Pepsi Celebrates Black-Owned Restaurants Across The US With Free Food
August is National Black Business Month, which aims to highlight Black-owned businesses. And, Pepsi is celebrating by giving free food from selected Black-owned restaurants across the country.
The soft drink company will give out $100,000 worth of meals to foodies at 25 Black-owned restaurants in Los Angeles, Nashville, Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia, and other cities on Saturday, August 19, 2023. Foodies can go to PepsiDigIn.com/DigInDay for more information on participating restaurants. Complimentary meals include side dishes and entrees.
Pepsi is also encouraging people to celebrate National Black Business Month by snapping and uploading a picture of a meal from a Black-owned restaurant on social media. If you're lucky enough you can win $5,000 and an additional $5,000 donation to the restaurant just by tagging in the photo the restaurant and Pepsi Dig In. The sweepstake will take place from August 1 to 31.
Other ways to celebrate with Pepsi
August 19, 2023, is Pepsi Dig In Day, which is part of a larger initiative called Pepsi Dig In that aims to support and highlight Black-owned restaurants since 2020. This year, Pepsi Dig In will spotlight Black chefs and Black owned-restaurants through various events.
Four Black chefs will be part of week-long residencies at Platform by the James Beard Foundation in New York City, which is "a show kitchen and event space for culinary arts programming," according to the press release. Chefs John Cleveland of Post & Beam in Los Angeles, Shenarri Freeman of Cadence in New York City, Ricky Moore of Saltbox Seafood Joint in Durham, North Carolina, and Maya-Camille Broussard of Justice of the Pies in Chicago will host cooking demonstrations and workshops.
In addition to giving out free food on Pepsi Dig In Day, the brand will host a block party in Washington, D.C. The block party will take place at Sandlot Anacostia, an outdoor venue in Anacostia, a historically Black neighborhood. The event will feature several local Black-owned restaurants such as Roaming Rooster, Jerk@Nite, and Money Muscle BBQ. There will also be performances by Grammy Award-nominated artist Pusha T, as well as Alex Vaughn, Black Alley, DJ Five9, and DJ Money.