Chicago City Wire

As protests centered on racism rage across the country, a growing number of Chicago’s best-known restaurants are being rocked by similar discrimination claims in campaigns that have spread across several social media platforms.

The Chicago Tribune reported on June 11 that accusations are being hurled by current and former employees on social media and also include allegations of sexism, cultural appropriation and nonsupport for the Black Lives Matter movement.

So far, restaurants headed by Chef Stephanie Izard along with well-known places Fat Rice, One Off Hospitality Group, Honey Butter Fried Chicken and Kanela Breakfast Club are among those named, along with Nini’s Deli, which was forced to close its doors after back-to-back days of nonstop protesting, the Chicago Tribune reported. Those lobbing the accusations contend news about the eateries' poor treatment of minorities and women are well known across the industry, though this marks the first time that they have been voiced publicly.  

Former Fat Rice employee Joey Pham was among the first to speak out, the Chicago Tribune reported.

“I decided to speak on my own experience and call out someone within our community, someone that I considered part of our community but understood that he did not value any of us as part of his community,” he told The Chicago Tribune.

Pham accused management of showing little support for the Black Lives Matter movement and promptly fingered owner and Chef Abe Conlon as one of the biggest culprits, The Chicago Tribune reported. He isn’t the only one not to fondly recall his time at Fat Rice.

Cora Metrick-Chen remembers the restaurant having an English-only rule. She told the Chicago Tribune that the industry “replicates white supremacy” and the abuse people of color experience is “an extension of the same racist system that killed George Floyd.”

With the restaurant now closed and its path forward uncertain, Conlon admits there have been times when he has “lost his cool,” adding he very much regrets those times, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Former One Off Hospitality employee Evan Jones still struggles to put his time at that establishment into context.

“It’s great that they have a restaurant that celebrates [black culture] in some capacity, but if you’re going to celebrate that, you need to celebrate black culture, period,” Jones told the Chicago Tribune, referring to Dove’s Luncheonette, a Tex-Mex diner in Wicker Park that is influenced by black expression. 

“So when black members of your community are begging you to do something and to say something and donate, I see no other option than full support,” he told Chicago Tribune.

As part of its response, the company plans to partner with the Frontline Foods Chicago to feed Chicago Public School families and donate proceeds earned on Friday, June 12 to My Block, My Hood, My City with a match by company partners, the Chicago Tribune reported.

In the end, Pham said he is hoping all the restaurants now taking heat are moved to ask themselves the same question.

“The bigger question is why is this OK at Fat Rice and why is it OK at other restaurants,” he told the Chicago Tribune. “They’re paid and they’re awarded for profiting on and operating this kind of model. ... Accountability looks like the individuals taking a stand and taking responsibility and taking it upon themselves to make those changes.”