“Back then, African Americans, didn’t have many places to cash their check and many of them did not have bank accounts,” said Stella Reese, a third-generation Chase who started working at her family’s restaurant after Katrina devastated New Orleans 15 years ago. “They came on Fridays to cash their checks and of course buy drinks and have a good time,” said Reese.
Dooky Chase was also famous for being one of the few places in the area where Black artists could see their work displayed prominently.
“My mother loved art,” said Reese. “When we expanded the restaurant, we had walls of art made by African Americans for the artists who needed a place to display their art. To this day our walls are still full of African American art.”
Not only artists, but musicians, politicians, and civil rights activists flocked to Dooky Chase as it became known as the place to eat and meet in New Orleans. Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, Duke Ellington, James Baldwin, Lena Horn, and Ray Charles all walked through the doors of Dooky Chase.
Charles even mentioned Dooky Chase in his song “Early in the Morning” when he said, “I went to Dooky Chase’s to get something to eat/The waitress looked at me and said Ray you sure look beat.”
“We were always listening to what the community needed,” Reese said as she recalled her parents registering people to vote at Dooky Chase. “They were very active in the civil rights movement,” she continued, “and of course, we had the freedom bus riders who came to New Orleans, and of course they needed a place to eat. Dooky Chase was the place that fed them. If any of them had to go to jail and did not have food, we made sure they got it.”