Marcus Davis doesn’t just run restaurants — he builds community spaces. Since opening The Breakfast Klub in 2001, the Houston native has created what Good Morning America called the best breakfast in the country. But his four-establishment empire represents something deeper: it’s about listening to what communities need and having the courage to provide it.
Each of Davis’ ventures emerged from a specific void. The Breakfast Klub combined East Coast “Katfish & Grits” with West Coast “Wings & Waffles” in a soulful environment Houston lacked. When the beloved Reggae Hut faced closure, he saved it. After being denied entry to a Midtown bar for “dress code” violations while watching others in flip-flops walk in, he opened the Alley Kat Bar and Lounge. While his latest restaurant, Kulture, addresses Black chef representation downtown.
Davis has transformed from restaurant owner to cultural institution builder, creating spaces where people don’t say “this is Marcus’s spot” — they say “this is our spot.”
How many establishments do you have and what’s the story behind each one?
The Breakfast Klub is our flagship. We opened this establishment in 2001. But then in 05/06 we acquired a long standing Caribbean restaurant and community staple, the Reggae Hut. And then about five years after we launched that restaurant, we opened a bar called the Alley Kat Bar and Lounge, which is right on Main Street. A few years after that, we opened Kulture in downtown. All of the restaurants that we launched came out of a need.
I’m an entrepreneur that happens to be in the hospitality business. And I believe entrepreneurship is about filling the void in the market that the marketplace is calling for consciously or subconsciously. And so each thing that we’ve done was about listening to what the market was asking for, looking for what the market needs and deciding to put it in.
For example, with the Caribbean restaurant, we opened in ’96 and we took over in 2006. The reason acquired the Reggae Hut was because the people lamented the fact that it was closing. We opened the Alley Kat because bars in Midtown weren’t catering to African Americans. This is one of the reasons that we opened. There was a series of incidents where African Americans were being discriminated against in bars in the Midtown, downtown, and the Heights area. So, myself and a friend went to a bar, they told me I couldn’t come in because I didn’t meet the dress code, but then the person right behind me was wearing flip flops and shorts. And they let them in. They had the right dress code. They had no melanin. So, there was a need. And then Kulture, which is in downtown, was launched as a need that had to be filled dealing with Black chefs and their opportunity to have representation in the industry.
How did your restaurant group become a cultural staple in Houston?
The people chose that. We just did our part. The people responded. They overwhelmed us with love and support.
Tell me more about your background and how entrepreneurship runs in your family.
My dad was an educator by profession, but his two passions, which he could have done professionally because he was so good at them, were food and music. He was a hell of a cook and a hell of a pianist. But by day he educated young kids. He was an administrator, counselor and an entrepreneur.
So, entrepreneurship came easy for you?
I didn’t know where I got entrepreneurship from until I looked back and saw where I had seen glimpses of it. The candy lady was somebody in the neighborhood that had a convenience store in the neighborhood. They got the chips, they got the cookies, they got the food trucks, they got the candy. And you go to their house and you buy those things.
My grandmother was the candy lady. She had a little room, off the garage, where people would come and buy little things. And what I learned from my grandmother was, which I didn’t know I was learning at that time, we would go to the big store and buy the, the bulk packages and come back and break it down. We’d get the big jug of pickles, break it down, put them in the individual package. Get the big bag of chips and break it down and so on and so forth.
What are three things customers will always get when patronizing your establishments?
Three of the principles that I built the business on and that I believe in are quality of product, quality of service, and consistency. Those are the three things that I encourage other entrepreneurs to focus on, It doesn’t matter if you’re in the food business or whatever, but if you work on delivering quality, product, quality service and doing those two things consistently, then that’s a recipe for success.
What are you currently reading?
Atomic habits. It’s been out for a couple of years and I was familiar with it, I just hadn’t read it. Ironically, my mentee gave it to me.
