{"id":207464,"date":"2026-03-26T21:35:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T21:35:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/207464\/"},"modified":"2026-03-26T21:35:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T21:35:08","slug":"how-black-owned-restaurants-are-shaping-tallahassees-culture-the-famuan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/207464\/","title":{"rendered":"How Black-owned\u00a0restaurants\u00a0are\u00a0shaping Tallahassee\u2019s\u00a0culture\u00a0 \u2013 The FAMUAN"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Signage of Midtown & 3rd. (Jovanna McLaren-Wade\/FAMUAN)<\/p>\n

In a college town filled with so many chain restaurants,\u00a0students\u00a0may sometimes crave a meal that feels like home.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Tallahassee metro area has\u00a0about 549 Black-owned businesses total,\u00a0representing\u00a0around 7% of all businesses. Of\u00a0these\u00a0businesses\u00a0about\u00a020 to 25 are restaurants, including\u00a0full-service restaurants, quick-service restaurants, food trucks,\u00a0bakeries and dessert shops, and\u00a0catering businesses, according to\u00a0VisitTallahasee.com.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

After eating fast food so often,\u00a0locals and students\u00a0look for local restaurants that offer comforting, home-style\u00a0meals.\u00a0Kenidee\u00a0Webster, a FAMU alumni and Tallahassee native, says\u00a0these restaurants bring a sense of\u00a0peace beyond their\u00a0meals.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a Tallahassee native and FAMU\u00a0alum,\u00a0I would definitely\u00a0recommend Midtown\u00a0& 3rd\u00a0to students,\u201d Webster said.\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s\u00a0close to campus,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0a comfort area, and it provides the comfort dishes that they would\u00a0probably be\u00a0looking for.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The restaurant is also known as a place for people to celebrate.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI entered FAMU\u00a0Fall\u00a02015,\u00a0and we celebrated our\u00a010-year\u00a0anniversary at Midtown & 3rd,\u201d\u00a0Webster\u00a0said.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

A close up of Midtown & 3rd\u2019s menu. (Jovanna McLaren-Wade\/FAMUAN)<\/p>\n

Midtown & 3rd\u00a0is a spin off restaurant of the food truck Leola\u2019s Crab Shack. Owner Eric McKinnon wanted more of a sit-down type of restaurant that offers a wide range of menu items that college students enjoy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Midtown & 3rd\u00a0has received an immense amount of support from the community\u00a0over the past year\u00a0of\u00a0being open\u00a0and continues to celebrate\u00a0the\u00a0FAMU culture in several ways.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have drinks that are named after things\u00a0that are\u00a0on\u00a0campus,\u00a0some of the campus cliches\u00a0that they use,\u201d McKinnon said.\u00a0\u201cWe have drinks named after them.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

While\u00a0the restaurant\u00a0is a\u00a0\u2013Black-owned business, they do not limit themselves\u00a0to\u00a0just\u00a0that.\u00a0They\u00a0invite people\u00a0from everywhere to\u00a0come and enjoy\u00a0their food, as well as the ambience.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe open our doors to all\u00a0\u2026 we can offer the same professionalism and quality that any other restaurant can,\u201d McKinnon\u00a0said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

On the other side of town right near campus, students enjoy breakfast daily from\u00a0local seasoned restaurants.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Brianna Cook, a senior health informatics major, says she regularly supports Olean\u2019s Cafe because of its food and its proximity to campus.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI go there because the food is good, it\u2019s close to campus, I can make a quick stop\u00a0for breakfast, eat in there, and do what I need to do before I go to class,\u201d Cook said.\u00a0\u201cI feel like it contributes to Tallahassee because\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0a black owned restaurant.\u00a0\u2026 I feel like\u00a0Olean\u2019s gives that sense of home.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Signage of Midtown & 3rd. (Jovanna McLaren-Wade\/FAMUAN) In a college town filled with so many chain restaurants,\u00a0students\u00a0may sometimes…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":207465,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[232,234,233],"class_list":["post-207464","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tallahassee","tag-tallahassee","tag-tallahassee-headlines","tag-tallahassee-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207464","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=207464"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207464\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/207465"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=207464"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=207464"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=207464"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}