When you live in Brooklyn, you can no doubt find good food without having to go far. From Caribbean cuisine to soul food or classic BBQ, Brooklyn has all you need.
Hungry foodies can now celebrate all the Black business owners hustling in our borough through Black Restaurant Week, happening between June 16 - June 30.
Entrepreneur Warren Luckett created Black Restaurant Week in Houston, Texas in 2016 to spotlight Black-owned culinary spots as a means to bring revenue and consumer awareness. Though still nascent here, the directory offers food enthusiasts a wide variety of restaurants with diverse culinary experiences.
Here are three Brooklyn options, all of which not only offer flavorful dishes and drinks, but also bring wellness, community and culture to patrons.
Black Food Is Wellness - The Nourish Spot BK (277 Malcolm X Blvd.)
Following the original location in Queens, owners Dawn Kelly and Jade Duncan opened their second location in Bedford Stuyvesant in February 2024 in collaboration with radio personality Angela Yee. The Nourish Spot BK is a health and wellness hub serving specialty smoothies, cold juices, acai bowls, wraps and more.
The menu is curated by Kelly and Duncan, the latter who is a chef by trade. They have a unique take on smoothies, as the owners say they get a lot of their inspiration for their various combinations while traveling around the world.
Above all else, their main goal is to bring healthy food options to neighborhoods like Bedford-Stuyvesant and beyond.
“It's a known fact that eating fruits makes you happier and brighter,” said Kelly. “So I just really feel like what we're doing here, we're not just edifying the body, but edifying the spirit and the mind.”
Black Food is Community - Therapy Wine Bar 2.0 (260 Malcom X. Blvd)
Therapy Wine Bar 2.0 is a Bed-Stuy staple serving up a vast wine collection alongside small bites for those looking to wine down after a long day of work.
Owners Anthony Williams and Angela Terry have been in the restaurant business for over 15 years — opening this location in 2022. Since then, they’ve learned a lot about serving up community love for all types of customers.
Williams is born and bred in Bed-Stuy, and has lived and worked in the neighborhood for over 30 years. On the other hand, Terry is a part of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, the first intercollegiate African American sorority that renders members from across the world.
"That's what you see when you come in here,” explained Williams. “It is this combination of this collegiate kind of around-the-way, blue collar work, corporate remix.”
Black Food Is Culture - Sweet Catch BK (1222 Nostrand Ave.)
Hailing from South Carolina, Ka-wana Jefferson opened Sweet Catch BK to bring some southern comfort to the big city.
The restaurant is an ode to the Gullah Geechee people who were descendants of enslaved Africans near the lower Atlantic coast. Mixing seafood and soul food, Jefferson wanted the food at her restaurant to taste like what she was used to at home.
Sweet Catch’s menu mixes seafood and soul food. The menu offers food options from a seafood boil to fried chicken, collard greens and mac and cheese. Being based in the Flatbush area dubbed "Little Caribbean," she also has included Caribbean flavors in some dishes.
That said, many of the recipes in the restaurant are secret family recipes.
For Jefferson, Sweet Catch BK is a love letter to her ancestors. The restaurant is a way to honor those who came before her while offering thanks for those who led the way in freedom, she added.
“I think anybody that comes into the space absolutely will feel welcome and feel the sense of comfort that we intend to share and provide.” Jefferson explained.
