Somehow, iloveblackfood.com was still available when William ā€œDubā€ Travis III went looking for domain names to create a digital home base for Support Black-Owned Restaurants week.

ā€œWe got it now,ā€ Travis says with a smile.

Now in its third year in Portland, Support Black-Owned Restaurants expanded from a two-day event to a full week, August 21-27, and will include eclipse specials and a block party at Travisā€™ famous chicken and waffles joint Dubs St. Johns on Sunday. Trying to pack it all into a weekend was proving too much, thanks to the outpouring of support the restaurants were getting, Travis says.

ā€œThe past two years have been incredibly busy (for Dubā€™s), but some of the other restaurantsā€™ feedback was that they didnā€™t get as much business,ā€ he explains. ā€œWeā€™re doing the whole week to give people a chance to spread it out.ā€

Travis has been at his location in the back section of the Ranger Tavern at 9520 N Lombard in St. Johnā€™s since 2013, after a fire ripped through the original Mack & Dubā€™s Excellent Chicken and Waffles on Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. The fortuitous pairing means you can have a crisp tall boy from the bar with your fried chicken wings, which over the years have evolved into a perfectly spiced and breaded affair, best served over waffles with hot sauce.

The Support Black Restaurants event, which started after Portland resident Bertha Pearl was inspired by a similar event in San Francisco, is a symbol of ā€œperseverance through the struggle,ā€ as well as just a respite from flavor fatigue, Travis says. Heā€™s had customers say that before the event, theyā€™d never tried Ethiopian food, or Jamaican jerk chicken.

And with more than 60 participating brick-and-mortar restaurants, coffee shops and carts, thereā€™s a huge diversity in the businesses owned by Black Portlanders. Participants include Amalfiā€™s Italian, Olive Or Twist martini bar in the Pearl, a McDonaldā€™s franchise in Milwaukie and Solaeā€™s Lounge, a jazz bar on Alberta.

ā€œPortlandā€™s a big foodie town,ā€ Travis says. ā€œYou can be the hot thing today, and not tomorrow. This week gives people something new to try, and I think it should be a celebration.ā€