rsgmag.com
Home     Tell a Friend     Search     Member Area

 Article Index
 Chef Training
 Equipment Notes
 Menu Makeover
 Recipe Mapping
 Selected Case Studies
 Startup Resources
Subscribe to our RSS Feed
 A Note from the Editor
 About this Site
 Contact Us
 Our Cool Covers!
 RS&G Reader Profiles
 Subscribe - Renew
 Past Issues
 Order Back Issues
 Advertisers -- Display
 Advertisers -- Others
 Comments to Editor
 Help
 Media Kit
 Tell a Friend
 Text Size








© 2008-2009 rsgmag.com
home | Selected Case Studies | The Negro League Caf . . .
 

...the waitresses and other restaurant staff are trained in the history of the Negro League and are encouraged to engage patrons in dialogue about the history of the league.
...the waitresses and other restaurant staff are trained in the history of the Negro League and are encouraged to engage patrons in dialogue about the history of the league.


The Negro League Cafe:

Chicago South-Side Eatery Steps Up to the Plate

Linda Lee Walden

The menu says it all: "Enjoy the food, digest the history." Negro League baseball history, to be exact. Donald R. Curry recently opened his Negro League Cafe on Chicago's South Side. In addition to providing customers with a good meal, the cafe honors the greatest players from the Negro League. Long before blacks were allowed to share the dugout with the likes of Honus Wagner and Babe Ruth, players like "Cannonball" Dick Redding and John Henry "Pop" Lloyd made their mark hitting and throwing pitches in the Negro League. The best of those Negro League players would show off at an all-star game played at the old Comiskey Park, not far from Curry's restaurant and in the heart of a community originally settled by black migrant workers.

Some of the greats from that era live in the Chicago area and have stopped in for a drink, Curry said. Among them: players like Ted "Double Duty" Radcliffe and Johnny Washington. And why wouldn't they? A percentage of the profits are donated to a pension fund benefitting the Negro League players, Curry said. The Chicago White Sox even donated some of the interior art work for the restaurant.

Curry said he hopes not only to capitalize on the interest of Negro League baseball history but to attract people visiting a cultural center that recently opened nearby. Curry said he has overcome plenty of skepticism to open his establishment. "I have been trying to do this since 1997, and everyone told me this wouldn't work," he said.

He said the waitresses and other restaurant staff are trained in the history of the Negro League and are encouraged to engage patrons in dialogue about the history of the league.

Much of this history is detailed in the artwork displayed throughout the restaurant. Portraits of players decorate both the interior and exterior of the building.

"As I tell all the players, the folks aren't coming here to see me," Curry said. Dinner is offered in a buffet style for $14.99. Diners choose from 10 items on the buffet, which include favorites such as fried chicken, collard greens and corn bread. Desserts include a chocolate fudge brownie and peach cobbler.

The lunch menu offers burgers named for Negro League players, such as the Al "Sunshine" Spearman turkey burger and the Charlie "Goulash" Johnson burger with grilled onions and white American cheese.

Chicken sandwiches, salads and chicken wings also are featured on the lunch menu, and most items range from $7 to $9. A kids' menu is available. If all goes well, Curry hopes to add three more restaurants in Chicago and expand from there.


Printer-Friendly Format

Receive our FREE
"Profit Tip"
of the Week





Click HERE to Visit Our Profit Tips Archives!
RESTAURANT STARTUP & GROWTH magazine is dedicated to presenting the BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES in all aspects of running an independent restaurant business. Much of our content is based on "case studies" of independent restaurateurs and their approaches and strategies to seizing market opportunities and rising above operational challenges.

While RS&G case studies are not presented in the classic business and management case study formats, such as the Harvard and Wharton methods, with which many students of business are familiar, they are instructive and detailed, and often presented in the first person by experienced and successful operators, chefs, and other professionals who directly serve the industry. Our editorial staff strives to edit them to be readable, focused, practical, supported by appropriate charts and graphs, and with sufficient depth for our readers to apply these practices in their restaurants TODAY.

This unique editorial approach fills an important niche between the academic journals, which are often too rigorous and theoretical to be practical for the average independent business person, and trade media that only skim the surface of important management concepts. Our goal - and our passion - is to provide solid managerial education to independent restaurateurs to improve their competitiveness, profitability, and chances for sustainable success.

We are... RESTAURANT STARTUP & GROWTH magazine.

We believe... GOOD RESTAURATEURS ARE ALWAYS LEARNING.

Here is...WHAT OUR READERS AND MEMBERS ARE SAYING ABOUT US...

"I am a small business owner. I must say this is the best tool I've ever subscribed to. I was suspicious at first, I did not expect much but this is awesome. Thank you so much."

Gesine Franchetti - The Topaz - Santa Rosa, CA

"Your website and magazine have been extremely helpful to our growing business. We are just about finished with the construction of our new location. I have learned so much from your articles, the online seminars, the discussion forum and the spreadsheets are an invaluable asset. I continue to learn something new every day."

Belinda Self - Ginza Japanese Restaurants, Inc. - Winston Salem, NC

"You are giving me a great education. I can't soak it up fast enough. The articles, templates and especially the online training are heading me in the right direction to having a great business."

Martin Hardy - City Bagel Café - Siloam Springs, Arkansas

"I've found everything on the site to be a big help. From the financial side to the menu, the amount of information has been a bargain for the price of a subscription!"

Eddie Scoggins - Tavern At The Village Green - Cleveland, TN

"I am now in my second year of being a member. My only regret being that I did not find you in my prior 8 years as I would have saved a lot of money and grey hairs from your tips and formats. Thank you for indirectly saving my restaurant & for the growth I now see."

Marc Cedron - Printer's Alley Bar & Grill - Memphis, TN

"Your web-site and magazine have helped our independent restaurant grow from 1 restaurant with revenue of $350,000 to 3 restaurants bringing in $3.5 million in only 4 years."

Donald Spahr - Spahr's Seafood - Thibodaux, LA

"So far, we’ve revised our accounting system and introduced the prime cost concept. My prime costs are dropping because of focusing on both inventory and labor together. This will improve my contribution margin by $120,000!"

Brian Fitzgerald - Paddy's Brewpub & Rosie's Restaurant - Kentville, Nova Scotia

"Thank you for this site. Little guys like me need all the help we can get and it is wonderful to be able to get answers to questions here."

Margaret Williamson - Hizzoner's Uptown Deli - Bellingham, WA

"I have sung the praises of your site to many of my friends, associates, and suppliers. There is a wealth of information and material available from your site that is of tremendous benefit to all independent restaurateurs. We have used virtually everything you offer in some form or another, from the restaurant by the numbers material to all of the articles on service, management, training, etc. The templates for training manuals and various forms have saved us a lot of time which would have been spent compiling and organizing this vital information."

Robert Hodgson - Lefty's Restaurant - Parksville, B.C.