Black Owned: Quickie Too
Tacoma is the best at the “best kept secret’ game. We do it to ourselves all the time. There are people who have grown up in Tacoma on the Southend of town that can’t tell you anything about the Eastside because they simply “didn’t have a reason for being over”. It’s a mind blowing concept for anyone who enjoys new experiences. We want to try basically everything once. When a new restaurant opens up we want to be one of the first to test it out. When a new store opens it’s important for us to make sure we stop by and purchase something if the feeling is right. When a new taproom or brewery opens it’s mandatory to stop in and get a sip for review even if it’s just within the company.
It is not the easiest job staying abreast to all of the amazing things happening in Tacoma and much like we know through running our brand sometimes it takes a lifestyle change to uncover gems. Quickie Too was that for us because we did not eat vegetarian or vegan foods until somewhere around our third year in business. Coach P started us off and it quickly evolved into company culture to some degree. That is when we discovered what Quickie Too has to offer. This is a company that has been around for decades providing food options that have only recently become trending. For years they have also been on the wholesale side of the food industry as well as restaurants. You can find their prepared food in some of the local grocers currently, we happen to know for a fact that Stadium Thriftway does a great job at keeping Quickie Too products in their vegan section.
The cooking prep and keen eye for recipes have been passed down from mother Niombi throughout the family and both the son and daughter have opened restaurants in the more bustling Seattle. The son Ayindè Howell formerly owned Hillside Quickie Vegan Sandwich Shop. While the daughter Makini Howell has made a name for herself as a celebrity vegan chef and restaurateur opening Plum Bistro in 2009. It’s proof that their concept works on numerous levels and that it has consistently filled a much needed void in the market since the earliest stages and prior to a brick and mortar. With all the changes happening on the historical Hilltop it is major achievement and extremely encouraging to see a Black owned business flourish amidst gentrification and a global pandemic. Niombi attributes a lot of their success to their family structure and her late husband RIP.
As the Hilltop continues to change and families are uprooted from their homes having Black owned representation feels more important than ever if we plan on not having our pasts erased as they so often are by cities supporting the white agenda. But it’s the food and the message behind the food that makes Quickie Too such a pillar in the community not just for the representation of Black people but for the entirety of Tacoma especially it’s vegan and vegetarian population.
