Can somebody get Ludacris a beer? No, really. It’s an unforgiving 93 degrees in Atlanta’s Piedmont Park this August evening, but Luda’s still all over the place, taking pictures, playing hacky sack and doing whatever else he needs to while hosting his Luda’s Cookout. A part of Stella Artois’ multi-city Let’s Do Dinner Summer Series, this cool event is not only bringing people together, but by partnering with Black Restaurant Week, it’s shining light on tasty small businesses in the area, too.
Restaurants are an important part of Ludacris’ brand. With successful Chicken and Beer locations in Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport and Los Angeles International Airport, the rapping restaurateur is nearly as famous for his food as he is for his music (he’s a three-time Grammy winner), movies (like the Fast & Furious series) and many endorsements (State Farm Insurance, Knorr foods). Forbes Travel Guide caught up with the sizzling businessman — naturally, over a couple of cold ones — to discuss it all.
What makes you and Stella Artois such good partners?
I had an album called Chicken-N-Beer [that released] 20 years ago. What the brand stands for [is great], and they’re doing this Let’s Do Dinner Summer Series. I think the best thing for me is making sure that I go with a brand that is celebrating family and conversation and getting around the dinner table, and it’s synonymous with creating memories. That’s what the Stella Artois Let’s Do Dinner Summer Series is all about. And what better way [to celebrate family] than to partner with the Black Restaurant Week? So, in terms of synchronicities and things that are going on in terms of visions and creating lifetime memories, it’s a great brand partnership because we both stand for that.
Why is amplifying Black restaurants so important to you?
As a Black business owner myself, I feel like the awareness is extremely important. I love how many startups [there are], especially in Atlanta. This is the mecca and the hub. It’s very important to me to get the word out.
The best way to say that without even being political is that there’s so much love put into the food. The cuisine of the Caribbean and all these different spices [is wonderful]. The experimentation takes things to a whole other level when it comes to cooking.
I’m putting Black Restaurant Week [in the spotlight] because there needs to be more awareness about it. I don’t feel like everybody knows. I think it continues to evolve each and every year. When you asked me first about the brand partnership, that’s what’s so good — Stella is coming together with me to increase awareness about Black Restaurant Week because they’ve been on it for a long time. I’m very proud to say that I love hearing more and more about different Black restaurants that I didn’t even know about.
[Different] tastes and cuisines. That’s what today is all about, for sure. I’m mad that we could only pick six of them [for the event]. But this is just a testament. I think everybody who comes today will walk away with a sense of, “Okay, I didn’t know about Black Restaurant Week, but now I know about it, and I definitely know about these restaurants.” It’s all about support. That’s the “short” answer of why I do it — because I want everyone to support these businesses.
As an Atlanta restaurant owner, define the city’s culinary scene.
Forever evolving. One of my favorite things to do is just drive around Atlanta. I’ve always been a person who drives to clear my head. But nowadays, I’m on the road so much that when I get home, I just drive around and try and figure out what new businesses are open. I’ll be downtown or the south side, and I just love noticing new Black restaurants pop up. So, from my vantage point, I just see more and more Black businesses thriving and more and more Black businesses and restaurants opening up. I love to see that because I just want to support.
Speaking of which, I had Busy Bee’s soul food for lunch today.
That’s a staple. That’s one of my favorites. Dang, man. The consistency. Amazing.
How are things going with the newest Chicken and Beer at LAX? And where to next?
Worldwide dominance. Everything’s going good with LAX. The location is amazing. You can’t miss it. If you fly from Atlanta and you land at LAX or if you’re leaving LAX and going to Atlanta, you’ll see it. It’s a prime location. We’re just happy that it opened up. People are embracing it.
We’re trying to get in as many airports as possible and, maybe, one day have a brick and mortar. Who knows what else, man? We talked about evolution. Chicken and Beer is no exception.
What are a few lessons you’ve learned being a restaurant owner?
The key is consistency. If you think about your favorite restaurants, you think about every time you go there, how consistent it is. You order the same thing. You don’t want it tasting different than what you originally loved it for. I think that the key, no matter how many locations you have, is the consistency of the food. That’s what I want.
Tell me a couple of places you’ve visited where the food has been surprisingly good.
Savannah, Georgia, is great. You already know they got the seafood there. And if you’re going to talk about cuisine, seasonings and spices, Haiti. They put so much love and affection in Haitian food. And it’s like, the way that they do it is with such unorthodox practices because they had so little and had to be so creative. I think it shows in their food.
When you’re at a hotel, what’s your go-to room service order?
It depends on the hotel. But if you’re talking about the late-night menu, probably some grilled salmon or something over a salad. Late night like that, you don’t want nothing heavy. So, I would probably do something pretty simple. I’d see what soups they got on there. That’s kind of a hard question because I try to steer away from hotel food a little bit — unless it’s one of those hotels that’s got extreme cuisine or [a renowned] chef in there. I venture out to see what the city has to offer. No disrespect to any hotels.
We’ve seen you in a bunch of commercials lately. What else are we going to see Ludacris in?
We’re shooting one more Fast & Furious next year. I’m sure that’ll be out in 2026. And 2025 is the 25th anniversary of the first [major studio] album [Back for the First Time] coming out. Stoked. So, definitely working on some [new] music. I’ve been saying this forever, but the music is coming out in 2025.
