12. Old Freeman and Harris Café – 317 Pete Harris Drive

Opened in 1921 in the 1100 block of Texas Street by Jack Harris and Van Freeman, the Freeman and Harris Café was one of the first African American owned restaurants in the United States. The Café moved to the Pete Harris Drive location in 1930. Civic and business leader Pete Harris, took over the Café, which became known as Pete Harris Café in the 1990s (see #13). Since it opened, this family-run business has been a popular social center for the African American community in Shreveport. It remains the oldest, continuously operating, African American owned restaurant in the United States.