The Besties’ Table, a new Black-owned breakfast and brunch spot, opened up across from the University of Indianapolis on March 28, making Tyler Williams’ childhood dreams come true.
Williams, the owner and executive chef of The Besties Table, was born and raised by a single mother in Haughville who fostered his early love of cooking. After graduating with a degree in tourism and hospitality from IUPUI, Williams got a corporate office job. However, it wasn’t until he was let go during the pandemic that Williams pursued his true passion by selling meals out of his mother’s kitchen.
By 2021, Williams had his very own catering company, The Cooking Besties, and corporate clients such as Nike, Cummins and Eskenazi. Now, in 2026, he’s opened his first brick-and-mortar restaurant: The Besties’ Table.
Responses have been edited for clarity and brevity.
Tell me about The Besties’ Table. What inspired you to open this restaurant?
Williams: I’ve always wanted to own a restaurant. I still have my business plans for when I was in seventh grade math class, sitting writing a menu. It’s been something I’ve always dreamed of. The Cooking Besties is the name of my catering company I started with my best friend. She left the business in 2023, but I kept the branding consistent because I was like, people already have an idea of the Cooking Besties, right? That’s something I was really proud of: building a brand that people would identify with.
As I was thinking about opening a restaurant, I wanted people to still realize, ‘Oh, that’s Tyler from The Cooking Besties.’ I didn’t want to start a whole new business and people like, well, who is he, you know? The Besties’ Table is perfect because it still keeps the Besties branding, but it also introduces a new sector of business for me.
Between being an executive chef and running the business side, what has this experience been like for you so far?
Williams: Yes, it has been very stressful. First, I’ve never opened a restaurant, and catering and being a restaurant owner are totally different. They’re two separate entities. One being one is private, if you will. I deal with the corporation, I provide a service and I go home, and I don’t primarily cater every single day of the week. The restaurant is open Tuesday through Sunday, so I have to work, and so that’s been the biggest challenge.
Overall, the support has been extremely amazing. Our first week of business, we surpassed my sales goals, and we technically haven’t even done a full week of service. … We’ve already surpassed what I thought I could make in a week. It’s been really amazing, just the support from the community, and then all of my community partners, who I’ve catered for, they’re all in wanting to support the business.
Did you face any challenges or learn anything new about yourself during this process?
Williams: Yes, the challenge would be food. In my mind. I thought I had purchased enough food, because for our grand opening, we sold out of food for Sunday. We couldn’t even open the next day because they bought all of our alcohol and food. That’s been maybe the biggest challenge that I’ve been trying to figure out, food quantities and how much to purchase. Also managing outside employees, managing schedules and managing things I’ve never had to do before.
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What does The Besties’ Table offer, and what was your inspiration for those dishes?
Williams: The Besties’ Table serves breakfast and brunch. We definitely feature some of our popular items, like our hot honey chicken wings and our lemon bay wings. We have hot honey shrimp deviled eggs. We have bacon-and-chive deviled eggs — those are called Bestie eggs. We also have some traditional breakfast items. We have some French toast and chicken, like a play on chicken and waffles, but we do French toast and chicken. We do offer chicken and waffles, but I wanted to do something different there. We also offer French toast flights. You can get four flavors: blueberry lemon, peach cobbler, strawberry crunch, and the banana nut, which is made fresh.
I really just wanted it to be like a very simple menu, but also some heavy hitters, just traditional things that you would see at a breakfast and brunch restaurant, and those all stem from just what I like to eat myself, but then also … I actually asked family and friends, ‘when you go to a breakfast and brunch restaurant, what do you want to see?’ I really wanted to curate a menu that was not only just for me, but also my family and friends.
How was opening weekend, and how has business been since then?
Williams: Opening week was amazing. It was really, really crazy to see a line of people outside who wanted to eat my food. When I started my business, I said, ‘Mom, I want to start a business, but who is going to be my customer? More importantly, who’s going to eat my food,’ because I just didn’t think it would be a thing. To see a line of people who want to eat my food, who want to support me, I think that was probably the biggest thing that shocked me. I don’t take it for granted that people want to spend their leisure money with me, but they’re doing it because they want to see me do well, and they want to support me.
What are your hopes for the business going forward?
Williams: I want to open another location, but I want to do it in another city. I would love to do it in Chicago. I would love to do that there. I also would love to open up just another location, because I think this past weekend, we did over 200 pounds of chicken. So, I would love to open a restaurant that just sells chicken wings and other things people like to eat, so we’re not just busy at one location. I do see myself being a restaurateur, where I own several other businesses that are just centered around food, and I still want to continue catering, so I want to keep my catering business going.
The Besties’ Table is located at 4022 Shelby St. It’s open for breakfast and brunch from 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday. For more information or specials, follow @thebestiestable on Instagram and Facebook, or visit tcbesties.com.
Contact Arts & Culture Reporter Chloe McGowan at 317-762-7848. Follow her on X @chloe_mcgowanxx.
Chloe McGowan is the Arts & Culture Reporter for the Indianapolis Recorder Newspaper. Originally from Columbus, OH, Chloe has a bachelor's in journalism from The Ohio State University. She is a former IndyStar Pulliam Fellow, and has previously worked for Indy Maven, The Lantern, and CityScene Media Group. In her free time, Chloe enjoys live theatre, reading, baking and keeping her plants alive.
