Atlanta is celebrating Black Restaurant Week Aug. 6-20.
Black Restaurant Week was founded in Houston in 2016 by Warren Luckett, Falayn Ferrell and Derek Robinson, but this is only the event’s seventh annual showing in Atlanta. The event was created to celebrate culinary talent from across the African diaspora in different cities.
Luckett, the founder who is based in Atlanta, said part of the goal of Black Restaurant Week in Atlanta is to showcase the unique types of cuisine that are available.
“When we started in Atlanta, the restaurant scene was alive and booming,” Luckett said. “But what [we] aimed to do was to dig a little bit deeper and go past some of the wing spots – as much as we love some good wings in Atlanta, and as much as it kind of defines the food scene, we wanted to have an opportunity to showcase some of the other things that are going on.”
Luckett said that during the two-week long event, Black Restaurant Week’s website will serve as a resource guide for diners. Each participating restaurant will be listed on the website, and the restaurants can be filtered by zip code, dietary restrictions, and other factors. There will also be events throughout the campaign, including the NOSH Culinary Showcase on Aug. 10 at State Farm Arena, where Black chefs and caterers will serve up their best bites.
“This is what we want the restaurants to judge us on – have you seen an increase in foot traffic during the campaign, and have you seen an increase in revenue? If the answer is no, then we haven’t done our job,” Luckett said.
Luckett said he wants the campaign to help Atlanta diners find hidden gems in their community and explore the range of cuisines that come from Black-owned restaurants. Some of the restaurants participating include the vegan Atlanta spot Life Bistro, Sweet Potato Cafe in Stone Mountain, and APT 4B, which offers Southern dishes with Caribbean flavors mixed in.
“Oftentimes, I think some folks think that the Black culinary community is kind of monolithic. We tend to lean into soul food,” Luckett said. “But the goal of Black Restaurant Week was really to showcase the diaspora.”
More information on participating restaurants can be found online.