Black Restaurant Week Returns For Fifth Year In NYC

Businesses like Red Rooster Harlem will offer affordable menu options for patrons.

Black Restaurant Week is back and better than ever. Its fifth installment in New York City starts on Juneteenth and hopes to showcase emerging and renowned Black-owned businesses for food-lovers to visits. For guests to get the best offerings of these diverse food spots, the restaurants offer affordable menu options, often multi-coursed.

Across NYC and tri-state area, customers can indulge various types of eateries, including cafes, food trucks, and bakeries. The event seeks to promote the “diverse tastes” of food across the Black diaspora. Whether African, Black American, or Caribbean food is one’s favorite, the week-long event hopes to appeal to all appetites.

According to Time Out, Black Restaurant Week originally started in Houston. Since its 2016 launch, it has blossomed into an international festival to celebrate Black culinary achievement. This year, world-renowned restaurants such as Red Rooster in Harlem and Negril Village will offer a tasty assortment of their prized dishes to New York-based attendees.

Furthermore, engaging in Black Restaurant Week is more important than ever in a post-pandemic society. It provides free promotion to Black restaurateurs who may lack the necessary funds for a lucrative marketing campaign.

“COVID-19 changed the landscape since 2020,” said Warren Luckett, the event’s founder. “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 or 14 days (depending on the market) within each market and for the past nine years.”

This year’s event runs from June 19 to June 30 in NYC, and features more than 80 restaurants participating. Black Restaurant Week hosts all information, including planning one’s ultimate food tour, on its website.