HAMPTON ROADS, Va. — A new initiative is encouraging Hampton Roads residents to be intentional about where they eat this month — and to consider supporting minority-owned restaurants in the process.
Seko Varner, founder of the Hampton Roads Greenbook, launched "Green September," a monthlong campaign spotlighting local minority-owned restaurants listed in his app — which also spotlights women- and veteran-owned businesses.
"'Go Green,' you think about environment and so the environment we're talking about is economics," Varner said. "And so the Go Green simply means go to some of these restaurants that we normally don't think about. They're not the franchises with big budgets for advertisements, but they have great food."
The Hampton Roads Greenbook takes its name from the historic travel guide that provided Black families with safe destinations during the segregation era. Varner launched the modern version of the guide as an app nearly two years ago, he saw "a really interesting moment here to fix some of the problems" — problems he described as keeping money local and ensuring people intentionally include minority-owned businesses among those they support.
Green September focuses specifically on restaurants. One of those businesses is Blackeyed Peas, a restaurant on Granby Street in downtown Norfolk that opened 7 months ago by owner Cynthia Terry.
"I've always wanted to have my own place," Terry said.
Terry says business is going well and customers have their favorite dishes, including her fish plates. But rising food and supply costs have created challenges. She says the price of yams jumped from $29 to $62 a case.
Terry says being part of Green September is coming at the right time. Her restaurant is one of three Granby Street businesses downtown that are listed in the Hampton Roads Greenbook.
"It's really important that you do support us. We are the mom and pops. We are the backbone of everything that's going on. We keep people alive. We keep the business moving," Terry said.
Varner is also encouraging customers to leave reviews on the Greenbook app after visiting participating restaurants.
"We do business with people we know, like and trust and we refer people to businesses we know, like and trust," Varner said.
Visit HRGreenbook.com for a full list of restaurants to support.
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