During Black History Month, there are many ways to honor and celebrate African and African American culture. One of them is to support Black-owned businesses by enjoying their food. The Capitol region is home to hundreds of Black-owned restaurants that offer a variety of foods: Italian, Jamaican, African, pizza, barbecue, juices, breakfasts.

Deivone Tanksley, who owns My Wife Didn’t Cook in New Britain, said opening his soul food-dominant restaurant was a way of sharing his culture with the public.

“It represents a lot. We are a diverse country. It represents unity. As different cultures, we all share different values, but we learn from one another. We eat each others’ food,” Tanksley said. “We learn cultures in different ways. That’s what makes us strong as a community and as a country.”

Nigel Clarke, who owns Juiced Up juice bar in Hartford, said, “Passing on a culture is definitely part of what we endeavor to do,” but he said there is another important message.

“Black-owned businesses, we are here, we are abundant and we are trying to make a difference in the community,” he said.

Here is a sampling of the food choices to be had when patronizing Black-owned restaurants. The list is not all inclusive. Many are operating under COVID-19 hours, or doing takeout only. Check websites for details. For more than 200 more Black-owned restaurants in Connecticut, visit shopblackct.com/restaurantscatering.html.

Juices

Juiced Up, 231 Asylum St. in Hartford. Monday-Wednesday and Friday 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., Thursdays 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. 860-247-2292 facebook.com/juicedupjb

Nigel Clarke was born in Jamaica. He brings the flavors of his childhood to Juiced Up. “My mother’s Irish Sea Moss uses seaweed harvested from the ocean, which is tremendous in medicinal benefits,” Clarke said. “That and peanut punch are our two most popular juices.” Other juices, smoothies, shots and boosters are made using fruits, vegetables, herbs, spices, algae, honey and nondairy milks. For 15 years, Clarke has catered to health-conscious diners in downtown Hartford. “I had gone to California a long time ago and I saw Jamba Juice. It was pretty eye-opening, to see the line wrapped around the building,” he said. Juiced Up also sells salads, wraps and vegetarian and vegan options. “We’re not heavy on the frying, the fat, the frozen. Everything we do is fresh, only on a grill, using minimal oil,” he said.

Barbecue

Thomas’ Smokey Pit Stop, 182 Middle Turnpike West in Manchester. Wednesday-Saturday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. 860-646-1400 thomassmokeypitstop.com

Darryl Thomas grew up in New Jersey, but the flavors he brings to Thomas’ Smokey Pit Stop come from his family’s native North Carolina. “My barbecue traditions come from my father and father’s brothers. Side dishes from my mother, my grandmother, my sister and her candied yams,” Thomas said. The business got off to a rocky start. Its opening date was March 18, 2020, two days after Gov. Ned Lamont shut down all eat-in restaurants. “We thought we knew everything about opening a restaurant. We had to think outside the box,” Thomas said. On the fly, he perfected his online ordering system and opened as takeout-only. People of Manchester were supportive. “I can’t say enough about the community,” he said. Thomas’ sells sandwiches, platters, chicken, pork, sausage and beef, as well as wings and sides.

Senegalese-Gambian

Stella’s African Eatery, 461 Capitol Ave. in Hartford. Tuesday-Saturday 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. 860-308-2175 eatsomethinggood.com

Stella’s African Eatery in Hartford, owned and operated by deLinda “Stella” Jagne, holds up the tradition of Senegambian food, from her family’s native Senegal and Gambia. “People call and say, ‘You sell African food? Do you have this or that?’ What they’re asking for is more Ghana and Nigeria. It goes to show that even across Africa, cuisines are different,” Jagne said. She sprinkles in Southern dishes such as grits and cornbread. Stella’s has no standing menu. Offerings change daily, with meat and vegan options, rices, salads and sides, seasoned with African spices. “I don’t eat leftovers. I never enjoyed them growing up. So I figure if I want to eat something different every day, other people might like to eat something different every day. It also allows me to cook fresh every day,” Jagne said.

Ethiopian

Lalibela, 176 Temple St. in New Haven. Monday-Saturday 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., Sundays 5 to 9 p.m. 203-789-1232 lalibelarestaurantct.com

Like Stella’s, Lalibela showcases a unique African cuisine: Ethiopian. Wub Tessema, a native of Addis Ababa, opened Lalibela in New Haven in 1999 with his brother. Eight years later, the brother moved on and Wub’s wife Shilmat jumped in. The eatery was named after a medieval holy city in Ethiopia. Diners who get pickup at Lalibela eat food not with utensils but with injera, a crepe-like bread which is broken into pieces to pick up the food. Vegetarian and vegan dishes predominate, but chicken, beef, lamb and seafood dishes are on the menu, too, seasoned with Ethiopian spices. “I grew up in a big family and I learned to cook from my mother,” Shilmat Tessema said. Tessema wants to showcase a lesser-known cuisine. “You can find a lot of Indian and Chinese food places. We want to be a part of it all,” she said.

Jamaican

Dunn’s River, 2996 Main St. in Hartford. Monday-Thursday 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday-Saturday 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., Sunday 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. 860-547-1600 facebook.com.

Mark Brown has owned Dunn’s River, on Main Street in Hartford, for about 13 years. Originally he wanted call the place City Rock. Then a voice spoke to him. “I woke up at 4:15 in the morning with this name right in my head, of a tourist attraction from Jamaica, Dunn’s River Falls. I thought, that’s going to be a catchy name,” Brown said. Since then, Dunn’s River has become one of the most famous Jamaican places in a city that is home to dozens of Jamaican places. “We don’t overpower our food with spice. We keep it right in the middle,” Brown said. He sells the traditional jerk chicken, curry goat, whiting fish, escovich fish, pepper steak, oxtail and other meat dishes, as well as salads, rotis and bakery and pasta items. “I feel good about showing the world my culture,” Brown said.

International Fusion

50 West, 50 W. Main St., Plainville. Wednesday-Saturday 4 to 9 p.m. 860-351-5066 50westrestaurant.com

Cassandra Keola is a native of the tiny Caribbean island nation of Barbados. Her husband Vin’s ancestry is from the other side of the globe, in Thailand and Laos. Their dinner restaurant, 50 West in Plainville, is worldwide in scope, with elements of different international cuisines, including Italian pasta, Polish pierogis, Thai drunken noodle, New England seafood dishes, Chinese fried rice, Mexican chili and a hybrid sandwich called “Cubanh Mi,” which combines the traditional Vietnamese pork sandwich with jalapenos and a spicy aioli. Another kind of aioli, made with sriracha, pays homage to Vin Keola’s Thai roots. As for Barbados, “in some dishes we use strong seasonings, cumin, different type of curry, scotch bonnet peppers,” Vin Keola said. “I changed most of the menu to fit in more of our flavors.”

Vegan

Fire-N-Spice, 491 Capitol Ave. in Hartford. Tuesday-Saturday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. 860-519-0476 fireandspiceveganrestaurant.com

Fire-N-Spice, in a tiny storefront on Capitol Avenue in Hartford, is three kinds of restaurants. It’s Jamaican, with dishes such as jerk tofu, run dung, patties and ital stew. It’s Indian, serving dal and chole. And everything is vegan. There’s tempeh, tahini, seitan, quinoa, vegetable soups and a tempting array of fruit smoothies. Owner Garfield Haylett, and his wife Jamilia Crawford, offer 15 to 19 entrée options a day. “He opened Fire-N-Spice to have healthy food options for our community,” Crawford said. “There’s a lot of education that goes into veganism. It’s important to expose people to that lifestyle. People need to know that you can have flavor in your food without having meat and dairy.” Crawford also is proud of her dairy-free dessert lineup: ice cream, gluten-free cupcakes, whoopie pies and cookies.

Comfort Food

My Wife Didn’t Cook, 89 West Main St. in New Britain. Tuesday-Thursday 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday-Saturday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Sunday 1 to 7 p.m. 860-259-6987 mywifedidntcook.info

Deivone Tanksley wanted people to remember his restaurant. “A lot of people make their names ‘Chicken This’ or ‘Jessica’s Famous That.’ I came up with ‘My Wife Didn’t Cook’ and my wife approved,” Tanksley said. He opened the restaurant in his native New Britain two years ago to make soul food, and then some. “We try not to put ourselves in a box. We’re not just soul food,” he said. The menu offers ribs, catfish, chicken, shrimp, pork chops and “soul food egg rolls” with chicken, macaroni, greens and yams. In the early days of the pandemic, the restaurant made 800 chicken sandwiches and gave them away free. “Within one hour they were gone,” Tanksley said. “A few days later, people we didn’t even know started sending us money to help us out.” He now has a satellite location at Buckland Hills mall.

Italian

Tosca, 68 Bridge St., Suffield. Monday-Saturday 4:30 to 10 p.m. 860-668-0273 toscasuffield.com

Kevin Cousin grew up in Northampton, Massachusetts. He started out at an Italian restaurant there and fell in love with Italian cooking. “Everybody loves spaghetti and meatballs, but it’s much deeper than that. So much culture goes behind it,” Cousin said. He worked as sous and executive chef at other eateries, including Harvest in Cambridge. Cousin learned to make pastries at Cordon Bleu in Paris. He has a degree from UMass. In Italy, Cousin learned about wine and pasta making. For 11 years, he has been chef and owner of Tosca in Suffield. “I wanted a small, unique, intimate restaurant. I knew it was my niche,” he said. Six days a week he makes his own pasta, bread and ice cream. The menu changes seasonally, and includes Shrimp Malfade, Orecchiette and Sausage, Tortellini Giorgio and Beef Carpaccio.

Pizza

Bro’s Dough, 448 New Britain Ave. in Hartford. Sunday-Thursday 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., Friday-Saturday 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. 860-206-7125 bros-dough-pizzeria.business.site

Walden St. Juste owns and operates Bro’s Dough pizza in Hartford with George Lys and Adrian Bakrina, his buddies from Bulkeley High. They opened the restaurant in August, when the coronavirus pandemic was bearing down. “At first we thought it was a bad idea. … But it benefited us that we don’t serve anything but takeout food. So it turned out to be an awesome experience, as far as getting sales and support from the community,” St. Juste said. It also helped that everyone loves pizza. “Pizza is universal. And the pizza we sell is different than the other pizza in the neighborhood, where most are Greek style. Our is a thin crust with dough freshly made,” he said. Pizzas come with red sauce, pesto, barbecue sauce, buffalo sauce or bourbon sauce, and the Bros also sell calzones, wings, sandwiches and sides.

Susan Dunne can be reached at sdunne@courant.com.