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 Front entrance of the Busy Bee Café | |
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The Busy Bee Café is a restaurant in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It is a well-known location in the history of the U.S. civil rights movement. In 2022 it was named one of America's Classics by the James Beard Foundation.
The restaurant specializes in southern and soul food specialties such as catfish, fried chicken, ham hocks, macaroni and cheese, collard greens, and cornbread. [1] Country Living said it was best known for its fried chicken. [2]
The restaurant was opened by Lucy Jackson, a self-taught cook from Carrollton, Georgia, in 1947 on what was at the time called Hunter Street, now Martin Luther King Drive. [1] [3] At that time Hunter Street was one of only two streets in Atlanta where Black entrepreneurs were allowed to open businesses and where Black diners were welcome in restaurants. [1] [4]
The Busy Bee and Paschal's became meeting places for civil rights leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Hosea Williams. [1] [4] [5] [3] [6] According to Unique Eats and Eateries of Atlanta, the restaurant is "as well known for its role in the civil rights movement as it is for its fried chicken." [3]
In 1968 Jackson sold the restaurant to two local businessmen. [3] In 1981 Milton Gates bought it. [3]
As of 2022 the restaurant is owned by Tracy Gates, who took over from her father in 1987. [1] [4] [7]
In 2022 the restaurant was named one of America's Classics by the James Beard Foundation. [1] Roadfood called them "the best Southern restaurant in Atlanta. Period." [8]
Soul food is the ethnic cuisine of African Americans. Originating in the American South from the cuisines of enslaved Africans transported from Africa through the Atlantic slave trade, soul food is closely associated with the cuisine of the Southern United States. The expression "soul food" originated in the mid-1960s when "soul" was a common word used to describe African-American culture. Soul food uses cooking techniques and ingredients from West African, Central African, Western European, and Indigenous cuisine of the Americas.
The cuisine of the Southern United States encompasses diverse food traditions of several subregions, including cuisine of Southeastern Native American tribes, Tidewater, Appalachian, Ozarks, Lowcountry, Cajun, Creole, African American cuisine and Floribbean, Spanish, French, British, and German cuisine. In recent history, elements of Southern cuisine have spread to other parts of the United States, influencing other types of American cuisine.
Rahman "Rock" Harper is an American chef, television personality and restaurateur who won in the third season of the Gordon Ramsay-presented reality television show Hell's Kitchen.
Paschal's is an American foodservice company based in Atlanta, Georgia, specializing in Southern cuisine. It was founded as a small sandwich shop in 1947 by brothers Robert and James Paschal, who worked together on their foodservice ventures for over 50 years until Robert's death in 1997. James Paschal continued to preside over the company until his death in 2008. Today Paschal's operates a restaurant in the Castleberry Hill section of Atlanta, a foodservice outlet at Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport, and is a food vendor for other US airports and grocery stores.
Serious Eats is a website and blog focused on food enthusiasts, created by food critic and author Ed Levine. A Serious Eats book was published by Levine in 2011. Serious Eats was acquired by Fexy Media in 2015 and then by Dotdash in late 2020.
Hot chicken is a type of fried chicken that is a local specialty of Nashville, Tennessee, in the United States. In its typical preparation, it is a portion of breast, thigh or wing that has been marinated in a water-based blend of seasoning, floured, fried and finally covered in a paste or sauce that has been spiced with cayenne pepper. This method of preparation originates within African American communities in the Southern United States. A richly pigmented seasoning paste gives the fried chicken its reddish hue. Spice blends, preparation methods and heat intensity vary from recipe to recipe or depending on the chef.
The cuisine of Atlanta reflects both Southern and much broader influences. The city is home to a mix of high-end chef-driven restaurants receiving praise at the national level, an ethnic restaurant scene along Buford Highway, and traditional Southern eateries.
Otto's Sausage Kitchen, formerly Otto's Meat Market, is a sausage restaurant and meat market located in the Woodstock neighborhood of Portland, Oregon, United States. German immigrant Otto Eichentopf established Otto's Meat Market in Aberdeen, Washington in the 1910s before relocating to Portland in 1921. Otto's Meat Market opened on Southeast Woodstock Boulevard in 1922. A new building was constructed at its current location in 1936–1937. Eichentopf's son Edwin acquired the store in the 1940s; Edwin's son Jerry, who began working at Otto's full-time starting at age eighteen, acquired the stores in 1983. Since then, he and his wife have expanded the retail part of the store. The family, which now includes the couple's children and extended members, makes more than forty sausage varieties on site, including some based on Eichentopf's recipes from Germany.
Road food is a cuisine concerning food prepared especially for hungry travelers who arrive by road. Most road food establishments are casual dining restaurants. American road food is associated with "comfort food" such as hamburgers, hot dogs, fried chicken, barbecue, and pizza. Road food establishments can include fast food, cafes and barbecue shacks.
Ford Fry is an American chef and restaurateur based in Atlanta, Georgia. His team consists of 13 restaurants in Georgia, three restaurants in Houston, two in Charlotte and two in Nashville. Collectively, he owns 23 restaurants across America. Fry's portfolio of restaurants includes JCT. Kitchen & Bar, no. 246, The Optimist, St. Cecilia, Little Rey, Superica, Marcel State of Grace, BeetleCat, and La Lucha. Several of Fry's restaurants have received various accolades. In October 2015, CBS This Morning described Fry as "one of the most prolific chefs and restaurateurs" in the United States. In March 2021, Atlanta Eats dubbed Fry "a peerless restaurateur with many beloved brands."
Everybody Eats PDX was a soul food restaurant in Portland, Oregon. The business closed in 2022.
Bertha's Kitchen is a restaurant in Charleston, South Carolina. The restaurant was in 2017 named one of America's Classics by the James Beard Foundation.
Florence's Restaurant is a restaurant in Oklahoma City. In 2022 it was named one of America's Classics by the James Beard Foundation.
Corinne's Place is a restaurant in Camden, New Jersey. In 2022 the restaurant was selected as an America's Classic by the James Beard Foundation.
Fat's Chicken and Waffles is a primarily Southern and soul food restaurant in Seattle's Central District, in the U.S. state of Washington. Marcus Lalario opened the restaurant in 2015, in a space which previously housed Catfish Corner. Erika White later became a co-owner.
Jumbo's was a restaurant in Miami's Little River neighborhood, in the U.S. state of Florida. It initially was named Jumbo Frank's before a family from Pennsylvania bought the business and was subsequently renamed to Jumbo's. Its owners identified it as the first white-owned restaurant in Miami to employ and serve black people, having done so in the late 1960s. The restaurant closed in July 2014 after nearly 60 years of business serving foods including conch, fried chicken, and shrimp.
