SEATTLE, Wash., February 25, 2023—Friday marked the first day of Black Restaurant Week showcasing a list of Black-owned Restaurants throughout Oregon and Washington to build awareness on local black-owned culinary businesses. The campaign runs until Sunday, March 5.
Black Restaurant Week’s (BRW) mission is to provide complimentary marketing and PR services for the business under the BRW campaign, educate consumers on the abundance of cultural cuisines within their neighborhood and share the disparities faced by minority-owned businesses.
Participating restaurants in Seattle include Jackson’s Catfish Corner, Creamy Cone Cafe, JuneBaby, Island Soul Rum Bar & Soul Shack, Taste of the Caribbean, Conscious Eatery, Pams Kitchen, Simply Soulful Cafe, Ezell’s Famous Chicken, Soul, Gold Coast Ghal Kitchen, Tres House of Cheesesteaks, Poco Bar and Lounge, Mama Sambusa Kitchen, Umami Kushi, and Delish Ethiopian.
Although no restaurants in Snohomish County are currently on the campaign, interested businesses can register by visiting the sites website. It costs nothing to register but benefits include receiving marketing materials, digital assets to share online and social media, as well as opportunities to be featured in local media outlets.
The organization showcased 1,250 Black-owned culinary businesses across the United States last year – including Toronto and Vancouver – and generated an average of 15% sales increase, Wanda Dixon, Associate Publicist for Alaket PR firm said.
“COVID-19 changed the landscape since 2020. Now, the price of food is soaring. From being overlooked for revitalization funds to inflation, most Black-owned culinary businesses cannot afford advertisements/PR/marketing to build awareness and attract consumers. That’s why we proudly do this for free – it’s peer-to-peer support for 10 days within each market and for the past seven years.” said Warren Luckett, Black Restaurant Week, LLC’s founder.
Black Restaurant Week (BRW) was founded by friends Warren Luckett, Flayn Ferrell, and Derek Robinson in 2016. Beginning as a single city food experience in Houston, Texas, Seattle has now joined the nationwide tour to feed and fuel cultural famine for its third year.
Since its inception, the organization has supported more than 3,000 restauranteurs, bartenders, chefs, caterers, and food trucks.
“Since 2016, we aspired to set ourselves apart from similar organizations. BRW is solely guided by business owners and operators. They are in the trenches every day and experience the ebbs and flows of running a business during one of the most difficult periods in US history,” said Falayn Ferrell, Black Restaurant Week, LLC’s Operations Managing Partner.
Black Restaurant Week celebrates the flavors of African American, African, and Caribbean cuisine with a series of regional cultural events and aims to support Black-owned culinary businesses with substantial programming outside of their multi-city tour across the United States, the organization states.
Black Restaurant Week is also extending its efforts in creating wealth within the Black community by launching Á La Karte Shop, which is an online culinary marketplace selling Black-owned consumer goods from seasonings, sauces and cookbooks to kitchen gadgets and utensils.
For more information about Black Restaurant Week, its events, and participating restaurants, please visit: blackrestaurantweeks.com/.
