by Jameelah Mullen
July 6, 2026
Carla Hall will merge food, art, and culture for the ultimate casual dining experience.
BLACK ENTERPRISE is celebrating National Fried Chicken Day with a spotlight on celebrity chef Carla Hall’s recent opening of Bumblebirds, a fried chicken and cocktail bar in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Washington, D.C. The restaurant had its grand opening party early spring.
Hall ushered in the spring season with a Southern‑inspired menu featuring crispy fried chicken sandwiches on your choice of brioche bun or biscuit. At the bar, guests can enjoy craft cocktails, curated by mixologist AJ Johnson, such as an elderflower julep or a sorrel‑and‑strawberry margarita.
Hall said she drew inspiration from her grandmother, whom she calls the “culinary matriarch” of her family. The former Top Chef contestant aims to bring her grandmother’s Southern charm to D.C.
“I want them to walk in and feel like, ‘Wow, this feels like home, and it feels bright and warm. And I feel like this is a place where I want to hang out. I feel like it’s a place where I feel a sense of community and joy,” she says. “I think more than anything, I want people to feel the joy,” the longtime D.C. resident told People.
Located at 303 Pennsylvania Ave. SE, this quaint eatery showcases Hall’s design vision and features her own paper‑quilt art inspired by her grandmother. “I thought I had lost my grandmother’s quilt after 20 years,” she said.
Hall, after misplacing the heirloom, decided to recreate it using paper. After recreating the 9-by-3-foot art installation, Hall found the original quilt.
“It’s more than just showcasing a piece of art; it’s about showing other sides of my creativity,” she said. “And also quilts are about community and bringing people together.”
Quilting isn’t the only way that Hall is expanding her artistic wings. The former talk show host will star in Carla Hall — Please Underestimate Me, a one-woman show premiering in June, as she leans into her love of theater and her childhood dream of being the “Black Carol Burnett.”
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