Black Women in Seafood: The Restaurant Owners

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

Robin Caldwell

Robin Caldwell is the blogger behind freshandfriedhard.com and academic researcher focusing on Black history, heritage and culture. Public historian primarily in Black American historical foodways: antebellum and regional.

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