A chain of nightclubs, in the explicit-apartheid eras of US history, where black musicians and comedians gigged. They couldn't, after all, all be playing The Apollo every night - a Redd Foxx or a James Brown had to tour, and many mainstream venues were off-limits. Jimi Hendrix, prior to making his way to Greenwich Village, cut his teeth here, with The Isley Brothers and Little Richard, et al. I imagine chitlins were on the menu in some places, hence the name.