More than just a week: Atlanta’s Black Restaurant Week starts its eighth year

Over 125 Black-owned restaurants in the Atlanta area will celebrate as Atlanta Black Restaurant Week presents its eighth annual campaign in the city from August 4 to 18. What began as a stop in a city like Houston has evolved into a culinary showcase aimed at providing marketing opportunities for minority business owners and highlighting the diversity of Black cuisine across the country.

As a graduate of Morehouse College, co-founder Warren Luckett understood how deeply rooted and influential black culture is in Atlanta. When you think of Southern food, especially in Atlanta, you might think of chicken wings and soul food. But Luckett knew the city’s culinary offerings went far beyond that.

“During Black Restaurant Week, we realize there’s a lot more. You hear stories of people coming here from all over the country because Atlanta is a city that has a lot of people,” Luckett said. “We’re not a monolithic system. We create the best food and really every facet of all the different cuisines. When you talk about Caribbean, African and even African-American (cuisine), there are so many similarities, but they’re so different.”

“Our goal is to showcase the diversity within the diaspora.”

Black Restaurant Week was founded in 2016 by Luckett and managing partners Falayn Ferrell and Derek Robinson. Amid the unrest after 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot and killed by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, he said they wanted to create a platform that could spark conversations about coping with the tragedy and empowering the black community.

“Growing up, the dinner table was always a safe place for us to discuss politics and religion. And we hoped to use food as a medium to really bring the community together. And so our goal for Black Restaurant Week is to raise awareness of these great businesses and bring revenue to the small business owners.”

Now the campaign is celebrating its biggest year yet, with restaurants from Downtown Atlanta to Decatur and College Park participating. They’ve compiled a list of Black-owned businesses, including brick-and-mortar shops and food trucks, to support so locals and visitors can easily find places that are moving Atlanta’s dining scene forward.

One of those spots is Nouveau Bar and Grill in College Park, owned by Ebony Austin. On Tuesday, samples of the restaurant’s popular shrimp and grits were served to groups of lucky diners who were bussed to the bustling restaurant thanks to a partnership with the ATL Airport District. This is the second year in a row Austin is participating in Black Restaurant Week in Atlanta, and as a restaurant owner who is very involved in philanthropy herself, she said she was proud to be a part of it.

“Think about regular Restaurant Week and all the attention and spotlight that comes with it. But now imagine what it looks like for us to build our own community and our own food,” Austin said. “And I think that’s the win for us as Black restaurant owners. Being able to see the signs that say ‘Black Restaurant Week’ for restaurants that don’t have money to advertise… I think that’s definitely a help and goes beyond (Black) Restaurant Week and actually starts to bring customers; they become repeat customers.”

While the restaurant industry experiences regular ups and downs, the last four years have been particularly rough due to the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. At the height of the pandemic, Luckett and his team provided restaurateurs with online marketing tools to help them pivot, knowing the in-person model was no longer working. And pivot they have. Some of Luckett’s favorite success stories include those of businesses that went from serving food from a food truck to opening their first brick-and-mortar location.

“We like to think that we are just a small part of it. The real joy and celebration is the hard work that these employees do day in and day out. They really are the unsung heroes and we just want to shine a spotlight on them.”

Luckett stressed that Black Restaurant Week doesn’t have to be limited to those few days a year. Outside of those two weeks, there’s also Feed the Soul, a nonprofit foundation that provides business development opportunities, business grants and advice for small business owners. He also encouraged people to use their online directory as a resource for their Black dining experience year-round.

For a complete list of restaurants participating in Black Restaurant Week in Atlanta, visit Blackrestaurantweeks.com.

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