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Detroit Black Restaurant Week Is Back, With Food Truck Rallies and a Longer Lineup

Joe Louis Southern Kitchen, Baobab Fare, and Good Vibes Lounge are among the newcomers to this year’s celebration

A shot looking down the bar at Baobab Fare with six bright yellow bar stools set atop a blue and white tile floor.
Baobab Fare is participating in Detroit Black Restaurant Week
Gerard + Belevender

Detroit Black Restaurant Week, a toast to the city’s Black-owned eateries, returns Friday, with a new food truck rally and additional restaurants participating.

From Friday, August 20 until Sunday, August 29, foodies can enjoy specialized menus from new restaurants and crowd favorites at special prices. More than 50 restaurants, pop-ups, and food trucks are signed up to offer specials during this year’s dining event, which coincides with National Black Business Month. Some of the newcomers to the expanded roster include Joe Louis Southern Kitchen and Baobab Fare in Midtown, food truck Fork in Nigeria, East English Village’s Good Vibes Lounge, and stuffed-pepper eatery Detroit Pepper Co., which opened in July 2020. Outside of Detroit, the event includes fine-dining and casual restaurants in Sterling Heights, Warren, Southfield, and Farmington, with East African, Caribbean, Mexican, Nigerian, and U.S. Southern cuisines among those represented.

East Eats founders Kwaku Osei-Bonsu, Lloyd Talley, and Nigel Fyvie outside the outdoor domes at their restaurant
East Eats owners Kwaku Osei-Bonsu (front) and Lloyd Talley, (foreground) founded Detroit Black Restaurant Week in 2017. They are shown here with restaurant co-owner Nigel Fyvie.
Photo courtesy of East Eats

This year, food trucks get in on the fun, with three Detroit rallies: Monday, August, 23, at Detroit Association of Women’s Clubs; Thursday, August 26 at Marygrove Conservancy; and Saturday, August 28 at the East Eats outdoor restaurant.

Black Restaurant Week was launched by East Eats founders Kwaku Osei-Bonsu and Lloyd M. Talley in 2017, as a way to shine a light on black-owned restaurants in Metro Detroit, helping ensure their place in the local restaurant boom. Osei-Bonsu came up with the idea after returning home in 2015 from Howard University. He noticed a lack in equity surrounding Black-owned restaurants, both new or established.

Many of the restaurants are offering curbside pickup along with indoor dining. A full list of participating restaurants is on the website.

Kuzzo's Chicken & Waffles

19345 Livernois, , MI 48221 (313) 861-0229 Visit Website

Vicki's BBQ & Shrimp

3845 West Warren Avenue, , MI 48208 (313) 894-9906 Visit Website

Yum Village

6500 Woodward Ave., Detroit, MI 48202 Visit Website

Ivy Kitchen and Cocktails

9215 East Jefferson, , MI 48214 (313) 332-0607 Visit Website

Joe Louis Southern Kitchen

6549 Woodward Avenue, , MI 48202 (313) 788-8338 Visit Website

The Block

3919 Woodward Avenue, , MI 48201 (313) 832-0892 Visit Website

Central Kitchen + Bar

660 Woodward Avenue, , MI 48226 (313) 963-9000 Visit Website

City Wings

2896 East Grand Boulevard, , MI 48202 (313) 871-2489 Visit Website

Flood's Bar and Grille

731 Saint Antoine, , MI 48226 (313) 963-1090 Visit Website

COOP Caribbean Fusion

474 Peterboro Street, , MI 48201 (313) 932-0320 Visit Website

Good Vibes Lounge

16801 Harper Avenue, , MI 48224 (313) 499-8127 Visit Website

Good Times On The Ave

19416 Livernois, , MI 48221 (313) 739-6601 Visit Website

Yoshi Hibachi Grille Livernois

19360 Livernois, , MI 48221 (313) 646-2129 Visit Website

The Jamaican Pot

14615 Michigan 102, , MI 48235 (313) 888-8102 Visit Website

EastEats

1018 Navahoe Street, , MI 48215 Visit Website

The Kitchen, by Cooking with Que

6529 Woodward Avenue, , MI 48202 (313) 462-4184 Visit Website

Jeds Detroit

1648 Seven Mile East, , MI 48203 (313) 305-7737 Visit Website

Sweet Potato Sensations

17337 Lahser Road, , MI 48219 (313) 532-7996 Visit Website

Central Kitchen + Bar

660 Woodward Ave, Detroit, MI 48226 (313) 963-9000 Visit Website

Baobab Fare

6568 Woodward Avenue, , MI 48202 (313) 265-3093 Visit Website

Fork In Nigeria

4219 Woodward Avenue, , MI 48201 (313) 285-8485 Visit Website