Khalid Bey remembers Benn’s Kitchen. Now a common councilor representing the Fourth District, which contained both the East Washington Street and later South Salina Street locations of the once reputed soul food restaurant, Bey recalled the venue. “It was a community gathering place. The owner was well acquainted with the people in the immediate area, including some of the kids. It certainly had its mark on the community. Some of us still wonder what happened with it.”
There seems to be a consensus among those in the local communities of color who recall the institution founded in 1955 by Henry Benn and Jimmy Kitchen, later known as Roy and Benn’s, that it suffered as a generally negative reference point in the media.
Police Chief Frank Fowler remembers Benn’s Kitchen. “There was ‘Rev. Mike’ behind the counter, greeting everybody at the door with his animated voice and warm welcome,” Fowler said. Known as the Rev., Jeffel Mike bought the restaurant in 1979, after Henry Benn’s nephew Roy had become part of the business. It became a fixture, open 24 hours on weekends and until 3 a.m. on weekdays, but its reputation in the larger community suffered from late-night incidents in the surrounding blocks. “It developed a bad name,” Roy Benn observed back in the day, “and all we ever did was sell food.”
Fowler agreed with the consensus about negative media coverage. “Because it was a landmark for that area, people, rather than say a location, would use it as a reference point.” Fowler also agreed with another consensus in those communities, that the B&B Lounge on South Avenue is currently suffering a similar fate in the mainstream media. “The similarity is the way incidents are reported,” he observed. “Something happens on the outside, and the owners have zero control over it.”
Fowler is referring to reporting in the Oct. 8 Post-Standard on a vigil for Rodney Maddux, who was shot on South Avenue from a nearby parking lot while trying to break up a fight in the street. An Oct. 11 follow-up noted that a video of the suspect had been released, even though the piece noted positive steps taken by B&B owners, Billy Ray Denham and Billy Ray McDonald.
The two founded the B&B 22 years ago, and said they are frustrated and embarrassed by the negative coverage. “Every time something happens on South Avenue, they figure it’s B&B,” McDonald maintained. “South Avenue is quite long.”
Denham noted that there is never media coverage of the positive events: food for block parties, finger printing and ID producing for neighborhood children, sponsorship of basketball, bowling and golf teams. But the minute violent incidents happen on South Avenue, B&B gets the blame. “You would think they would come down and talk to us,” McDonald said of the general media coverage.
Fowler further cited questions of accuracy in that coverage. “On at least three occasions,” he observed, “they {Denham and McDonald} have come to me and said it’s reported in the paper {Post-Standard} like this, alleging they got the information from the police report, and I show them the police report, and it’s not there.”
He added that the B&B owners have been extremely cooperative with the police department. “They have security measures in place as a result of numerous conversations with the police,” Fowler noted, “with them saying, ‘What would you have us do?’ Over the years they’ve done everything we’ve asked them to do to keep their business safe and to turn away undesirables. Running a bar in the city is a tough business.”
Bey reported mixed feelings among the community resulting from the coverage. “You have people who aren’t out there, but go on what they see in the media. So they feel maybe B&B shouldn’t be there,” he said. “Then you have patrons who have said to me, ‘None of that stuff happens at B&B.’ You’re talking about a mainstay on the Southwest Side of the city. There aren’t that many social activities for people to choose from after 6 o’clock. In the African American community the B&B is one of, if not the, most popular place in the city. It attracts a lot of people. The danger of it not being there probably has far reaching implications that people haven’t considered.”
Bey also raised the question central to the issue of media coverage referencing the B&B. “What’s interesting,” he noted, “to be frank, if similar efforts are made in other places. I’m referring to mentioning specific locations when reporting incidents around the city. It’s unwarranted how certain areas are portrayed in the media, and how incidents happening near the B&B are reported as happening at the B&B.
“One answer has arisen recently on Marshall Street, where Acropolis Pizza has become a landmark reference point for violent incidents happening near but not at the facility,” Bey continued. “Police have cited the 2 a.m. closing time as a factor in the incidents, and suggested Acropolis close at 1:30. Management seems resistant, however, since a good portion of their business comes after the bars close. Nor do they feel it is their responsibility to install security cameras on the street.”
