“Big Herm” is known as the mayor of 2nd Street.
Herman Baskerville runs Big Herm’s Kitchen, a welcoming place for homemade food that has been located at 315 N. 2nd Street in Jackson Ward for around 11 years. Among the Southern comfort items on the menu are catfish sandwiches, loaded cheese fries, and Big Herm’s Wings tossed in “ooo-wee” barbecue sauce.
“I’m happy to be here, and I’m happy to be on Two Street. I’m happy to mention other restaurant businesses’ names,” Baskerville says. “I always try to support everybody as much as I can.”
During the early days of the pandemic, Baskerville ran “Status of Two Street,” or SOTS, where he would livestream a neighborhood report on social media, checking in with surrounding businesses and trying to uplift the community. Every weekday, he walked down the street and shouted out local businesses within a three-block radius of his own. He stopped the project about a year ago due to staffing and other things going on, but he still pays it forward as much as he can.
Whether it’s a friendly smile or simply asking how people are doing, Baskerville doesn’t shy away from welcoming those who walk by. “My philosophy is that it’s not just about me,” he explains, upholding his mayoral nickname.
Baskerville says he has watched as the neighborhood continues to grow with the popular 2nd Street Festival, organized every year by Venture Richmond, and the intentional building of a community feel with a big push for different kinds of people. He currently lives in Hanover and started to bring his children downtown when they were growing up to experience the diversity, whether racial or gastronomic, and to really experience the area.
The eclectic people and good vibes of Jackson Ward still stand out, he says. And Big Herm’s Kitchen continues to grow and stamp its own mark on the community, with no time for hate in the schedule, Baskerville adds. He advises everyone to support local businesses and try to support one another as much as possible.
“The city’s been so good to me,” Baskerville says.
Big Herm’s Kitchen is located at 315 N. 2nd St., open Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information, visit bighermscatering.com.
The writer Gabriela de Camargo Gonçalves was born and raised in São Paulo, Brazil. She is a senior at Virginia Commonwealth University graduating in December and a current intern at Style Weekly, while also leading VCU’s independent student newspaper The Commonwealth Times.
