Atlanta Black Restaurant Week is back for its 10th anniversary, running through August 16 and spotlighting the metro area’s barbecue joints, Caribbean kitchens, Ethiopian eateries and everything in between. Among the local businesses taking part is Dave’s Sports Bar and Grill in Hapeville, co-owned by Pilar Newsom-Jones and her husband, who says the campaign gives small operators a reach they could not otherwise afford.
The Atlanta campaign is part of a national movement that began in Houston a decade ago and has since grown into a platform covering 17 regions across the United States and Canada, supporting more than 5,000 culinary businesses, according to AJC.com. As WSB-TV reports, the initiative celebrates Atlanta’s diverse Black-owned restaurants while giving participating businesses room to run their own specials and events aimed at pulling in new customers. Falayn Ferrell, co-founder of the organization behind the campaign, said the diversity of Atlanta’s local dining market makes supporting these restaurants fun, per the same report.
At Dave’s Sports Bar and Grill, that mission is personal. Newsom-Jones said the restaurant wanted everyone to feel welcome the moment they walk through the door, according to the station’s report. Her husband and she own the Hapeville spot, one of the local businesses using the campaign week to draw attention it might not otherwise get on its own advertising budget.
A Decade Later, the Stakes Have Only Grown
Ferrell described Atlanta Black Restaurant Week as the organization’s most popular campaign, but she also struck a more urgent note this year, warning that Black businesses are closing in Atlanta and other major cities, per WSB-TV’s report. She pointed to pressures from rising food costs and labor shortages squeezing local restaurants, adding that supporting Black-owned establishments is more important than ever…