The Black Lives Matter movement has prompted more support among consumers seeking out diverse businesses.
Searches for Black-owned businesses were up 2,400% in 2020, compared to 2019, according to the latest data from Yelp.
The restaurant review website compiled a list of popular Black-owned businesses from across the country and found that review mentions among them (in total) have grown a staggering 232% in 2020 alone compared with a year earlier.
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With Black History Month officially underway, the review website is paying homage to Black American business owners by highlighting the popular U.S. businesses, which span beauty, home, food and restaurant categories. To compile the list, Yelp selected enterprises that self-identified as Black-owned, showed increases in average ratings and review counts in 2020 (compared to 2019), and opened after Jan. 2019.
"We selected these businesses using a combination of average rating and number of reviews. Finally, we limited the list to two businesses per metro area per category for geographic diversity," Yelp described in a blog post.
Some restaurant highlights include Happy Cafe in Virginia Beach, known for bites like its pulled chicken sandwich; Purple Gurls, a popcorn shop in Glendale, Arizona; Teranga Harlem in New York City, which specializes in West African cuisine such as Ndambe, a spicy bean sandwich; and Cookie Society in Frisco, Texas, known for its bakery treats like snickerdoodle and chocolate chip cookies.
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The full list of Yelp's Black-owned restaurants to watch is below. For a full list of beauty and home businesses, click here.
- Purple Gurl’s – Glendale, AZ
- Cafe Desta – Tucson, AZ
- Crumble & Whisk – Emeryville, CA
- Tribute Coffee – Garden Grove, CA
- LeeVonYe Treats – Hayward, CA
- Barsha – Hermosa Beach, CA
- West of Orleans – Thousand Oaks, CA
- Nola Voodoo Tavern – Denver, CO
- Konjo Ethiopian Food – Edgewater, CO
- Cane – Washington DC
- Here’s The Scoop! – Washington DC
- Mixed Fillings Pie Shop – Jacksonville, FL
- Red Rooster Overtown – Miami, FL
- Chicken Fire – Orlando, FL
- StreetWise Urban Food – Orlando, FL
- Hot Chicks House of Chicken – Pembroke Pines, FL
- Southern Kitchen & Grill – Atlanta, GA
- Kupcakerie – East Point, GA
- Sweet Brown Suga – Grayson, GA
- Love That Spice – Highland Park, IL
- Island Vybz Mobile Rasta-rant – Iowa City, IA
- Addis Nola – New Orleans, LA
- Gangster Vegan Organics – Baltimore, MD
- Ingera Rock Ethiopian Cuisine – Rockville, MD
- Steve’s Hot Dogs – St Louis, MO
- The Coffee Class – Las Vegas, NV
- Grays Banana Pudding – Las Vegas, NV
- Lighthouse Coffee – Sparks, NV
- Freetown Kitchen – Maplewood, NJ
- Ras Plant Based – Brooklyn, NY
- Teranga Harlem – New York, NY
- Leah & Louise – Charlotte, NC
- Smallcakes Steele Creek – Charlotte, NC
- Cream + Sugar Coffeehouse – Cincinnati, OH
- Donna’s Delicious Dozen – Columbus, OH
- Black Coffee Lounge – Cincinnati, OH
- Black Walnut – Oklahoma City, OK
- Grey Sweater – Oklahoma City, OK
- Mumbo Gumbo PDX-Sellwood – Portland, OR
- Nacheaux – Portland, OR
- Brown’s Bar-B-Que – Austin, TX
- Scoop and Score – Cedar Park, TX
- Shoals Sound & Service – Dallas, TX
- Cookie Society – Frisco, TX
- Binge Kitchen – San Antonio, TX
- Della J’s Delectables – Springfield, VA
- CLTRE vgn jnt – Virginia Beach, VA
- Happy Cafe – Virginia Beach, VA
- Métier Brewing Company – Woodinville, WA
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In wake of the George Floyd protests that began in May, more consumers and big businesses have pledged support to minority-owned businesses and organizations. The Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation in June established a fund with more than $12 million dedicated to fighting institutional racism, the Associated Press reported.
Other companies have also pledged to supporting Black-owned businesses, like Netflix, which committed $100 million to support Black-owned banks, while financial services firm Discover committed $5 million to specifically support Black-owned restaurants in July.