Black Cowboy Museum
To Larry Callies—who founded and leads tours at the Rosenberg museum—being a cowboy is more than a Hollywood film or a costume. It's his father and his grandfather, he said. It’s where he comes from and who he is.
In addition to information on America’s Black cowboys, the museum showcases other impactful but lesser-known African American historical figures, such as inventor Lewis Howard Latimer—who worked alongside both Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Edison during the development of the telephone and the light bulb.
- 1104 Third St., Rosenberg
- www.blackcowboymuseum.com
This restaurant combines the owners' Dominican Republic Roots with Southern soul food cooking to provide flavorful home-cooked meals in a family-oriented environment.
A popular menu item at Comfort Foodies is its empanadas, such as chicken and cheese, beef and cheese, spinach and cheese, shrimp and cheese, and oxtail empanadas, served with housemade “Foodie Sauce.”
- 8128 N. Sam Houston Parkway W., Ste. B, Houston
- www.comfortfoodieshtx.com
In 2017, veteran and Good Eatz owner LaTroy Johnson set up a food tent in front of his mother's beauty salon, where he sold cakes, watermelon and sodas. Johnson said he viewed the food tent as a hobby while he worked at CenterPoint Energy.
After working for CenterPoint for eight years, Johnson decided to turn his hobby into a business. In 2020, Johnson shifted his tent hobby into a food truck, which later expanded into the Good Eatz restaurant.
- 8805 Jones Road, Ste. A-101, Jersey Village
- https://goodeatz713.com
At Gulf Coast Bread Pudding, there are seven flavors that are always on the menu, including vanilla and chocolate, along with rotating seasonal bread puddings, such as red velvet and pumpkin.
“There’s hundreds, thousands of different combinations of bread pudding that you can make,” owner Max Peters said. “It’s really limitless the different flavor profiles and things you can do with it.”
Peters said the most popular flavors of bread pudding are vanilla, white chocolate, banana and “anything with raisins.”
- 17001 FM 529, Houston
- www.gcbreadpudding.com
At this fast-casual soul food restaurant, oxtails and The Boss Seafood Stack are the most popular items, owner Max Bozeman said.
“You can expect some great, home-cooked food that you don’t have to spend six to seven hours preparing because we do it,” he said
As he planned his own restaurant, he was inspired by how his grandmother’s cooking brought people together, almost like magic, Bozeman said.
- 10009 Broadway St., Ste. 101, Pearland
- www.thegreasyspoonhtx.com
The Gripper Kitchen name comes from the menu’s oversized sandwiches that are hard to grasp with one hand. While most of The Gripper’s sandwiches include fried chicken, guests can also choose from catfish, fried lobster and grilled salmon.
A father of three, family is woven into the fabric of The Gripper, which chef and owner Rytonie Durden manages with his wife. The Granddaddy Gripper, a salmon sandwich, is named after Durden’s grandfather Louis Johnson, who loved salmon. Although his grandfather died in 2020, Durden honored him by opening on Valentine’s Day, his grandfather’s birthday.
- 9517 Broadway St., Ste. 103, Pearland
- www.thegripperkitchen.com
Students must be at least 16 years old and have a seventh-grade education to enroll in one of the school's two program tracks, including Class A Barber and Cosmetology to Barber Crossover training. Both programs include theory classes, practical mannequin work and hands-on clientele practice. The courses prepare students for the state board licensing applications and evaluations, according to the website.
Owner Alfred Ross said the Jean Percy School of Barbering is different because it emphasizes financial education, marketing and real-world experience through field trips. The school prepares students to run their own businesses, not just to become barbers.
“A paycheck is what they give you to forget your dreams,” Ross said. “If anybody’s out there who has any kind of creative bone in their body, especially when it comes to hair, go for your dreams. Bet on yourself, bet on you. That’s one of our slogans for our students.”
- 11123 McCracken Circle, Ste. C, Cypress
- Facebook: Jean Percy School of Barbering
Stacey Smith opened Orange Lee's PoBoys & Wings to bring authentic New Orleans cuisine to Houston while honoring her late mother, Orange Lee Smith, in September 2022.
“She died on June 1, 2021, and she always dreamed about opening a restaurant,” Smith said.
Orange Lee's PoBoys & Wings specializes in authentic New Orleans cuisine, including po’boys, seafood gumbo, chicken and sausage gumbo, wings, and Camellia red beans.
- 11308 Huffmeister Road, Houston
- https://orangelees.square.site
Husband and wife Olatee Thanni-Wright and Temitayo Thanni-Wright launched Olatee African Cafe on Nov. 19, 2022, to showcase African history and introduce African cuisine to the Spring area.
The restaurant was a result of their grocery store Olatee African Mart’s expansion as well as Temitayo Thanni-Wright's passion for cooking.
“It's been our longtime dream, and so we got this space for it after the Chinese restaurant closed down,” Olatee Thanni-Wright said.
- 409 Sawdust Road, Spring
- www.olateeafricancafe.com
In April 2023, Park Place began operating as a steakhouse downstairs, and a live music and event venue upstairs, often hosting hip hop or R&B bingo, galas and live bands.
Owner RC Simmons, who is also a singer and the restaurant's executive chef, said he wanted to create a place in Katy for the people who like live jazz and R&B.
“There was nowhere in Katy where you could [consistently] go to hear some [saxophone] or hear a good, soulful singer,” he said. “If you wanted [that], you had to go downtown—but the market is here.”
- 25551 Kingsland Blvd., Ste. C102, Katy
- www.parkplacekaty.com
Willie Richard II, affectionately known by his family as "Uncle Honey," started his business out of the desire to have his grandmother’s tea cakes again.
Tea cakes, which “have the crunch of a cookie and the fluff of a cake,” hold cultural significance among African Americans, Willie Richard II said.
He said enslaved people learned to make tea cakes and passed on the recipes by word of mouth. He said they have long been a key part of celebrating Juneteenth and represent the storied history of southern Black Americans.
“We specialize not only in just what some people consider a cookie,” he said. “It's more than a cookie—it's heritage.”
- 1250 Texas Parkway, Ste. J, Stafford
- Facebook: Uncle Honey's Home Style Desserts
Wanderstay Boutique Hotel is a 10-room, themed hotel for business and leisure travelers as well as small groups who are 18 years old or older.
The business, located in east downtown Houston, is marketed as the only Black-owned hotel in the area. Deidre Mathis, owner and founder of the Wanderstay Hybrid Hospitality Group, started off by establishing a hostel in Houston's Third Ward that features private and shared accommodations. The hospitality group's website credits her as the first Black woman to own a hostel in the United States.
- 520 Sampson St., Houston
- www.wanderstayboutiquehotel.com
