Freight Fried Chicken shares the story of Black women  known as Waiter Carriers during Post emancipation who  sold fried chicken to travelers passing through Gordonsville, VA. These women would then create racial progress that would support their households through selling fried chicken. Travelers would reroute their trips just to buy this fried chicken from the waiter carriers. This way of entrepreneurship lasted for over a 100 years before dining cars existed. The fried chicken was so sought out that eventually the dining cars would buy the chicken from these women. Our Fried chicken at Freight uses a dry batter which is a similar version to what was fried back in the mid 1800’s. It's served with biscuits just like the waiter carriers would serve.

I was inspired to tell this story because last year my restaurant The Jerk Shack was the only Texas Restaurant to be listed by Eater for   Best Fried Chicken in America. This inspired me to look more into Fried Chicken and why its so closely tied to African Americans. Our Story of Freight Fried Chicken I hope to shed light on women that I am like, who had a vision to create and support their families through food while uniting communities. Using ingenuity through oppression these women found a way to use their”mystical bond" to create a movement. 

This story is significant at Pearl because these women like Emma Koehler found a way to overcome hardships and still give back to their community.