LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) – In an industry where one in three restaurants fail in their first year, Back Deck BBQ owner Chan Nelson is making a go of it.
Opening in south Louisville in 2021 near Iroquois Park, a modest lunchtime crowd suggests he is beating the odds. But Nelson said winning over broad community support is slow.
“They want to support,” Nelson said. “But being a Black-owned business, it’s like it takes them more time to support, or you don’t have as many chances with support.”
Still, Nelson is willing to take his chances. The former fourth grade teacher perfected his sweet, smoky barbecue literally on his back deck.
Six years later, he’s in his first brick and mortar location and participating in 502 Black Eats Week, a promotion created by Tiandra Robinson to encourage support for Black-owned restaurants in Louisville.
“To continue to support these businesses,” Robinson said. “It goes beyond 502 Black Eats Week. And make sure people understand that Black-owned doesn’t mean Black only. These businesses don’t exist to serve an audience of just Black people. They want people from everywhere.”
Reinaldo Murphy, owner of 502 Melt in Fern Creek also signed up to participate in 502 Black Eats Week.
He took a similar path, from a food truck to the brick and mortar store on Bardstown Road.
The hip-hop themed bar and restaurant serves up hot sandwiches with a beat. A star on his menu is a buffalo chicken sandwich loaded with cheese and a side of hip-hop, even in the kitchen.
“It will definitely make you bop,” Murphy said. “It will definitely give you a bop for sure.”
Murphy believes in his menu and his vision. He said more access to capital would make his future clearer.
“We had to basically generate sales before we even try to go get funding,” Murphy said, “just to show we were a sustainable business to make sure that was something that was going to work.”
Murphy said the pandemic worked in his favor. Working out of a food truck, he built his brand and built a customer base before opening a restaurant.
He is now working to attract new customers who want to dine in.
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