Enjoy Soul Food, Drinks, and Support Black-Owned Businesses

Dinner is servedThato Bole/Unsplash

Tucson is a vibrant community with people hailing from all walks of life. It is what helps make greater Tucson such an exceptional place to live. Chances are, you have a handful of favorite restaurants and shops you like to attend, some of which are likely owned by people from other cultures or have come to the United States from other countries. It is often more difficult for certain individuals to get their businesses off the ground and running for various reasons. Ranging from high insurance rates due to the location in town or their inability to secure business loans because they don’t have an extensive and favorable credit report, there are many here in Tucson who have to jump through a few more hoops in order to open up shop. 

That is why the greater Tucson community looks to highlight different businesses owned by various individuals around the metro area, and one event that is growing in popularity is Soul Food Wednesday. 

Soul Food Wednesday just recently kicked off and now is scheduled to take place on the last Wednesday of every month at Hotel Congress (located at 311 Congress Street). This month, it will be on May 26th, starting at 7 PM. 

Soul Food Wednesday is all about highlighting the many Black-owned businesses we have here in Tucson. The majority of those who take part in the evening are restaurant owners, although there are a handful of other stalls and vendors throughout the patio area of Hotel Congress. 

When you attend you’ll be able to enjoy food from these vendors as well as learn about what the businesses offer. If you’d like to help support Black-owned businesses but don’t know where to begin looking, this is a fantastic opportunity, as you can stop by Hotel Congress and sample food and products from a number of vendors. This way, if you find something you like you’ll be able to then visit the individual businesses later on. 

Live music will be performed over the course of the evening, and you’ll be able to grab a drink at Hotel Congress as well. The event is free for you to attend and, as the event approaches, a list of all the vendors will begin to develop. You can stay on top of the new vendors by checking out the EventBrite page.

The event is put on not only by Hotel Congress but in partnership with Blax Friday. This is an organization designed to bring more attention to Black-owned businesses around the community. It is currently an Arizona-based organization, with Tucson as the focal point, but other cities are beginning to grow their interactions within the community, including Phoenix, Mesa, Glendale, Scottsdale, Tempe, Chandler, and Gilbert (so basically Tucson and most of metro Phoenix). 

Blax Friday is a new startup that began last summer. With businesses struggling through the beginning of the pandemic the organizers of Blax Friday wanted to find a way to help support minority-owned businesses, many of which already struggle to receive financing and affordable business insurance coverage. Blax Friday now helps highlight these businesses as it attempts to increase exposure for these companies. The Soul Food Wednesday is one of the latest steps in doing just that. 

The best way to support the efforts of Blax Friday, as well as make sure Soul Food Wednesday, continues on into the future is to stop in and visit. If you want to make sure all of the food offered through vendors is available when you arrive it’s recommended to stop by when the event kicks off on Wednesday, May 26 at 7 PM. 

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