‘Right now, we are pulling our own’: How Chicago’s Black-owned restaurants have fared during the pandemic

First installment of an eight-part series.

Nearly a year after the pandemic was first declared, and through a summer of protests triggered by the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, and now the scramble for vaccines, some of Chicago’s most important Black-owned restaurants have remained vital centers in their communities.

As the country observes Black History Month, we asked the people behind eight Black-owned restaurants how they’ve been doing throughout the pandemic, and to share what they believe the future holds.

It’s unclear how Black-owned restaurants have fared as a whole during the pandemic.

One measure has been Paycheck Protection Program funds, the federal Small Business Administration loans. How many Chicago-area, Black-owned restaurants received PPP loans remains unknown. Approximately 75% of all PPP loans did not include any demographic information at the time of loan application. Demographic data was voluntarily submitted, according to the SBA.

The state of Illinois Business Interruption Grants (BIG) program also relied on self-reported data, but 90% of recipients did respond with race or ethnicity. Of those, white recipients received 55% of funds while Black recipients received only 6% of funds. In total, the BIG program awarded $133 million to all restaurants and bars, according to the state Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.

It’s also unclear at this point the precise number of restaurants that have closed in the Chicago area. That is true of all restaurants, including Black-owned ones. Some have gone into hibernation through the winter. They count as closed temporarily, but may never reopen.

The ticking clock can be heard louder among some aging owners and their restaurants.

Finnie Haire, who founded Haire’s Gulf Shrimp in the Englewood neighborhood on the South Side, died at age 80 last month. The cause of his death is undetermined, said his daughter, but his life was extraordinary. According to his obituary, Haire was a high school track star, Vietnam War veteran, hair stylist, 35-year United States Postal Service worker and business college night school graduate, all before he opened his beloved fried shrimp restaurant.

Harold’s Chicken Shack #55 on 87th Street at the Dan Ryan Expressway, widely considered the best fried chicken franchise of the chain, closed permanently in July after the rent was raised over 40%. Owner Percy Billings, 79, still has a takeout-only location at a gas station nearby in the Chatham neighborhood, but cooks alone at a ghost kitchen on the North Side.

In eight profiles beginning today and continuing over the coming days, we present stories from restaurant owners and other hospitality business owners like Billings to recognize the importance of their businesses to the community and Chicago’s history. The owners also allowed access for poignant photographs of not only themselves, but also their employees and customers. These are far from the only stories, but they do represent some of the struggles and successes of Black restaurants and other food businesses in Chicago.

MacArthur’s owner and namesake Mac Alexander describes his cafeteria-style restaurant on the West Side of Chicago as Southern style, not soul food. “I think Southern food is a little lighter than soul food,” said Alexander, 75, born and raised in Lexington, Mississippi.

The steam table does offer familiar Black American comfort food. “I think we’re best known for our macaroni and cheese, and perhaps chicken, fried and baked,” he said. The radiant peach cobbler should finish every meal. A customer wall of fame attests to their success, with photos of celebrities and politicians including former President Barack Obama. “I had no idea he would have the clout that he had,” said Alexander laughing. “He would bring his kids and wife, and they was nice peoples, but I didn’t realize he could win anything.”

The restaurateur’s own people are the first on his mind when asked how he and his business are doing in the South Austin neighborhood.

“We’re existing and making ends meet,” said Alexander. “Thank God for that PPP program.”

The Paycheck Protection Program is the federal loan established due to the pandemic to help businesses pay workers, which received criticism for economic and racial disparity. “We got approximately $60,000. I was able to bring 90% of my people back. We got about 20 right now,” he said. “Had we not got that I don’t know whether or not we could’ve survived, but right now we are pulling our own.”

During the first coronavirus closures, they closed the restaurant for nearly six weeks. They’re back open daily, but no longer serving breakfast. Indoor dining is allowed, but few customers dine in, said manager Sharon McKennie.

“I used to do it all day,” said Alexander laughing. “I am doing well, but I stay away. I comes in the morning when no one is here and I try to leave when we open. I own the two-flat next door so the first floor is my office. I go there and watch the cameras and talk with people out the window. I don’t let too many people come in, because I am afraid.”

Yet he remains hopeful.

“I had my first COVID shot Saturday so I’m looking forward to the next one. It was a good feeling to receive that injection,” said Alexander.

He’s already scheduled for his second vaccine shot on Feb. 17 at the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center. “I’m a disabled veteran,” he said. “I lost a limb in Vietnam.”

Alexander attended his last year at Mississippi Valley State University in 1968, he said. In 1969, he went to serve in the Vietnam War.

“I came here when I got out of the service,” said Alexander. “I had a sister here and they always said if you couldn’t make it in Chicago then you couldn’t make it no place. It was supposed to be temporarily, but I ended up staying.”

He got a job working at the main Jewel supermarket warehouse. In 1972 he opened a record shop called Mac’s Music on Lake Street at Damen Avenue near the Henry Horner Homes.

“We opened the restaurant in ’97,” said Alexander. “I don’t know if I should say this or not, but I used to go to Manny’s a lot. I liked the way that they operated so I kind of modeled mine after Manny’s.” The Jewish deli, famous for corned beef sandwiches, also operates cafeteria-style.

The original MacArthur’s location transformed a closed tavern across the street from the current location.

“When white flight started, people left the neighborhood and boarded up buildings,” said Alexander. “I’ve been in the neighborhood since ’75, and had a lot of friends, and knew the good peoples outweighed the bad ones. So I figured they deserved something nice. There was no sit-down restaurant in the neighborhood at that time. Then I got into buying real estate.

“I really wanted to do something for the neighborhood and hire workers from the neighborhood,” he said. “I had no idea that it would work, but I tried it and thank God, because it’s the best thing that ever happened to me.”

Alexander has had help from day one from McKennie, his niece and manager. She protectively mentions the sudden death of his late wife, Albertine Alexander, in 2019, and that the Alexanders’ only child, Vanessa Cobbins, also works at the restaurant as a manager. “Right now, they’re the only family I can see on a regular basis,” said McKennie.

She managed MacArthur’s through the early pandemic shortages. “It was hard to get greens and the price of cheese was so high,” said McKennie. “We had to stop short ribs for a while, because the price was just ridiculous. Our goal is to try to keep prices comfortable so people within the neighborhood could come. That’s why we don’t do a lot of steaks. We had to cut the ox tails. We took off cube steaks. We would’ve had to charge $15 a plate and we didn’t want to do that. I think our highest meal now is $11.99 or $12.99 and that’s for short ribs, because even though the price went up so high, people were requesting it.”

The dressing, also known as stuffing to some, will have to wait.

“We haven’t had our homemade dressing, because the people who make it are older and they don’t feel comfortable coming back yet,” she said. “We didn’t expect to go through Thanksgiving and Christmas, and not to have dressing for Thanksgiving was really hard.”

When everything is back to 100%, they will bring everything back, said McKennie.

Meanwhile, Alexander took himself off the payroll last March.

“I’m 75 and I am not here to make money anymore,” he said. “I want to keep people employed. I’m here for the people in the neighborhood. We closed down for about six weeks because I didn’t want to put no one in harm’s way. I pray that we get back to normal. We probably won’t ever in my lifetime, but I just hope things get better.”

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