Black Women in Seafood: The Restaurant Owners
A new generation of Black women in seafood is finding entrepreneurship opportunities as restaurant owners, including as caterers and food truck owners. Some operate mom and pop restaurants while others own casual and fine-dining establishments. Owning and operating a successful restaurant is hard enough but owning one that is as specialized and seasonal as a seafood restaurant involves having trustworthy connections to consistently offer quality food to customers. Here are a few women who’ve done quite well as seafood business owners, including food truck owners, and women who co-own their establishments with husbands, partners and children. This list is by no means exhaustive.
Alabama
Cloray’s Café, Renea Porter, Bessemer AL
SOCU Southern Kitchen and Oyster Bar, Chef Erica Barrett, Mobile AL
Chef Erica Barrett, SOCU
California
Two Jack’s/Nik’s Place, Nik Cooper, San Francisco CA
Florida
Gilliam Sisters’ Soulfood (& Seafood), Yashica Gilliam and Sheree Gilliam,Tallahassee FL
Sister Sara’s Crab House/Food Truck, Laquonda and Terry Griffin, Fort Lauderdale FL
Coastal Crab Company & Market, Nene and Bruce Tucker, Melbourne FL
The Crab Stop, Brandi and Ellis Buckner, Vero Beach FL
Georgia
Mr. Shuck’s Seafood Market and Food Truck, Natalie and Donte Habersham, Brunswick GA
Idaho
Brown Shuga Soul (& Seafood) Food Truck, Yvonne Anderson-Thomas, Boise ID
Illinois
Two Fish Crab Shack, Yasmin Curtis, Chicago IL
Yasmin Curtis, Two Fish Crab Shack
Indiana
Chef Oya’s, Oya Woodruff, Indianapolis IN
Kentucky
The Seafood Lady, Nichelle Thurston, Louisville KY
Louisiana
Neyow’s Fine Dining, Tanya Dubuclet, NOLA
Neyow’s Creole Cafe & Oyster Bar, Tanya Dubuclet, NOLA
Tanya Dubuclet
Maryland
The Urban Oyster – Oyster Bar, Chef Jasmine Norton, Baltimore MD
R&L Crab, LaShone and RaeShawn Middleton, Maryland & DC
Chef Jasmine Norton, The Urban Oyster
North Carolina
Mr. 3’s Crab Pot, Rana (and Rod) Brown, Charlotte and Gastonia NC and Rock Hill SC
Forsyth Seafood Market & Café, Virginia Hardesty and Ashley Hardesty Armstrong, Winston-Salem NC
The Crabby Patty, Tammy Thomas, Durham NC
Baton Rouge Cuisine Food Truck, LesLee and Anthony Greenup,, Creedmoor NC
Walking Crab Food Truck & Restaurant, DeAdria Johnelle Wright-Davis and Robert Davis, Garner NC
South Carolina
Gullah Express Food Truck,Sherry Johnson, Beaufort SC
Genesis Le Bleu Waters, Jennifer Holmes, Ravenel SC
Nana’s Seafood and Soul, Carolyn and Kenyatta McNeil, Charleston SC
Jennifer Holmes (Far left), Genesis Le Bleu Waters
Texas
T&K Seafood LLC Mobile Food Vendor, Frantashia (and Trevion) Declouet, Baytown TX
Virginia
Pinkfish Seafood Bistro, Nakeisha, Tony and Raymond Cummings, Hampton VA
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Robin Caldwell is the blogger behind freshandfriedhard.com and a public historian and researcher focusing on Black culinary traditions and foodways.
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