We are incredibly excited to share this month’s local love feature. Every month we feature retail shops + restaurants in our area that we love to visit. While Shi Lee’s BBQ is one of our favorite lunch spots, we want to showcase the man behind the business: Tremaine Brown.

Over the course of the pandemic, there has been a lot of uncertainty. Thousands of people lost their jobs while others were deemed “essential workers” leaving them to choose between working during a pandemic or leaving their jobs to take care of their children. Many of these families rely on schools for breakfast and/or lunch. In the midst of this crisis is where Tremaine stepped in.

He and his family have served over 50,000 lunches to families in need since COVID-19 hit Amarillo. They have worked tirelessly to provide this much needed assistance. Tremaine’s Venmo, PayPal, and Cash App info began circling Amarillo social media feeds in an effort to quickly contribute funds to help with the cost of feeding the children in our community. Now that school is starting back up, the need for lunch will go down, and because of this, Tremaine has partnered with the Black Historical Cultural Center and Solidarity Isn’t Silent for another important need – school supplies.

Our sister shop, The NAT, hosted their annual So Long Summer Event last week and asked customers to “round up” their purchase totals to the nearest dollar as a donation. They also donated 10% of the overall profits to Tremaine/Shi Lee’s BBQ to help them continue this good work. We are proud to share with you the incredible acts of kindness that are happening here. The integrity and heart of the Brown / Shi Lee’s BBQ family is inspiring, and we are thrilled to show our support.

Don’t forget to visit Shi Lee’s BBQ + Soul Food and support a local hero! Visit their Facebook page here.