Atiya Ola’s Spirit First Foods
310 S. 48th St., Philadelphia
Owned by Atiya Ola
Sam Jenkins ’21, Social Media Manager
“We specialize in vegan, vegetarian and raw foods. We’ve been in business over 13 years. We’ve been in a brick-and-mortar for 11 years. What inspired me to start was my brother-in-law got married and he was upset about how they made the couscous and the cost of it. We have people travel here to get food because there’s not too many places in West Philadelphia that specialize in raw food. We specialize in raw food, [stir-fry], health drinks. We carry vegan cakes, and occasionally we make raw pies.”
All The Way Live
6108 Germantown Ave., Germantown
8419 Germantown Ave., Chestnut Hill
Owned by Nyeisha Cabiness and Beverly Medley
Elaina Wall ’21, Asst. Features Editor
“All the Way Live is a vegan restaurant. We specialize in raw live food, which is food that is prepared in a way that uses raw ingredients or uses heat under 116 degrees to keep the integrity of the food. We also [offer] cooked vegan dishes. Our aim is to uplift the health of the community. The only thing you have is your health, to go about carrying out your mission in life, and we offer cuisine that keeps you on that path. This means so much to me and my daughter, because our community suffers a lot, and the country in general now is suffering a lot from poor health.”
Dibbs BBQ
5617 Lancaster Ave., Philadelphia
Owned by Darren Pearson and Pierrette Pearson
Kaylah Hernandez ’23, Hawk Staff
“We are a family run business. We sell slow-cooked authentic barbecue. We provide high quality and freshly prepared foods at affordable prices. We use a special base and homemade barbecue sauce that allows our customers to share and enjoy the great taste of barbecue in a welcoming friendly backyard environment. Once customers come to our establishment, we treat them like family. They are all inducted into the barbecue family, that’s what we call it here.”
Bossy Brows
Owned by Onisha Claire
29 Bala Ave., Bala Cynwyd
Nenagh Sheehan ’21, Asst. Features Editor
“Bossy Brows is one of the premier destinations for your brow maintenance, restoration and DIY brow care, plus we are an authority in education for beauty professionals. Being a Black-owned business means that both consumers and professionals can find representation and knowledge specific to the needs and concerns of people of color. My goal for Bossy Brows is to establish that the idea of beauty and what it is to be beautiful is accessible to everyone [and] there are no limitations and countless possibilities.”
Hakim’s Bookstore
210 S. 52nd St., Philadelphia
Owned by Yvonne Blake
Nenagh Sheehan ’21, Asst. Features Editor
“Hakim’s Bookstore specializes in books on African American history, children’s books, health, religion and self-help. We also carry Afrocentric gift items and jewelry. We provide a resource for the community to obtain books not often carried in mainstream bookstores that educate not just African Americans but all about our history that has long been omitted from the history books and not taught in schools. We are also a source of encouragement to others that may want to be entrepreneurs.”
