In honor of Black Business Month, grab a scrumptious bite to eat at these 11 Black-owned restaurants across New Mexico.
Many don’t know it, but every August is Black Business Month. Supporting small businesses, especially those helmed by folks from marginalized communities, is one of the best ways to uplift your community. It circulates money directly in your area, helps local families put food on their own tables, and can keep these businesses running far into the future. Who wouldn’t want to see diverse restaurants rise up against the sea of chains?
To celebrate Black Business Month, we’ve rounded up 12 amazing Black-owned restaurants that we should all support this August—and beyond. They run the gamut from Southern soul food to finger-lickin’ Jamaican dishes and Cajun classics, and all of them will make you smile as you sink your teeth into them. So, from Santa Fe all the way down to Deming, let’s take the scenic route through 11 heart- and stomach-warming restaurants.
Black-owned restaurants in northern New Mexico
Jambo Cafe
Address: 2010 Cerrillos Rd, Santa Fe, NM 87505
Hours: Monday-Saturday: 11 a.m.-9 p.m.
Owner: Ahmed Obo
If you’re looking for African or Caribbean food in the Santa Fe area, search no further than Jambo Cafe, one of two Santa Fe restaurants owned by Chef Ahmed Obo, who was named a 2022 James Beard semifinalist for Best Chef: Southwest.
One glance at Jambo Cafe’s menu shows that everything it serves is absolutely full of flavor. For example, the coconut shrimp is served with a lime cilantro mango sauce, while the Moroccan lamb stew features chickpeas, raisins, apricots, and sweet potatoes with curried couscous and a ginger dried fruit chutney. If you’re anything like us, your mouth is watering just reading that.
You’ll want to stay for dessert, too. Jambo Cafe offers myriad sweet treats, including Coconut Cardamom Flan, Island Spice Coconut Black Rice Pudding, Chocolate Almond Crust Key Lime Pie, Mango Cobbler, and more. Again, we’re drooling.
Jambo Bobcat Bite
Address: 418 Old Las Vegas Hwy, Santa Fe, NM 87505
Hours: Monday-Friday: 11 a.m.-3 p.m.; Saturday: 9 a.m.-3 p.m.
Owner: Ahmed Obo
Live closer to Old Las Vegas Highway than Cerrillos? You need to check out Jambo Bobcat Bite, Chef Ahmed Obo’s second restaurant specializing in African and Caribbean fare. You can find excellent lunch dishes here, like Curried Crab Plantain Fitters and Jerk Chicken Enchiladas, but what really sets this joint apart from Jambo Cafe is its breakfast menu.
Jambo Bobcat Bite approaches food from a unique perspective: It blends African and Caribbean flavors and techniques with those from Tex-Mex cuisine. The breakfast menu exemplifies this, featuring a breakfast burrito wrapped in roti (a flatbread native to India, Africa, and the Caribbean), a French toast crusted with pistachios and coconut flakes, and a smoked salmon omelet that comes with curry roasted potatoes and a harissa hollandaise sauce. (Harissa is a spicy pepper paste which has roots tracing back to Tunisia.) We’re hungry just writing this!
Anthony’s Grill
Address: 1622 St Michaels Dr, Santa Fe, NM 87505
Hours: Monday-Sunday: 10 a.m.-8 p.m.
Owner: James Anthony Moore
Supporting Black-owned restaurants in Santa Fe is extra fun thanks to Anthony’s Grill. In addition to a fixed menu, this eatery has a build-your-own bowl concept that should be familiar to anyone who’s been a Mongolian barbecue restaurant before. You gather your favorite meats, veggies, sauces—the whole works!—and watch it get stir-fried right in front of your face. It’s an engaging way to eat that makes you feel like you have some ownership over your food to boot.
Don’t skip the fixed menu too quickly, though, or you’ll miss out on some real gems. Anthony’s Grill fries up catfish sandwiches, orange chicken, tempura sweet potatoes, egg rolls, chicken wings, and more. It even serves up sticky and delicious BBQ ribs and burnt ends. If that ain’t a beautiful blend of cuisines, we don’t know what is.
Black-owned restaurants in central New Mexico
Nexus Brewery & Restaurant
Address: 4730 Pan American Fwy NE, Albuquerque, NM 87109
Hours: Monday-Sunday: 11 a.m.-8:30 p.m.
Owner: Ken Carson
A good brew with some bangin’ bites are always a good idea, and Nexus Brewery & Restaurant is the perfect place to grab both. Nexus offers a variety of drink options, including seasonal beers. At the time of writing, that means folks are enjoying fruity drinks like Strawberry Milkshake IPAs and Project Genesis Pale Ales. It’s also never too early to celebrate Oktoberfest at Nexus, with the brewery serving a rich Festbier.
This restaurant’s food menu is divine, too. Here, you can find gumbo, cajun-flavored chicken chicharronnes, good ol’ chicken and waffles, burgers, and so much more. A newer addition to the menu, family meals allow you to feed your whole crew fried catfish, swai, or chicken, taking the hassle out of ordering. Cheers to that!
Frank’s Famous Chicken & Waffles
Address: 400 Washington St SE, Albuquerque, NM 87108
Hours: Tuesday-Friday: 11 a.m.-8 p.m.; Saturday: 11 a.m.-7 p.m.; Sunday: 11 a.m.-8 p.m.
Owner: Frank Willis
A fair few Black-owned restaurants whip up phenomenal chicken and waffles, but no one does it better than Frank’s Famous Chicken & Waffles. It’s in the name, after all!
At Frank’s, you can expect to find fluffy, tender pancakes and crispy, juicy chicken that makes you never want to set your fork down. Not into chicken? Don’t fret; Frank’s offers hot links wrapped in waffles, waffles topped with pecans and crispy bacon, catfish platters, and scrumptious sides like candied yams, macaroni and cheese, and fried mushrooms. There’s more than enough for everyone!
Big Boss HotLinks
Owner: James Wilkinson
Sometimes, the best food from Black-owned restaurants comes on wheels, not in a traditional dining space. Enter Big Boss HotLinks, a food truck business that feeds the masses with burgers, hotlink sandwiches, cheesesteaks, and fries.
Big Boss has been in the industry for over five years, and it’s expanded to include two food trucks, a concessions stand, and a catering service. If you want to keep up with the business and stay up to date with its food truck locations, follow Big Boss Hotlinks on Facebook and Instagram.
Yummy’s Mini Donuts and Ice Cream
Address: 1 Central Ave NW Ste D, Albuquerque, NM 87102
Hours: Tuesday-Thursday: 12 p.m.-9 p.m.; Friday-Saturday: 12 p.m.-12 a.m.; Sunday: 12 p.m.-9 p.m.
Owners: Obij Aget and Ashlynn Brown
Anyone who has a sweet tooth and wants to support local Black-owned restaurants this August needs to check out Yummy’s Mini Donuts and Ice Cream immediately. This eatery sells the most divine-looking treats, and you can get them in large quantities—up to 126 mini donuts for $98—to share or to keep. We don’t judge!
On the other hand, if you’re feelin’ frosty, you can tap a dip into myriad ice cream flavors, including pistachio almond, cotton candy, coffee, chocolate chip cookie dough, and classics like strawberry and vanilla. You can even turn these brilliant flavors into milkshakes, so there are enough unique options to come back again and again and still try something new.
Nexus Blue Smokehouse
Address: 1511 Broadway Blvd SE, Albuquerque, NM 87102
Hours: Wednesday-Saturday: 11 a.m.-8 p.m.; Sunday: 12 p.m.-8 p.m.
Owner: Ken Carson
Nexus Blue Smokehouse is in the same restaurant family as Nexus Brewery & Restaurant, but don’t expect their menus to be the same. Where the latter focuses on classic restaurant dishes like chicken and waffles and fried catfish, the smokehouse is, well, smokin’ up some of the best meats around. We’d dare say that they rival anything you could find in Texas.
Here, you can whet your palette with pulled pork, ribs, brisket, burnt ends, and more. And the lovely folks at Nexus didn’t forget the classic BBQ sides, either. Collard greens, mac and cheese, fried okra, and cole slaw are among the many side options you can order. And trust us—you must get an order of bread pudding at the end of your meal.
Clay Pot Ethiopian Cuisine
Address: 5645 Paradise Blvd NW, Albuquerque, NM 87114
Hours: Friday-Saturday: 4 p.m.-9 p.m.
Owner: Seble Yemenu
In Albuquerque, you can travel from the Caribbean to Africa just by dining at Black-owned restaurants. Enter Clay Pot Ethiopian Cuisine, helmed by Chef Seble. On the restaurant’s website, she mentions that New Mexico’s bountiful chile harvesting was one of the biggest surprises for her after arriving in The Land of Enchantment from Ethiopia. “Some of my concerns about moving to America was having to eat bland food! I was wrong,” she writes.
If you want to keep up with Chef Seble’s rotating menu, you’ll want to follow the restaurant’s Facebook page. She keeps the profile updated with tantalizing menus. For example, the Aug. 1 menu included chicken stew, fried goat, and red chili lamb with lentils, cabbage, and collard greens.
K’Lynn’s Southern & Cajun Fusion
Address: 4300 Ridgecrest Dr SE O, Rio Rancho, NM 87124
Hours: Wednesday-Friday: 11 a.m.-7 p.m.; Saturday: 8 a.m.-3 p.m.
Owner: Karen Johnson-Bey
Ending this section of our list with another delectable soul food joint is only fitting. Led by Chef Karen Johnson-Bey (aka K’lynn), K’Lynn’s Southern & Cajun Fusion serves hungry customers in its restaurant and also offers catering for events.
K’lynn’s food is so pleasing to the taste buds that you might just be tempted to place a catering order for yourself. Menu items include blackened catfish, jambalaya, shrimp and grits, and gumbo, among many others.
Black-owned restaurants in southern New Mexico
Elisa’s House of Pies and Restaurant
Address: 2020 Hatch Highway, Deming, NM 88030
Hours: Wednesday-Saturday: 8 a.m.-7 p.m.; Sunday: 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
Owners: Elisa Jackson and Curtis Jackson
Last but certainly not least in our list of Black-owned restaurants across New Mexico is Elisa’s House of Pies and Restaurant. As its name suggests, Elisa’s slices and serves pies in myriad flavors, ranging from pecan and cherry to sweet potato and apple. There’s something for everyone, and like any good bakery, you can buy these pies whole or by the slice.
You can indulge more than just your sweet tooth here, too. The savory menu at Elisa’s includes shredded barbecued beef brisket, chicken tenders, macaroni and cheese, meat loaf, mashed potatoes, red beans and rice, okra, and more. That right there is what we call good eatin’!
