EatOkra's Anthony & Janique Edwards Bring Black Owned Businesses To The Masses - Exclusive Interview

It started out as a quest for local restaurants in a new neighborhood. Now, it's a foodie phenomenon, celebrating and empowering black-owned businesses around the country. We're talking about the EatOkra app — and it could be helping you find great places to eat in your own backyard all while taking a stand for social justice.

The app, which is a directory of black-owned restaurants and culinary experiences, was launched in 2016 by husband and wife duo Anthony and Janique Edwards, shortly after they migrated to the diverse culinary landscape of Brooklyn, New York. Their own search for black-owned businesses to support made them realize the need for such a resource, something that's only been further proven by EatOkra's rapid growth and success in a few short years. Now, EatOkra has listings in dozens of cities across the country, with plans to add more restaurants, experiences, and services, while also leaning into its newer mission to become a community resource and learning tool for black business owners. It's making waves along the way, as EatOkra was recently honored by Apple with a Trend of the Year Award.

In an exclusive interview with Mashed, EatOkra's founders, Anthony and Janique, shared more about how EatOkra came to be, and how you can use it to connect with black food culture in your city. They also opened up about EatOkra's pandemic-fueled growth, and how it has evolved the app's mission to serve the black restaurant community. Don't miss their recommendations for two EatOkra-approved restaurants you've got to try.

That had an immediate benefit for the two of you in your neighborhood. What was it like building this out on a national scale and what was that response like around the country?

Anthony: I think when we started, it was like, "Let's explore Brooklyn." Then we were like, "Well, what about Harlem?" We've got family in Harlem. We go to Harlem all the time. Literally, the first time we put it in the app, we went to a restaurant in Harlem, we introduced it to a woman and little did we know she was part of a sorority. She immediately started sharing it with people in Atlanta, and in my head I'm like, "No, don't do that." There were no listings in Atlanta.

Janique and I raced home after that and started adding 20 to 30 restaurants, doing that normal research we were doing to input all the data ourselves at the time. From there, it really started to grow and then her friends started sharing it with people and they started suggesting more [places]. What about this? And what about this?

We actually have a way, inside the app, where people can tell us about new restaurants. We call it a lead. We have another team now, [but] before it was Janique and I, for the first 3,500 restaurants, it was her and I doing this data ourselves. During COVID, we had 8,000 people, 8,000 listings, come to us within about 60 days.

Did you have any way of anticipating how quickly this was going to catch fire and how quickly it was going to grow?

Anthony: No.

Janique: Not at all.

Anthony: We always felt like it could become that over time, but years down the road. At the time, this was a really bootstrap app.

Janique: We knew that it had potential and that people would use it if they knew about it. When media first started reaching out to us, local media, to cover our story and to talk to us about the app, we were seeing anytime a story would go out, little spikes in downloads. We knew that if we ever got to a point where we had the resources and the marketing dollars to put behind us that, potentially, the more people knew about it, the more they would download the app. We weren't in a place to fund any type of marketing.

With COVID, the explosion that we experienced during that time was really unexpected for us because it was really the community that contributed to that in the way of sharing the app organically on social media and different platforms like that. That's how the word got out and that's when we really saw a significant spike.

On the one hand, this app is obviously about connecting food lovers to great restaurants, but on the other hand this is also about elevating the black culinary world from the other side. In that sense, what is your goal and your mission with the EatOkra app?

Janique: Right now, we have a lot of room to figure that piece out. We built the app from the perspective of people who love these businesses, who love food, who love to patronize these businesses, and not necessarily knowing what it takes to actually own and operate a restaurant. For us, our next step for our activism, we feel like is developing an e-learning platform for restaurant tours.

I think I mentioned earlier, my sister being a business owner and her business is really what cultivated that love for black-owned businesses for me, but I also got to see firsthand the struggles that she went through as a business owner who really didn't have any experience, really was super green and super passionate about what she wanted to do, but definitely could have benefited from educational resources and mentorship and just community from a business perspective. I feel like, for us, that's our next step and that's what we're striving to build during this season for our business and for the restaurant owners that are a part of our platform.

Anthony: We're in the business of keeping businesses in business, whether that means putting butts in the seat, or it means marketing and other tools, education, mentorship, access. We want to make sure we're really supportive on both sides of the house.

EatOkra was recently honored with the Apple Trend of the Year Award for making these meaningful connections. What did it feel like and what did it mean to be acknowledged like this?

Anthony: I think we're still trying to let that sink in. The last 18 months have been a whirlwind. We knew we were making some impact, but how big of an impact was really confirmed by the Apple team for even considering us for this award. For us to actually be one of 15, it's a dream come true. I didn't really know too much about it, but Tim Cook jumped on our call, CEO of Apple, and gave us this award. It's like, wow, I was not expecting that at all. I'm happy. It's our Oscars. It can be my Oscar as a developer and it's something I'll always have. You can't take it away and I'm so grateful for it.

Janique: It was an honor, considering all the other apps that were also recipients too and knowing how hard Anthony and I have been working. It's difficult to take a second sometimes to acknowledge those wins because you're in the weeds of things a lot of the time. To have that moment was really special and it was super affirming of the work that we're doing and super motivating as well for us, because we definitely want to see the company grow and we want to accomplish so much more for the community. It was really a super huge moral boost for us and our team.

Fast forward six years, EatOkra is basically a household name for hundreds of thousands of people and now that you've gotten this recognition and you've seen what's possible, how has that changed and evolved your goals for the app as a community resource now?

Janique: We always had huge, huge goals, but to receive acknowledgement from arguably one of the most innovative companies ever, like I said, it's super affirming for us. It's like, okay, now that we've got that stamp of approval from Apple, now we feel even more motivated that we have to live up to this. There's a standard now, and we've accepted the challenge and we are ready to grow and expand. That's why, this year, we're gearing up to do our first race ever. That put us in the perspective of, okay, now it's go time, and we need funding to grow in the way that we know we can.

What do you guys wish more people knew and understood about black food culture and especially from a business perspective?

Anthony: Give some grace a little bit. It's tough to be a restaurant owner, dealing with, many times, restaurateurs who don't have the staff or the time, which means, a lot of times, they're working [for] their business versus working their business. [Instead of] doing the CEO things they should be doing, they're taking orders. Being patient, giving some grace, understanding every restaurant wants to give you the best experience, but things happen — that's what I think I've been learning the most. There's a lot going on behind the scenes and to be cognizant of that in your reviews and in your critiques.

Janique: From a business perspective, what I've seen is a lot of times people, especially in the restaurant business, they start a restaurant because they're super passionate about cooking and about food, but don't really have an understanding of what it takes to manage the day-to-day of the business and manage people. What I've learned from Jason is that there's a science to restaurant ownership. Because the margins are so thin, you have to be obsessed with the numbers a bit and if you're not in tune with those numbers and you're not accurately capturing that data, it's going to be very difficult for you to make money and grow and scale.

There's something to be said about starting your business because you're passionate, but also understanding that it's going to take a lot of ... it's going to be a very meticulous thing in managing those numbers to make sure that you're making money for your business.

Anthony: I would say to add to that, a restaurant can make $1 million in a year, but that doesn't mean you're profitable, right? If that formula is not correct, you could still be going under. It's really making sure that you know that formula, those numbers, over your net operating income.