Eat Florida Avenue Grill, Washington, DC

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Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. strategized the 1963 March on Washington at the Florida Avenue Grill, which claims to be the world’s oldest continuously operating soul food restaurant. It barely survived the riots that erupted after his assassination in 1968, thanks largely to its owner, Lacey C. Wilson, Sr., who stood guard with his shotgun at the front door. Wilson opened the grill in 1944, in the midst of segregated D.C., with the dream of creating a place where people of different races, social standings, and religions could enjoy a meal together. Back then, he and his wife, Bertha, cooked in the basement. Their son, Lacey Wilson, Jr., bought a majority interest in 1970 and went on to purchase adjacent lots. And though he sold the restaurant in 2005, it remains standing almost exactly as it was, full of memories—though don’t be alarmed to see the odd salad and vegan sausage patty appearing on the menu amid the pancakes, half-smokes, chitterlings, and peach cobbler.

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