Food and Culture in Harlem

 What Type of Neighborhood is Harlem?

When someone thinks of Harlem, different ideas emerge in everyone’s mind. One might think of the history of the area, the way it was ten years ago, and how the area is today. In recent years, the Harlem area has been booming with new stores, residents, and tourists that are continuously changing the neighborhood, so it is not always easy to describe the type of neighborhood it is.

One aspect of Harlem that reflects the culture of the area in past years is the types of restaurants that we see. Restaurants attract new and old residents, students in the area, as well as tourists, which makes them excellent examples of the culture.

When walking through Harlem, we saw mostly African, Latin American, and Soul Food restaurants.

 

 

African Restaurants

With the large population of Blacks and Africans in the Harlem area, it is only natural to take a visit to try some authentic African cuisine. We stopped by at several of these restaurants, observing the other diners, the environment, and the staff to truly get a feel of the neighborhood.

 

Latin American Restaurants

There are many different styles of Latin American restaurants, the Harlem Area alone having about 60 to choose from. Latin American food consists of cuisines from Spanish-speaking countries We focused on El Porton, Jesus Taco, Picante, and Flor de Broadway in order to observe the type of restaurants they are and who is likely to dine there.

 

 

El Porton

 

El Porton is a classic Mexican restaurant. The food is fresh, authentic, and delicious. The staff is friendly and attentive. When you walk into this restaurant, you see mostly younger adults and college students, showing that people of all ages and cultures are attracted to this type of  restaurant

Jesus Taco

 

This type of restaurant is more of a take-out place. It mostly attracts people in the immediate area and only has one table.

Flor de Broadway

This restaurant is cafeteria-style with different specials of Latin American cuisine every day. It has an inexpensive and large lunch special, which makes it always busy and bustling. The food is fresh and the customers always look happy and satisfied. Most of the regular customers in this restaurants are Spanish-speaking and from the area, but there are many students and people working in the area from other cultures. This restaurant shows how food can bring together many cultures and types of people.

 

Picante

Picante has more a sports bar set up, attracting most of its customers for a late dinner. The customers are mostly older adults who are attracted to the good food and the large drink selection of the restaurant. This restaurant has a food for everybody and offers a sense of community, which attracts more native Harlem residents than the newer residents.

Soul Food Restaurants

Soul Food Restaurants provide cuisine popular among the culture of those in the Southern United States, and is often associated with a variety of black ethnicities. A traditional soul food meal consists of fried chicken with macaroni and cheese and collard greens. Most of the time, the employees and owners of these restaurants are also from multiple black ethnicities and we wondered if this feature of these restaurants in particular would results in deterring people from other cultures from eating in these restaurants. What we found was proof that New York City has enabled people from all cultures and ethnicities to break cultural barriers, at least in terms of food.

Margie’s Red Rose Diner

 

Photos courtesy of yelp.com

This restaurant is a small soul food, diner-style restaurant that provides its customers with a homey like feel. Customers know the owners by their names, Coco and her husband, Big Papa. These two run the entire restaurant and make a point to visit every single one of the customers eating to ensure that they get the best experience possible. When it came down to it, people said they appreciated the welcoming and attentive staff, as well as the delicious food, more than anything else about the place. It attracted people from all ages and cultures.

Sweet Mama’s Soul Food Restaurant and Bar

 

 

Photos courtesy of yelp.com

Sweet Mama’s is a buffet style restaurant that offers its customers fresh food quickly and relatively cheap. All of the employees at this restaurant were of a black ethnicity, but that didn’t stop people from all cultures from coming in and enjoying their convenient meals. The customers never commented on the fact that all of the employees were from the same ethnicity, instead they praised the freshness of the food that is offered quick enough to be enjoyed during their lunch hours from work. It also attracted people from all ages and ethnicities.

Amy Ruth’s

 

Photos courtesy of yelp.com

One of the most popular soul food restaurants in Harlem, Amy Ruth’s is a small, worn-down place that provides its customers with constancy. The owners here don’t feel the need to renovate every time something isn’t perfect. For instance, when one walks in you would immediately notice the chipping paint on the walls or the cracked tiles on the floor. They want to focus on keep their regular customers happy, rather than making the place seem nice to all newcomers. This place also attracted people from all ages and ethnicities and when asked, one customer claimed that it’s not so much the different cultures of people eating there that bothered him, more so it was the fact that he had to get there early to beat out the rush of tourists.

Sylvia’s Restaurant

 

 

Photos courtesy of yelp.com

Sylvia’s Restaurant is one of the most popular soul food restaurants in all of New York City. In fact, it is so popular that Sylvia’s is a name brand that can be found in the local supermarkets. Unlike Amy Ruth’s, it is constantly changing with the changing demographics of the Harlem area. This makes it hard for regular customers to feel at home, so it is mostly catered towards the incoming tourists. The older generation of people seem to not like this aspect of the restaurant, but they continue to go there anyway because they like the food. It doesn’t bother the younger generations of people that visit, they only care about eating well.

Most of the time this restaurant attracts people from all ages and ethnicities, but there is one exception. Sylvia’s offers four main menus to its customers: brunch, dinner, bar and Sunday Gospel. As one would expect, this Sunday Gospel menu is offered on Sundays immediately following morning mass. Unlike other times, this time and day seems to attract mainly people of black ethnicities. Even though food is successful at breaking cultural barriers, religion still is not.