Indianapolis Black-owned restaurants leave reviewer wanting more
A former restaurateur who organizes paid dinner parties across the country left the Indianapolis Black dining community talking canned foods, cleanliness and service after he slammed Black-owned restaurants – and Mississippi Belle -- in reviews over the weekend.
Darius Williams, known on social media platforms as Darius Cooks, did several live-streamed videos while in town.
His critiques have been harsh.
He criticized Indianapolis restaurants for their long wait times, canned sides, and fried food-laden menus.
Here’s where he stopped:
Huge Impact
Hovito
BlankUS Luxury Lounge
Kulture Bar & Bistro
Hanks
The Block Bistro & Grill
Open Kitchen
Mississippi Belle
King Ribs BBQ
Bar-B-Q Heaven
Who Is Darius Cooks?
A food media personality, Darius Williams is an e-commerce entrepreneur, selling his six cookbooks, cookware and glasses online.
Williams operated a cupcake shop in Chicago for a few years, closing it in about 2009 before opening three full-service restaurants in Atlanta and Chicago.
In 2020, Williams abruptly closed those restaurants.
Why he was in Indianapolis
Williams runs the Dining with DariusCooks tour, which included six dinner parties in Indianapolis Oct. 6-8.
He visited the restaurants when he wasn’t hosting the ticketed seven-course dinners. Tickets for the tour featuring dishes such greens, macaroni and cheese, turkey with a watermelon chow chow, peach cobbler pound cake and a punch of some sort went on sale in 2021. Most of the seatings here, at a rented home, were sold out at $289 a head.
This is the eighth year of the dinner party series.
In 2022, he did 176 parties. This year he has about 334 dinner parties in about 44 cities.
He's been controversial long before heading to Indy
Williams has faced a myriad of claims negatively reflecting his business ventures, including those saying he hasn’t delivered on orders, has conned business partners, abused employees, provides dinner party menus not worth the $289 ticket cost, and posts personal information about his detractors who share links to health code violations at his restaurants. The State of Georgia ordered him to pay $145,750 as a settlement agreement for operating an illegal credit repair business.
He's been accused of coming across as a hypocrite in his reviews of small Black-owned restaurants. When his Soul Crab restaurant concept opened in Atlanta, it had long waiting times —up to four hours, he told YouTuber Tasha K during a recent interview .
“It was a success. I just didn’t know what I was getting myself into. I had no idea it was going to be like it was,” he said. “I just made so many (expletive) mistakes.”
“I will never open up another restaurant as long as I live,” he told Tasha K.
“The food was amazing,” he said. “But depending on the staff to be on their best behavior…”
He noted in the interview that Black-owned restaurants are typically undercapitalized and understaffed.
“Unfortunately, Black people don’t give us a whole lot of grace,” he said.
He has plenty of supporters, though, who post photos of their meals and products from his site.
Backlash in other other cities
While some have welcomed Williams' blunt critique of restaurants, others have countered that they are hurtful and offer little guidance in how the establishments can improve. Williams has millions of followers across platforms.
R&B singer K. Michelle, star of the reality TV show “Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta” lambasted him for his reviews when he was in her hometown of Memphis, Tenn., saying she’d been unimpressed with a dining experience at one of his restaurants.
“Two of the restaurants made history In NATIONAL NEWS! ... We don’t get a lot of credit as black Period in the food industry, so it ain’t from an outsider to come tear them down,” K. Michelle said in a July 31, 2023, post on the X social media platform. “Get out my city. The city of FOOD where every stripe been owned since before you been whipping box cake.”
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Another X user, @HesLyingAgain, using the hashtag#dariuscrooks, had advised restaurants to prohibit him for filming in their shops.
“Spread the word that they should not allow him to film in their restaurants. And that all of his restaurants failed their health inspections multiple times before they closed and if that ain’t enough have them dive into this https://exposingcrooks.carrd.co.”
How Williams choose which Indianapolis restaurants to visit
Williams had taken suggestions from his socal media followers on which restaurants to visit.
In an Oct. 5 social media post before touching down in Indy, he seemed to get ahead of any backlash he would face, warning that he would match the energy of commenters and block some.
“I’m openly gay, a scammer, a failed restauranteur, had all my businesses taken by the state, am not allowed to operate business, and people order from me and may not get their products. All that…and I still make a quarter mil last month and $110K this week,” he said.
Huge Impact
The first stop on Williams' Indy trip was hinted at through an Instagram post on Thursday.
On Facebook, followers later could see him at Huge Impact. (A fan had spotted him and went live asking for his and his crew's assessment on the spot.)
He later said: “It was alright. Okay. But you can’t eat fried food every day.”
“Y’all was talking about there’s nothing good in Indianapolis,” Williams said during a live stream later that day. “The first restaurant I went to was halfway decent; not a bad time. (But) everything was fried.”
Hovito
On Thursday he visited Hovito – his third restaurant stop for the day – and was pleased with the garlic parmesan wings, empanadas, buffalo chicken eggrolls, spicy mac and cheese, coleslaw and chicken kabob. Less so with the shrimp cocktail and the beer-battered fish sandwich, which he thought were average.
“My soul is happy,” he said after tasting the kabob dish. “I really got no complaint about this here place.
“Good job Indianapolis. Excellent establishment.”
BlankUS Luxury Lounge
Williams mentioned the new lounge during a stop at another restaurant calling the experience “Horrific. Do not recommend. Zero Stars … The service was amazing but the food, ick!”
Block Bistro & Grill
Unhappy with what he said were sanitary conditions at the downtown restaurant, Williams left without ordering.
“They got (expletive) all on the wall. How the (expletive) I’m supposed to sit here and eat looking at this dirt and grime everywhere?” he said about the visit.
Open Kitchen
The restaurant, which recently moved from September 2020 opening digs to the University Heights neighborhood, was among the more harshly criticized by Williams, primarily due to the wait time for food.
Williams ordered wings and a number of other dishes. He approved of the meat for the burgers being weighed. But then he canceled his order and walked out after waiting for more than 45 minutes.
That encounter had been viewed on Facebook by more than 43,000 people, with more than 2,000 comments.
“It’s unacceptable. Forty-five minutes? And it's only two tables sitting down?” he said in the 15-minute rant about the experience. “It’s about respect. A baseline. You can’t respect my time; I can’t give you my money.”
“These restaurants do whatever the hell they want to do with y’all and y’all be tolerating it. Yeah, (expletive) in the (expletive) with no lube.”
King Ribs on 16th
Williams praised the ribs and the rib tips at the popular barbecue place.
“Five out of five” he repeated numerous times after a taste.
“That’s amazing. Indianapolis, that rib tip is (expletive) outstanding.”
“These ribs are anointed.”
The sides, he wasn't happy with. The greens he said were horrific. “These greens taste like kerosene. 87 unleaded petro down to the Amoco station.”
Mississppi Belle
Those who suggested the family-style soul food restaurant mistakenly thought it to be Black-owned.
“They should change the concept from all you can eat to ALL OUT THE CAN,” Williams posted to Facebook. His livestreamed video at Mississippi Belle, Sunday afternoon also got more than 2.000 comments and over 26,000 views.
He said he found most of the proteins to be average. He spit out the collards; didn’t like the macaroni and cheese or dressing; and announced a campaign against canned green beans – although he liked the beans served at the restaurant.
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Reactions from restaurant owners
Huge Impact co-owner William McCathern posted on his Facebook page that the restaurant has started to serve food on china with silverware and saw a boost in business as a result of Williams’ Thursday visit.
“I respect all the feedback I got from DariusCooks. Some people can't take constructive criticism and it's sickening. I'd rather someone I don't know keep it real with me about my business, then someone I do know who knows nothing about the restaurant and food service industry,” he said. "PS our numbers have quadrupled since he came Thursday!”
The Block Bistro replied to a Williams' Facebook posting about his visit there with, “DariusCooks, thanks for stopping by and it’s unfortunate that you had a bad experience. We will take your feedback to the team and use it to improve. Enjoy the city!!”
Block Bistro owner Terry Anthony told IndyStar he’s seen no change in traffic at the downtown restaurant, which was recently shown competing on Food Network’s “The Great Food Truck Race.”
“Lots of traffic socially and on (the) website but completely not bothered by this,” he said in a written message.
Williams was answering critics of his methods well into Sunday evening.
“I’m busy. But, I still have energy to cuss you out. Now, get off me and go learn how to cook.”
A day earlier, he'd told Facebook followers, “You realize I can cook better than everybody up in here; all throughout Indianapolis."
And he was still posting about Indy spots as of Monday afternoon, even as he headed into Houston restaurants.
He posted scores Monday morning on his Facebook page.
Contact IndyStar reporter Cheryl V. Jackson at cheryl.jackson@indystar.com or 317-444-6264. Follow her on Twitter:@cherylvjackson.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Darius Cooks slams some Black Indy restaurants, social media hits back
