Everybody Gotta Eat ★

Everybody Gotta Eat is a community-rooted food movement that began as a backyard cookout in Cambridge’s Newtowne Court and has grown into a platform using food to bring people together across Greater Boston. Founder Emmanuel Mervil grew up in a home where food was central to the culture and his mother fed everybody, and that idea of community first and food as connection still guides the work, from neighborhood pop-ups to curated dinners.

Its signature event is the annual Everybody Gotta Eat BBQ, which has drawn more than 11,000 attendees and is one of Boston’s largest Black-led food events. The Pop-Up Kitchen serves as a test kitchen where emerging chefs develop menus and launch concepts. Catering draws on chefs from diverse cultural backgrounds, with Afro-Caribbean soul food and chef-curated menus for private, corporate and community events, and the team builds food-centered partnerships with institutions, nonprofits and brands.

What to Know

• A digital community of more than 19,000 followers spotlights local restaurants.
• DigBoston has described its content as a free-form mix of food, restaurant tips and boosts for Black businesses.
• It maintains an online Boston restaurant directory of vetted spots.
• It is a member of the Sustainable Business Network of Massachusetts Local First program.