While it is known that food is a substantial part of Black culture, it is not widely known that Chicago Black Restaurant week was founded in 2015 by Lauran Smith, a member of the City of Chicago & Mayor’s Office with a specialty in social media management who wanted to promote the Black owned restaurants and eateries that populate Chicago.
“This idea actually blossomed out of learning that a very popular restaurant in Chicago was Black owned. It sparked my interest to not only patronize this particular establishment, but to also give other Black-owned restaurants, bakeries, mobile eateries, beverage companies the opportunity to have their businesses recognized on a larger scale,” Smith said in a recent interview.
Black Restaurant week is not just for those who live in the city. There are many options in the south suburban communities as well. Below are a few Black owned eateries in the area to consider supporting.
The Hidden Manna Café is owned by Glynis Harvey and her husband Mark Harvey and is located on 3613 216th St., Matteson, IL 60443. Opened in 2014, the café’s menu features Creole cuisine from Gloria’s New Orleans’ heritage ranging from lobster with waffles to Cajun etouffee and fresh items are locally sourced. The building is a historic site for Matteson dating back to 1879.
The couple rehabs and renovates buildings for a living then came upon the building that once had been an apartment on one side and several restaurants on the other.
Glynis admitted that there was initially no plan for the building that became a restaurant.
“There was no idea. My husband and I rehab and renovate buildings for a living and people kept coming around and asking us what we were going to do with this building. They asked if we were going to make a restaurant and we were like, “Ok. We have to make a restaurant.” We put some menus together from my childhood because my family’s from New Orleans,” Harvey said.
Going on 13 years strong Flavor has evolved to a brunch serving restaurant featuring a fusion of Modern Southern Kitchen, Creole and Caribbean tastes for breakfast and dinner. They proudly serve residents of Hazel Crest, IL on 17575 Kedzie Ave, Hazel Crest, IL 60429. If Hazel Crest is too far away from your Chicago address, you may consider its sister location, Flavor Cajun.
Flavor Cajun is in the South Loop of Chicago located on 2537 S. Wabash Ave, Chicago, IL 60616 and serves a similar selection of dishes for both the morning and night crowd. The South Loop location offers deliver via Grubhub, Doordash, PostMates and UberEats if you don’t feel like dining out or making the trek to the location.
A chain of Cajun Boil and Bar can be found through out both Chicago and Will County as they boast a seafood dining experience similar to a down home seafood boil. If you live in Joliet, you can swing by the location on 3340 Mall Loop Dr, Joliet 60431. The mall location provides a convenient dining experience after hours of browsing and shopping. If you care to venture further out you can enjoy the various events differing from spoken word night to patio parties scheduled at locations in Oak Park, Orland Park and Oakbrook Terrence.
If you’re in Lockport and want to grab some quick fried chicken and seafood, you should check out Surf’s Up. The venue is currently carry-out only and had its grand opening on October 29, 2021. The new business has gained consumer satisfaction by serving fresh seafood and quality dishes.
Check The Times Weekly for more listings of other Black owned establishments at the timesweekly.com