I am currently working on educating myself on white privilege (which I am ashamed to admit I was fairly oblivious to in my life) and making the effort to become a better ally to the Black community. Going forward I will be sharing anti-racist resources that I find informative (+ other ways to be a helpful ally) as I find them along my journey, as well as sharing and elevating Black voices in my social media platforms. Aside from the obvious protesting, donating to BlackLivesMatter (BLM) -related funds, and contacting local / national leaders to demand change, I wanted to share another easy way that we can show our support to the Black community even in the time of COVID-19.
It’s no secret that my husband and I love to eat at restaurants around Seattle; it’s one of our favorite things to do together. I wouldn’t necessarily consider either of us to be “foodies”, but we certainly LOVE to eat. 😂 We have continued to order delivery from our favorite restaurants around town throughout the past few months of quarantine so if you’re anything like us and ordering any number of meals throughout the week, ordering from Black-owned restaurants is a super easy way to show your support right now. I put asterisks next to the places we’ve eaten at before and I’m embarrassed at how few I have visited on this list… but here’s a quick roundup of some cafe, restaurant, food truck, and catering suggestions in the Seattle area:
COFFEE / BAKERIES:
Tougo Coffee
Boon Boona Coffee
Café Avole
The Station
Kaffa Coffee / Wine Bar
Brown Sugar Baking Co
Pinckney Cookie Cafe
Baked from the Hart
Cakes of Paradise Bakery
Cortona Cafe
Cafe Soleil *
Kezira Caffe
Central Cafe and Juice Bar
RESTAURANTS / DRINKS:
Jemil’s Big Easy *
Soulful Dishes
Simply Soulful Cafe
The Comfort Zone
Gravy
Ezell’s Famous Chicken *
Nate’s Wings & Waffles *
Fat’s Chicken & Waffles
Li’l Red’s Takeout
Emma’s BBQ
The Barbeque Pit
Carolina Smoke BBQ
Cafe Selam
Safari Njema
Amy’s Merkato
Bantaba
Fidel Ethiopian
Juba Restaurant & Cafe
Queen Sheba Ethiopian
Delish Ethiopian Cuisine
Zagol Ethiopian Restaurant
Meskel Ethiopian Restaurant
Bana Ethiopian & Eritrean Restaurant
Lucinda Grain Bar *
Junebaby *
Salare *
Cafe Campagne
Marjorie
Plum Bistro
Plum Pantry
Plum Chopped
Osteria La Spiga
Mojito
Conscious Eatery
Pam’s Kitchen
Island Soul Rum Bar & Soul Shack
Taste of the Caribbean
Jerk Shack
Downtown Spirits
Footprint Wine Tap *
Rhino Room *
Poco Wine + Spirits *
Ballard Beer Company
Wonder Coffee & Sports Bar
FOOD TRUCKS:
Where Ya At, Matt *
My Sweet Lil Cakes
Cheech & Changas
Now, I know this category doesn’t exactly apply right now (during this time of social distancing), but I suggest keeping these businesses in mind once quarantine is lifted and social gatherings can resume.
CATERING:
FOODArt, LLC
The Sugah Shack
Healthy Creations
Mety’s Events
That Brown Girl Cooks!
If you don’t live in Seattle or you’re just looking for even more businesses to support near you, I encourage you to download the [FREE] Official Black Wall Street app to your phone. It is an amazing pocket resource that will show you all of the Black-owned businesses available in your area (which includes restaurants, but is not limited to).
Additionally, if you have any more restaurants or food trucks to add that I [probably] missed, please leave a comment below so that readers (and I) can add them to our list(s)! We love supporting local whenever we can, especially during this time of hardship.
“People who give you their food give you their heart.”
-Cesar Chavez
Sending everyone hugs,
xx, Natalie
[…] Black-owned restaurants need our help too! You can find my roundup of Black-owned restaurants here that could use a gift card purchase or you could order some meals from them for […]