Support Black Restaurants Week Celebration Underway

Support Black Restaurants Week is back for a fourth year – with 89 restaurants listed and theme nights every night of the week.

According to the website for the promotional event), Thursday’s theme is Soul Food & BBQ and Friday is Fusion Friday. Themes celebrated earlier in the week included West African Dining, East African Dining and Caribbean Foods.

Last year’s event culminated in a parking lot party at Dub’s St. Johns; this year, participating restaurants will host events all weekend. Listed events include live jazz at Solae’s Lounge Friday, and a DJ featuring pan-African music of multiple genres at Sengatera Ethiopian Restaurant (Friday and Saturday). On Saturday and Sunday Dub’s St. Johns will open for breakfast starting at 9 a.m., the Black Street Bakery vegan pop-up bakery will sell sweet and savory pastries at Jade District Night Market from 5 to 10 p.m. On Sunday, two restaurants – Naija and Epif – will host pop-up dinners prepared by Black chefs (reservations are required).

Support Black Restaurants Week started in 2015 as Black Restaurant Days, a Bay Area event imported to Portland by a local woman named Bertha Pearl, who created a Facebook event and published a map with local businesses owned or partially owned by people who identify as Black or African American. Since then William “Dub” Travis III, the owner of Dub’s St. Johns and Devra Beth have taken over promotion and organization of the event. It includes a fully fleshed out website describing different kinds of cuisines and listing restaurants relevant to each theme day.

Last year Travis told The Skanner that the 2015 event didn’t result in a notable increase in business, but subsequent events have boosted business for Black-owned businesses in the area.

For more information, visit http://iloveblackfood.com/support-black-restaurants-week-2018/.