5 Black-Owned Restaurants You Need to Experience in America

Want to feel closer to your African heritage? Or try something you’ve never had before? There are tons of restaurants all over the US that offer many choices to open up your palate. Options from soul-fried chicken to African cuisines never heard of before. Each restaurant can take you on a journey and connect you to your roots.

5 Black-Owned Restaurants You Need to Experience in America

African Grill & Bar

Lakewood, Colorado

Due to the closure of their previous location in Green Valley Ranch, you’ll have to travel to Lakewood to sample the authentic African cuisine prepared by proprietors and Ghana natives Sylvester and Theodora Osei-Fordwuo. Even though the Denver metro region offers many Ethiopian and Moroccan food alternatives, African Grill & Bar features a menu full of items you won’t find anywhere else. Don’t know where to begin? The akwaaba plate, also known as the “welcome plate,” is a sampling platter-style introduction to the deep, earthy flavors and spices found throughout the whole menu.

Ben’s Chili Bowl

Washington, DC

Since Virginia Ali and her late husband, Ben, first opened the doors in 1958, this location has been a U Street mainstay. Ali may still be seen behind the counter, serving tourists, locals, and celebrities alike at 88. The family-run café is well renowned for helping the city’s most famous half-smoke, a smoky, spicy hot dog topped with chili, cheese, and chopped onions. Still, it also serves typical American fare like burgers and fries.

The Breakfast Klub

Houston, Texas

Usually, visiting your favorite restaurant and seeing a queue stretched around the corner is a complete nightmare—but it’s worth it for this celebrity-studded refuge. The Morning Klub’s breakfast drip is so famous that even Beyonce, who hails from the Third Ward, visits the city regularly. It’s Beyoncé-approved if it’s Houston-approved. If you’re craving a “cheezy” breakfast sandwich with savory meats and scrambled eggs, buttery (and excessively creamy) grits with crispy chicken, or pillowy buttermilk biscuits slathered in thick sausage-laden gravy, run, don’t walk, to this tiny establishment. The lunch menu (available exclusively after 11 a.m.) is tasty, featuring old staples like substantial salad and soup combinations.

Busy Bee Cafe

Atlanta, Georgia

Busy Bee Cafe is the one of the best local Black-owned restaurants to start with. Busy Bee Cafe, which opened in 1947, is one of the city’s oldest and most famed cafes, and because of its legendary fried chicken, it has easily transcended generations. Oprah, Lil Baby, Killer Mike, Samuel L. Jackson, and Vice President Kamala Harris are just a few celebrities who have visited the popular Atlanta eatery in recent years, so don’t get too comfortable. Busy Bee Cafe still has plenty of soul.

Demera

Chicago, Illinois

Since chef and owner Tigist Reda first established this Ethiopian institution in 2007, people from all over Chicago (and beyond) have flocked to Uptown to sample her delectable cuisine. Thanks to a unique blend of spices and ingredients, everything on the menu is vibrant in color, flavor, and texture. Sambussas (fried dumplings) filled with spinach or cheese and the Vegetable Bayanetu packed with expertly seasoned veggies served alongside a stack of tangy injera are standouts for vegans and vegetarians. The tender Kitfo (Ethiopian steak tartare with herbed butter sauce) or the soft, spicy cubes of bone-in lamb, Ye-Beg Wot, are the go-to dishes for meat-lovers.

The next time you are craving insanely delicious African food, check out any of these Black-owned restaurants and thank us later!