Hard-hit by the pandemic, Miami’s Black-owned restaurants are offering deals
Ernisha Randolph didn’t want to see her restaurant become a casualty of the pandemic.
When Miami-Dade County first ordered restaurants closed, Randolph kept her staff at Shuckin & Jivin chicken and seafood restaurant in Miami Gardens busy by transitioning to curbside pickup and delivery. But the reality was there: 41% of Black-owned businesses (some 440,000) closed permanently or temporarily in the first month of the pandemic, compared to about 17% of white-owned counterparts, according to a University of California-Santa Cruz study.
“Our business was hit pretty hard in the beginning of the pandemic,” she said.
“Our goal was to not lay off any staff or cut hours due to COVID as that would affect our staff’s quality of life in one of the most trying times in our generation’s history.”
And that’s where organizations such as Black Restaurant Week step in.
Through Sunday, Miami will participate for the first time in Black Restaurant Week, a national campaign in 11 cities helping to put Black-owned restaurants on diners’ radars. The promotion offers fixed-price menus at participating restaurants, which are searchable at Black RestaurantWeeks.com. The promotion runs through Dec. 6.
“Our country is in crisis and it feels good to know that someone thought about us small guys enough to create a whole campaign centered around bringing well-needed attention and support our way,” Randolph said.
Studies, as reported by The Washington Post, have shown Black-owned businesses rebounding, thanks in part to socialjustice rallies during the summer. People sought to support Black-owned businesses and the results showed.
They found places like Overtown’s Rosie’s, a popup restaurant that the owners of Copper Door Bed & Breakfast started when their hotel was closed to control the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19. Since then, Copper Door’s business rebounded, and the owners have plans to open Rosie’s as standalone restaurant. For now, it has an outside seating area and continues to offer take out and delivery.
“It gives us the opportunity to showcase elevated food with African-American roots,” said Jamila Ross, co-owner of Copper Door, whose partner, Akino West, is the chef, and a former student of James Beard award-winner Michael Schwartz. “It is important to represent foods of our culture and to be an example for those who are interested in doing the same.”
In past years, Black Restaurant Week has showed tangible results. Among its 400 restaurants, the promotion has boosted revenues between 25-40%, a spokesperson wrote.
Restaurants like Rosie’s hope the promotion helps people find new spots like theirs.
“Our guests truly do love what we are providing,” she said, “and during these difficult times we are simply happy to open another day because of them.”