Soul Daddy heads to Detroit

**begingri** · September-27-11, 10:35 PM

What’s the key element of real estate?

Location, location, location.

That’s something the bigwigs at “America’s Next Great Restaurant” forgot. If you’re going to set up a soul food restaurant somewhere, pick your location carefully. New York? No. Hollywood? Never. Bloomington, Minn.? Huh?

Location is what Jamawn Woods has in mind. The winner of the NBC reality TV show "won" and "lost" a chain of three restaurants over the course of eight weeks. Though that was momentary bad news for Jamawn, it has turned into something better: a Soul Daddy restaurant in his hometown of Detroit.

After all three restaurants closed, Jamawn went the legal-remedy route and received an out-of-court settlement with ANGR Holdings that will keep his restaurant dream alive: He keeps the Soul Daddy name, equipment from the New York branch of the restaurant [[see right) and his recipes. “I went from a 10 percent owner [with the three restaurants] to be a 100-percent owner,” he said with pride, in a phone interview. “It’s a great move for me.”

And, well, it’s not 100 percent ownership, he said as an afterthought. “I’ve got a partner, Mike Farrow of the Farrow Group. He’s doing most of the work. I had the name, food and fame, and he’s got the construction.”

That would be construction on the new restaurant, which is located in downtown Detroit on Mount Elliott, right behind Martin Luther King High School.

Continued at: http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle...130598833.html

**DetroiterOnTheWestCoast** · September-27-11, 11:14 PM

Interesting details from the article:

1. Mount Elliot is "downtown."
2. Schoolcraft College is in "Labonia."
3. The Farrow Group "tore down" the prior building and will be building a new one "from the ground up." However, as you can see from the pic it's a new front on an existing building - hence Farrow's statement that there are new brickwork, windows and roof.

Great reporting.

**stromberg2** · September-28-11, 02:21 PM

Labonia sounds like the title to a french porno!

Stromberg2

**j to the jeremy** · September-28-11, 03:14 PM

WestCoast, I'd call Mt. Elliot and Jefferson Downtown-ish, and stromberg, I agree, Labonia is definitely a pr0n title

**Danny** · September-28-11, 04:41 PM

Jawamn should have open his soul food restaurant in the black community [[ I think this is a racial statement because most soul food restaurants have done successfully in the black community. Years ago I went to popular fully black family soul food restaurant in Harlem, NYC. I see photos of famous black music artists from The Temptations to Supremes. Malcolm X eat there and so did Maya Angelou. So good blessing for Mr. Woods for opening his soul food business next to MLK high.

**fryar** · September-28-11, 07:29 PM

I'm thinking they used downtown as a synonym for inner-city...meaning, well, the actual city.

**adamjab19** · September-28-11, 07:40 PM

So it took four big headed judges, eight weeks of shows, countless amount of advertisement and other money spilled in promotions just for his stores to close down in eight weeks!?!?

Wow.

So sick of these "reality" shows coming off like they have the next best thing and then it all come crashing down when it hits the general public....And really as if this restaurant would have done well in the locations they had picked. Should have stuck with Meltworks if they wanted mall food.

**mallory** · September-29-11, 08:26 AM

This is really great news for this guy and I couldn't be happier for him. I was one of the few people who actually watched the series and kept hoping that Soul Daddy would win. When I heard that they were going to open the restaurants in those three locations, anybody with half a brain had to know that they were all wrong. Three locations? OK, how about Detroit, Philly and Atlanta? He'd be rolling in dough, and the so-called celebrity chef brain trust [[just stay in the kitchen guys) would be working on season two.

Way to go, Jamawn!

**Hypestyles** · September-29-11, 11:15 AM

at the tail end of the run of the show, there was an online contest on NBC where you could win a pass for two free meals at one of the Soul Daddy locations.. I entered the contest on the website.. Maybe a week or two after the show ended, i got an email notifying me that I had won! Needless to say, what happened happened, and I didn't think any more of it..

Just today, I got a Fed Ex package in the mail. The return address was the NBC building in NY.. apparently, they sent me a substitute prize.. a pint glass [[which was broken in transit, lol) and a "Cook This! Not that!" lower-calorie cookbook.. Neat..

**Genesyxx** · September-29-11, 11:41 AM

The location is not the best IMO. You have one of the more respectable soul food restaurants in Southern Fires only a couple blocks away. I'm sure they could have gotten him a location in the business district. Lots of empty retail there.

**Hypestyles** · September-29-11, 05:27 PM

Originally Posted by Genesyxx

The location is not the best IMO. You have one of the more respectable soul food restaurants in Southern Fires only a couple blocks away. I'm sure they could have gotten him a location in the business district. Lots of empty retail there.

I suppose if and when Southern Fires is too packed, they could get some folks who were already in the neighborhood.. I hope there's some decent parking.. but in any case, I wish the best for him, hopefully it will open soon...

**stasu1213** · October-01-11, 06:26 AM

Lafayette Town Center mall has a lot of space if Harbortown does not work out

**Hypestyles** · October-01-11, 09:07 PM

Originally Posted by stasu1213

Lafayette Town Center mall has a lot of space if Harbortown does not work out

...another good idea...

**Detroitej72** · October-01-11, 09:54 PM

Any new business is good business. Besides, I enjoy Soul Food from time to time and look forward to trying this new restaurant.

**Zacha341** · October-02-11, 07:50 AM

I've done Southern Fires but find it ANNOYING that they 'charge' a dollar surcharge if you are using a debit or credit card. The 'Detroit' fee. I suppose... I've had this fee applied at other city restuarants and carry out places. Crazy....

Originally Posted by Hypestyles

I suppose if and when Southern Fires is too packed, they could get some folks who were already in the neighborhood.. I hope there's some decent parking.. but in any case, I wish the best for him, hopefully it will open soon...

**Zacha341** · October-02-11, 07:52 AM

Yeah, I laughed about the 'downtown' error. Typical.... LOL!

Originally Posted by DetroiterOnTheWestCoast

Interesting details from the article:

1. Mount Elliot is "downtown."
2. Schoolcraft College is in "Labonia."
3. The Farrow Group "tore down" the prior building and will be building a new one "from the ground up." However, as you can see from the pic it's a new front on an existing building - hence Farrow's statement that there are new brickwork, windows and roof.

Great reporting.