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The '''H&O Restaurant''' (also known as the '''H&O Cafe''') is a historic restaurant in the [[Eastside]] neighborhood, located at 301 East [[Gonzalez Street]], at the corner of [[Hayne Street]]. One of the first black-owned restaurants in the Pensacola area,<ref>*[http://www.ci.pensacola.fl.us/upload/PDFs/CommunityDevelopment/Eastside%20Action%20Plan%20-%20draft%203.pdf Eastside Neighborhood Plan]</ref> the H&O serves Southern-style [[Wikipedia:soul food|soul food]].
Its origins go back to the 1920s, when [[Hamp Lee]] and his brother opened a grocery and pool hall in a building on [[Gonzalez Street]]. They named the businesses H&O by combining the first names letters of their wives' names, "Hattie and Ola. " (Another explanation is that it stands for "Hamp and Ola.") The location was popular among the [[Segregation|pre-integration]] black community. In [[1942]], [[Givens Grier]] purchased the building and opened the restaurant. Grier's brother, [[Raymond Grier Sr.]], bought the café in [[1957]]. When he passed away in [[2001]], his wife [[Dorothy Grier|Dorothy]] took over operations.<ref name="pnjprofile">"H&O Café." ''Pensacola News Journal'', April 29, 2007</ref>
Over the years the restaurant has served a number of celebrity patrons, including civil rights activist [[Wikipedia:Rosa Parks|Rosa Parks]], Senator [[Wikipedia:Bob Graham|Bob Graham]], Orlando Mayor [[Wikipedia:Buddy Dyer|Buddy Dyer]], boxing promoter [[Wikipedia:Don King|Don King]] and local champion boxer [[Roy Jones, Jr.]]
[[Category:Eastside]]
[[Category:Diners]]
[[Category:African-American establishments]]