In 2020 and early 2021, the Peale participated in the Lexington Market Public History Initiative in an effort to collect stories and memories about the world-famous Lexington Market as the market itself prepared for a redesign and reopening. The initiative’s core partners were Baltimore Heritage, Baltimore Public Markets Corporation, Lexington Market, Inc., Market Center Community Development Corporation, Seawall, and the Peale, and the work was partially enabled by a Pathways Grant from the Maryland Center for History and Culture. The Lexington Market Public History Initiative was financed in part by the Maryland Center for History and Culture’s Thomas V. “Mike” Miller History Fund. This story was recorded by Adam Droneburg, Dan Goodrich, Nicole King and others of the Baltimore Sound Society for an earlier project.

Khari Parker (00:00): Hello. My name is Khari Parker, I'm co-owner of the Connie's Chicken and Waffles stand here at Lexington Market. So the story is interesting. My brother and I, Shawn, we were actually visiting a local place not too far from here called Mount Vernon Marketplace. We went there and we noticed they didn't have any food options that I liked. So I said, "Hey, man." I said, "I really wish they had some food options here that I like." And my brother said, "Well, what would you like to have?" And I said, "Well, chicken and waffles." And at that point, we started, the wheels started spinning. We're thinking back to childhood. My mom actually made us chicken and waffles.

Khari Parker: So Connie's my mom. That's my mom's nickname. So the interesting part and the reason why we named our store after my mom, Connie, is because my mom, she's the matriarch of the family since my grandma passed away about a decade or so. So during all the holidays, everyone comes over to my mom's house. So for us, the Connie's experience is more than just chicken. You can get chicken and waffle anywhere, but you can't just go anywhere and get the Connie's experience. And by that, I mean, you probably saw, you're greeted by my mom, Connie, when you come. I'll tell you, when we first brought the idea to her, she was honored. But I would say since she's been helping us on a daily basis to run it, she loves it because I think the biggest thing is it helps her to connect with the community.

Khari Parker: So you have folks come by, younger adults come by, and they generally look up to her for her wisdom. They'll ask her about her day and they'll tell her their problems, and it almost becomes an informal counseling session. She was like, "Well, here's what you can do. Here's how you can handle that situation in a positive way where it won't hurt anybody." So it's so much more that we do here than just chicken and waffles. It's truly the Connie's experience. We make everyone feel at home. Every piece of chicken that we serve, every waffle that we serve, it's important that we serve at the highest quality.

Khari Parker: So people ask our secret ingredient and we joke around a lot. But truthfully, it's love. It's truthfully love. We put the love into the food. We put the effort into it, the hard work. As you saw, I couldn't really come out because I have to really prep. I have to make sure every single piece of chicken is right. Every single waffle that comes out has to meet a certain standard because the people at the market deserve it. So the biggest commonality I would say is at the end of the day, at the root of everything, we all want to be loved. We all want to love, we all want to be loved.

Khari Parker: It's a human, how do you say it? Human condition. So in that aspect, the biggest thing we share with the folks around here is love, unconditional love.

Asset ID: 9148

Transcript abbreviated: Contact the Peale for a complete transcript.

Photo of Lexington Market, ca. 1903, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print