Ep 32: Black-Owned Diner Survives 50+ Years in South Central LA: Meet the Woman in Charge!
Jack Davenport opened a diner in south-central Los Angeles specializing in home-style soul food back in 1969 near the intersection of Western Ave. and what is today, Martin Luther King Blvd.
Because he wanted to make it a family business, he named the diner Jack's Family Kitchen.
Well, life throws you curves, and Jack's marriage didn't work out. Luckily for him, a woman named LaFay owned a hair salon right around the corner from Jack's, and he spent the next ten years pursuing her. Fay finally said yes but kept her business and built it into the largest hair salon in Los Angeles with a fancy Wilshire Ave. address.
After Jack passed away in 2012 (and thirty years of marriage to Fay), Fay honored Jack's wishes to keep the popular diner open at all costs--and it hasn't always been easy.
Fay, who is coming up on her 80th birthday, offers her thoughts and insights on a host of topics including:
*Working hard to keep the doors open for the benefit of employees, their families, and the south-central community as a whole.
* Race relations in America.
*Reparations.
*Bad hair.
*A rooster-crowing customer who's in love with her.
*Personal responsibility.
*Her relationship with God.
*Her hope for Jack's and the south-central L.A. community.
I think you'll find Fay Davenport a breath of fresh air; a woman with valuable life experience and a healthy dose of postive-can-do-it attitude.
Diner Info:
Jack's Family Kitchen
3965 S. Western Ave.
Los Angeles, CA. 90062
323-296-5215
www.jacksfamilykitchen.com
