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Black-owned businesses in the culinary industry faced challenges prior to pandemic shutdowns and skyrocketing inflation, which is why this year’s Black Restaurant Week might become a more critical form of support than ever before.
The Portland version of the now nationwide event gets underway Friday, Feb. 24. The mission of the campaign, now in its eighth year, is to restimulate proprietors in the local Black community who cannot afford costly marketing campaigns or PR companies.
Black Restaurant Week was founded by three friends—Warren Luckett, Falayn Ferrell and Derek Robinson—in Houston with the same goal: promoting Black-owned businesses in the food scene. The series also aims to educate consumers about the abundance of cultural cuisines within their own cities and share disparities faced by minority-led operations.
Since its inception in 2016, Black Restaurant Week has supported more than 3,000 restaurateurs, bartenders, chefs, caterers and food truck owners across the country.
In the Portland metro area, participating businesses include Assembly Brewing, Black Star Grill, DB Dessert Company, Erica’s Soul Food, Fish Fusion, Grits N’ Gravy, Hibisbloom, Jelana’s Bake Shop, Trap Kitchen, Viking Soul Food and Waffle on a Stick.
“COVID-19 changed the landscape since 2020, co-founder Luckett stated in a press release. “Now, 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. That’s why we proudly do this for free—it’s peer-to-peer support for 10 days within each market and for the past seven years.”
Last year, the organization showcased 1,250 Black-owned culinary businesses across the U.S. as well as in Toronto and Vancouver, Canada. Those efforts generated an average 15% boost in sales. Portland’s Black Restaurant Week runs through March 5.
“Since 2016, we aspired to set ourselves apart from similar organizations,” added Ferrell, Black Restaurant Week’s operations managing partner. “Black Restaurant Week is solely guided by business owners and operators. They are in the trenches every day and experience the ebbs and flows of running a business during one of the most difficult periods in U.S. history.”