#5: Chicken George
At one point, Chicken George was the largest-grossing Black-owned chicken restaurant in the United States, making $14 million a year from just nine restaurants. The chain had branches in Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Washington D.C. It was founded by Theodore Holmes, who spent $750K of his own money testing and developing the food himself.
Holmes founded his first Chicken George restaurant in 1979, and it was located in Baltimore’s Mondawmin Mall. The company also had a few franchises in Atlanta and LA. In 1991, the company was forced to file for bankruptcy due to economic hardship. It had spent twelve years in business.