Eat Brenda's Bar-B-Que Pit, Montgomery, Alabama

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Jereline Bethune established Brenda’s with her husband, Larry James, in 1942. After he died in 1956, she kept the restaurant running alone. She became involved in the Civil Rights Movement during the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955 and 1956, and Brenda’s became a gathering place for organizers. They ran printing machines to make fliers announcing different meetings, hiding their activities from the local KKK. She also held secret meetings in the back of the restaurant, where she taught Black people how to read and write so they could pass literacy tests—and vote. Today, the restaurant, reigning as Montgomery’s oldest Black-owned barbecue restaurant, is run by Jereline’s son and granddaughter, who still receive much love for their barbecue chicken. The pig ears are worth a try, too. As always, order at the window and take it away.

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