On Their 6th Anniversary, EatOkra's Founders Are Setting New Business Vows

A small-scale effort to galvanize New York eaters has grown into an award-winning brand connecting more than 600,000 diners to a global network of restaurants.

By EatOkra

New to Brooklyn in 2016, Anthony and Janique Edwards shared many things, including a new apartment without a stove or refrigerator and a hungry desire to get to know their new community. This meant dining out was a given, but they wanted to do so with intention—by patronizing local Black-owned restaurants.

The idea to start a personal database blossomed from there—“a tool,” as Janique refers to it, “to share with our family and friends with hope that they would find it useful for finding where to eat.” It wasn’t long before they realized this “tool” could help more people and serve a need that extended far beyond their household.

Enter: A restaurant directory app. In the early stages of fleshing out their formal business concept, Anthony and Janique originally intended to keep things hyperlocal. Then, one Harlem brunch changed everything. “There was a woman sitting next to us,” says Janique. “She was also eating and I said to Anthony, ‘Why don't you share the app with her, and get her thoughts on it?’ So he told her about it. She later shared it with a lot of her sorority sisters who were all in Atlanta. And they were like, ‘You know, this is great, but there's nothing like this locally here in Atlanta.’”

That was the push to expand the reach of EatOkra beyond New York. EatOkra (named to honor the okra plant as a symbol of the African Diaspora) has leaned on community to help power its growth ever since. “Never in a million years did we think this would turn into what it’s turned into,” says Anthony.

Today, the award-winning directory connects more than 600,000 people to more than 17,000 restaurants around the country, with plans to expand globally.

August 9, 2024 marks Anthony and Janique's 6th wedding anniversary—and the duo is making room to set new vows for their business, too. This includes the promise of an inaugural Culinary Creatives Conference (3C), taking place in New York City on October 13. The event is aimed at celebrating and connecting like-minded culinary leaders and enthusiasts, with panels, food demos, tastings, and a business marketplace all under one roof.

The founders sat down to reflect on EatOkra’s evolution and what they have in store to continue maximizing its ongoing impact.

When you first launched EatOkra, what did you hope it would be?

Janique: We knew we wanted to build something that would be a connector, but this idea of connection has evolved for us as we’ve learned more about businesses and what they need, the audiences they’re trying to get in front of, and how we can kind of be that glue. There’s so much that the Black culinary ecosystem encompasses and we’ve discovered all the ways we can be a part of it.

What are some of the ways in which you’ve measured EatOkra’s success?

Anthony: We’ve partnered with various brands including Pepsi Dig In for many years to produce events and campaigns, and now we’re producing our own conference. We powered $100,000 grants in partnership with UberEats and Dine Diaspora. It’s also been fulfilling to get inducted into different societies like Hennessy’s “Never Stop Never Settle Society.” We’ve received the 2021 App Store Developer Award from Apple and the 2024 Black Tech Achievement Award (App Of The Year) presented by JPMorgan and Chase. None of this felt like it was even a possibility when we were creating it.

Janique: One of the biggest accomplishments was being the first sponsor for the Black Women in Food Summit and being named a Black Women in Food honoree, and just understanding the importance of creating these types of spaces.

Anthony: But above all, we measure success by how we’re making a difference with restaurants. Are they happy with the product? Are users happy with the product? How many partnerships can we build that are providing real value to the restaurant operators? The same goes for CPG brands, now that we’re also venturing into that space. We also measure success by our growing team and network of supporters, who have helped EatOkra reach much greater heights than we could have achieved alone.

What are you most excited about when it comes to the EatOkra’s future?

Janique: In addition to our upcoming Culinary Creatives Conference, it’s definitely The Roux—our new editorial platform on EatOkra.com. From the onset, we really wanted to invest in storytelling, and we’re finally able to. Black food is so rich, so diverse, so vast, and there are some many interesting intricacies within the space. We think it’s important to provide this visibility.

Anthony: The Roux completes the story. It’s that binding agent that brings together everything we’re trying to do with EatOkra—as a discovery platform, a directory and a marketplace. It’s the vehicle that’s hopefully going to drive purchasing decisions.