Black businesses are rich in history. Today, Black men and women own 2.6 million businesses across the United States, roughly 9.5 percent of businesses in the country.
Of course, the number of Black women who own businesses is much smaller, and the fact that some of these restaurants have been around for more than 80 years is a testament to the ambition of the woman in charge.
These are some of the oldest female, Black-owned restaurants in America, with the very oldest listed last.
Year founded: 1962
Location: Harlem, New York City
Type of business: Restaurant
Bottom line: Sylvia's Restaurant has been serving soul food for over 55 years, ever since Sylvia Woods opened its doors in 1962.
Woods moved to New York City with her husband in the 1940s and worked in a Brooklyn factory. Tired of the long commute, she stopped by a restaurant and asked for a job. She lied to the owner and said she had experience and burned herself on a spigot when trying to get him a cup of coffee.
Woods bought that same restaurant almost a decade later for $20,000, with her mother mortgaging the family farm to come up with the money. Woods, who died in 2012 at the age of 86, was a celebrated figure of New York City and was nicknamed the "Queen of Soul Food."
Sylvia's can be seen in Spike Lee's "Jungle Fever," or it can be seen in-person at 328 Lenox Avenue in Harlem.
Year founded: 1957
Location: New Orleans, Louisiana
Type of business: Restaurant
Bottom line: Willie Mae's has been serving up some of the best fried chicken in the world since 1957. Founder Willie Mae Seaton arrived in New Orleans during World War II, working as a taxi driver, beautician and at a dry cleaner for years while her husband worked at the Higgins Shipyard. In 1957, she founded Willie Mae's Scotch House, which included a small kitchen.
Seaton's fried chicken was good enough to make it a neighborhood favorite, and she wanted to keep it that way. In 1999, she would not allow the Times-Picayune to publish the restaurant's address, nor her photo in the paper. It wasn't until after Hurricane Katrina that Seaton became more receptive to attention, and Willie Mae's became world-famous for fried chicken.
Seaton died in 2015 at the age of 99. Today, Willie Mae's is run by her granddaughter, Kerry Seaton Stewart.
Year founded: 1942
Location: Selma, Alabama
Type of business: Restaurant
Bottom line: Starting as a dirt-floored restaurant in 1942, Lannie's Bar-B-Q spot in Selma has been open for more than 80 years. Founder Lannie Moore Travis opened the shop in 1942. He died in 1994, and now his daughter, Lula, owns the restaurant.
Lula has worked at the family business her entire life. At 12 years old, she was tasked with bringing live hogs from the stockyard to the restaurant on her bicycle.
And the barbecue is good - Lula won the Alabama Barbecue Battle of 2015.
Year founded: 1941
Location: New Orleans, Louisiana
Type of business: Restaurant
Bottom line: Dooky Chase's is one of the most famous restaurants in New Orleans, renowned for its Creole cuisine and its late owner, Leah Lange Chase. The restaurant was founded by Emily and Dooky Chase Sr. as a bar and sandwich shop in the Treme.
But it was more than just a sandwich shop. Since there were no Black banks in New Orleans, the bar had enough money to loan out money to their trusted customers, along with po' boys and drinks.
In 1946, Edgar Dooky Chase Jr. married Leah Lange Chase, who later was nicknamed the "Queen of Creole Cooking." Leah transformed the restaurant into a fine dining restaurant and made Dooky Chase famous worldwide. She worked at the restaurant until her death in 2019 at the age of 96.
Dooky Chase's Restaurant is still operated and run by the Chase family. And it's still good.
For more oldest Black-owned businesses in America, check out Work + Money.