LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) – Saturday, the Louisville community said their final goodbyes to an iconic Smoketown restaurant owner. Shirley Mae Beard, the owner of Shirley Mae’s Cafe, passed away last week at the age of 84.
For the past 37 years, Shirley Mae’s Cafe has been a soul food staple. Beard purchased the building in Smoketown in 1988, becoming the first Black owner of the building. Shirley Mae’s Cafe opened on New Year’s Eve of that year.
Through the years, she brought people together over delicious food and made celebrating Black history a focal point of her business…