Art can create connection and so can a meal shared across generations.

One local restaurant has been serving up much more than chicken and ribs.

Its story is woven into local Black history, the Green Book, and generations of one family.

It's an original.

Carolina Impact's Heather Burgiss and videographer Doug Stacker take us inside the original Chicken n' Ribs.

- [Heather] On Beatties Ford Road in Charlotte, the fries stay busy.

Orders move quickly and familiar faces keep coming through the door at the original Chicken n' Ribs.

- It's a family thing, it's a family thing.

- [Heather] The story of this small restaurant across from the historic Washington Heights neighborhood reaches far beyond what's on the plate.

For more than six decades, people have come here hungry for chicken wings, hot dogs, barbecue, and most importantly, community.

Because it's like you all were one of the originals.

- Yes, you can try to, but you can't tell it without us.

- For owner Jermaine Blackman, that story begins with his grandfather Otis and Grandmother Lucinda, who owned a restaurant that would become part of both his family's story and Charlotte's Black history.

- Yeah, Green-Book is a big deal.

Like we say we didn't know we was being part of history and I'm happy and glad to be a part of it and I'm proud.

The Green-Book is just a African American travel guide.

It's a Google where we could travel safe, eat safe, haircuts, sleep, fuel, lodging, place to club, where we can go out and enjoy our nightlife.

- [Heather] Chicken n' Ribs appeared in the Green-Book through 1963 to 1967, one of dozens of Mecklenburg County businesses listed as places Black travelers could safely stop during segregation.

- We're the last one that's still in the same family, same location, same name, we're the last one.

- Jermaine's mother, Dolores Lois Miller, became part of the story long before she became part of the family.

She was just a teenager when she started showing up for work.

- We live right where Villaville School used to be on the cone, so I just... We just started working.

I would walk up here and sit on the crate and wait on somebody to come to open up, and it just started from that.

At that period of time, we had a curb service where people, the girls would go out, hop curbs, and we had a delivery service, and people came in to order.

- [Heather] Eventually, the girl waiting on customers would marry the owner's son, her high school sweetheart, Jermaine's father, and all these years later, Lois is still showing up.

- Yeah, she gets here at six o'clock every day.

When I say every day, every day.

Yeah, that's my heart, man, she's real special to me.

- [Heather] And around here, family is how the restaurant runs.

Mom, brother, sister, and cousins coming together to make sure every order happens.

- The family part is the most important part.

For us to lean on each other, have the same goals, going the same direction.

This is my right-hand man right here, this is my cousin Edward, I couldn't do it without him.

- [Heather] And after all these years, much of the food is still made the same way, by hand, from scratch, and only after somebody orders it.

- [Jermaine] We cut our own greens, we make our own coleslaw.

We have our secret seasoning for our chicken.

- [Heather] And then there's the sought after, and somewhat notorious specialty.

- It's called a fat boy, and basically it just makes you fat.

And originally, my grandfather started it, and he just put everything he had on it.

It came with lettuce, tomato, chili, slaw, tartar sauce, ketchup, and mustard.

On a busy Friday night, which is our busiest night, it's about 30 minutes sometimes but they wait, no complaint.

- [Heather] Because they know it's going to be good.

- [Jermaine] Yep.

- [Heather] Forget the wait, you better believe some customers are willing to even travel a lot farther than 30 minutes for their food.

- I used to live in this neighborhood about 26 years ago, and now we live in Kannapolis, which is like an hour away, but the chicken wings, they keep bringing you back.

And that good old lemonade and all this, everything will bring you back.

You never forget your roots.

- I like the hot dog, I like pork chop, and I like barbecue.

And chicken wings, and I got to go.

(laughs) - Yeah, it's still a special place for a lot of people around here.

People remember from me from growing up to now.

It's really touching to see a lot of my seniors, I mean, 80-year-old seniors that still come and still remember, still remember my grandfather, my dad, my mom.

- [Heather] And just outside the restaurant, a beautiful reminder of his family's legacy, including Jermaine's grandfather, grandmother, and people whose stories belong to the whole neighborhood.

- Like see on the mural, you'll see my grandmother out there as well.

She just passed three years ago.

We thought she was 100, but we found out that she was 103.

Mr.

Bullock is on the right.

He was the photographer for all the family portraits and things like that.

Those are our roots right there.

I just, 30, 40 years from now, still going, still having an impact on the community that we do.

I just want us to still have that same kind of footprint in the community.

- [Heather] And that footprint runs deep through one family, one neighborhood, and generations of Charlotte's history.

For Carolina Impact, I'm Heather Burgiss.