to be nominated for a James Beard award, owns the eatery in Wilmington. The Top Chef Season 9 contestant's restaurant serves "modern seafood with international flair" and is open for limited indoor dining and curbside pickup, according to its website.

For more Black-owned restaurants in North Carolina, take a look at INDY Week's list here. 

Top Chef Season 12 contestant Joy Crump owns FoodE and Mercantile, both in Fredericksburg, Virginia. "I think that there’s a long list of being Black and then really promoting southern food. There’s certain types of things that are associated with that criteria," Joy told Essence in 2016. "Like foods that are maybe richer or fattier or traditionally southern, old-school southern. It’s always fun to break somebody’s idea of what they think they’re going to get when they come to get, what I consider, traditional southern food."

For a list of Black-owned restaurants, eateries, and food services from the Northern Virginia Black Chamber of Commerce, click here. 

Tanya Holland's Oakland, California restaurant features the Top Chef Season 15 contestant's "unique interpretation of soul food which is influenced by her family history of entertaining family and friends, formal training at La Varenne Ecole de Cuisine in France and love of food from a wide variety of cultures," according to the eatery's website.

"I’m on a mission to inspire and make an impact in the industry for women of color," Tanya told Food & Wine in 2015. "I didn’t have same gender/race mentors and so I feel it’s my duty to be this example. I’ve paid my dues and I need people who can get behind me who can recognize that and are also willing to pay their dues. But I’ve paid my dues as a black woman."

Mercury News rounded up a list of Black-owned restaurants, including Brown Sugar Kitchen, currently open for takeout and delivery in the Bay Area, which you can find here. 

Justin Sutherland of Top Chef Season 16 owns the St. Paul, Minnesota restaurant. Handsome Hog is a contemporary southern restaurant serving "pig-centric" food alongside "bold" drinks, according to its website.  

For a list of additional Black owned restaurants in the Twin Cities from Mpls St. Paul Magazine, click here. 

As described on its website, Nina Compton's New Orleans eatery Bywater American Bistro, currently offering a limited takeout and delivery menu as well as outdoor dining services in the "The Yurt Village at BABs," serves "ingredient driven food where inspiration comes from our personal experiences or one of the many cultures represented in our area, past and present." As Nina told the New York Times in 2018, reflecting different cultures on a menu hadn't always been a top priority at restaurants where she had previously been employed. "Most of the places I worked had no use for coconut milk or Scotch bonnet or curry leaves. They want to know if you know the mother sauces. But who serves a sauce Mornay any more? When’s the last time I needed a béchamel?" she said. "Still, I learned Italian from the best and French from the best, and that gave me the confidence to cook Caribbean at a very high level.” The Top Chef Season 11 contestant's other restaurant, Compère Lapin, reopened in November 2020 after being closed for several months. 

For more Black-owned restaurants in New Orleans, click here for a list from NewOrleans.com. 

Top Chef Season 7 contestant Tiffany Derry's eatery in Plano, Texas' Legacy Food Hall offers "duck fat fried EVERYTHING," according to its website. Specifically, menu items include duck fat fried chicken wings, duck fat fries, and duck fat fried chicken strips as well as Tiffany's spin on caesar and Cobb salads, among other items.

Plano and other cities across Texas are home to a wide-variety of Black-owned restaurants. The Infatuation rounded up a list of Austin businesses here, while D Magazine created a spreadsheet that will continue to be updated with Black-owned food businesses in the Dallas area. More information on that can be found here.

As explained on Four by Brother Luck's website, the food at the Top Chef Season 15 contestant Brother Luck's Colorado Springs restaurant is influenced by "four main providers who supply our ingredients; the hunter, the gatherer, the fisherman and the farmer." Lucky Dumpling, meanwhile, offers customers a variety of dumplings, Bao buns, appetizers, and desserts.

5280 Magazine rounded up a list of Black-owned restaurants across Colorado, which can be found here.

Based out of Costa Mesa, California,Top Chef Season 10's Micah Fields' business not only caters events including weddings and corporate gatherings, but also offers customers the option of family meals for up to six people available via pickup or delivery. 

Locale Magazine shared a list of Black-owned restaurants in Orange County, which can be found here. 

Tre Wilcox Cooking Concepts

In addition to the end result of an incredible meal, Top Chef Season 3 contestant Tre Wilcox invites customers to get in on the culinary action with his hands-on cooking classes based out of Plano, Texas. Additionally, his meal service, Tre Fit Foods, offers customers handcrafted, high quality meals for pickup and, according to the website, delivery service coming soon. 

Plano and other cities across Texas are home to a wide-variety of Black-owned restaurants. The Infatuation rounded up a list of Austin businesses here, while D Magazine created a spreadsheet that will continue to be updated with Black-owned food businesses in the Dallas area. More information on that can be found here.

Eric Adjepong is a part owner of the customizable, mobile dinner party service offering customers restaurant quality meals. Additionally, as he awaits the opening of his restaurant On the Double, the Top Chef Season 16 & 17 contestant is currently teaching virtual cooking classes. As he writes on his website, Eric is "passionate about introducing diners to West African cuisine and the impact its diaspora has had on South American, Latin American, Caribbean, and American food, all in his elegant, artfully plated style."

For the latest reporting on the George Floyd protests from NBC News and MSNBC’s worldwide team of correspondents, including a live blog with minute-to-minute updates, visit NBCNews.com and NBCBLK.