Black Restaurant week returns this August with over 30 restaurants to try around Madison.
From Aug. 11-18, the Madison Black Chamber of Commerce (MBCC) will highlight Black-owned restaurants throughout Madison. Special events throughout the week will be held to bring multiple tasting experiences together for Madisonians.
Now in its ninth year, Madison’s Black Restaurant Week was the first event of its kind in the nation. Larger cities, with more Black owned restaurants to support, have followed suit with the MBCC’s efforts — but the Chamber is continuously working to improve the experience and bring more people on board.
“The month of August is Black Business Month, and so this campaign could not be more appropriate to occur during this month where, nationally, we are focusing on black owned businesses and helping to recognize them and to make them successful,” said Camille Carter, CEO of MBCC. “We are very excited to be celebrating our ninth year this year, and really looking forward to continuing to uplift black owned businesses in the month of Black Business Month.”
This year will see a handful of new restaurants enter the fold. Currently, over 30 restaurants are signed on; a final tally and list of all fooderies will be available shortly before Black Restaurant Week starts. Two returning restaurants, Jodie Jefferson’s House of Flavas and Will Green’s Mentoring Positives, are excited to reach more people this year as they look forward to the week.
Jefferson founded her business three years ago and has seen support and success since. She originally came from Chicago and took a chance to start her own restaurant and bring her native city’s flavors to Madison. This year marks her third time participating in Black Restaurant Week. The continued success and support from reaching new customers has led Jefferson to be in the process of opening up a new location soon.
“Three years in business is amazing. I didn’t even see us getting to this point,” Jefferson said. “I’m glad to be here for the third year — I’m feeling good. There’s definitely going to be some changes.”
Mentoring Positives, a youth empowerment organization that mentors and fosters leadership through entrepreneurship, sports and the arts, recently moved to a new location on East Washington Avenue. He hopes to reach even more people with Mentoring Positives’ pizzas.
“Food brings people together, and it’s a great tool for us to teach kids life skills,” Green said. “Minorities are a small percentage of businesses in Wisconsin. So, us having the opportunity to be part of Black Restaurant Week… I’m looking forward to it.”
Jefferson and Green are just a small taste of the options in Black Restaurant Week. Participating restaurants range from Caribbean, soul, pizza, African and many other types of foods across store fronts, food trucks and caterers.
This year will feature four events spread out throughout the week with mixers and tasting events for people to interact with businesses and the community. Events will cap off with the annual Black Restaurant Week Food Taste Jamboree on August 18.A full list of current participating restaurants and details of events can be found on the Madison Black Chamber of Commerce’s website.
