Black restaurants in Baton Rouge and Shreveport-Bossier are gearing up for a week-long influx of customers celebrating Black Restaurant Week—an annual, multi-city culinary experience of Black, African, and Caribbean cuisine.

Black Restaurant Week Baton Rouge hosted the first annual observation in 2018 after founder Walter McLaughlin noticed an absence of Black-owned restaurants included in the annual Baton Rouge Restaurant Week hosted by Dig magazine.

This week—Friday, Oct. 8 to Sunday, Oct. 17—Black Restaurant Week LLC Baton Rouge joins the No Crumb Left Behind campaign with a nationwide tour and showcase. In Shreveport-Bossier, the celebration is from Monday, Oct. 18 to Saturday, Oct. 23.

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To successfully pull this city-wide event off, it takes intentionality. The Baton Rouge organizers and the Shreveport-Bossier African-American Chamber of Commerce individually partnered with Black-owned restaurants, food trucks, bakeries, and cafes to provide curated dining experiences and events throughout the week. Black mixologists, chefs, and caterers are also showcased.

“Restaurants were hit hard by the pandemic and the capacity restrictions over the past year. Some owners are still facing hard times and are still recouping from last year’s losses,” said Jada Duren with the Shreveport chamber. “We want to increase the visibility of Black-owned restaurants in hopes of increasing their average customer per day.” In Shreveport-Bossier participating restaurants offer $10 lunches and $20 dinners, along with exclusive dining events. However, Baton Rouge restaurants are not required to sign up or offer specials to participate. The objective is the stimulate growth for the local businesses.

Likewise, neighboring cities in Mississippi and Alabama are hosting Black Restaurant Week Oct. 8-17, in conjunction with the national organization.

Where will you experience Black Restaurant Week? Share your photos.

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