Former NBA Star Kevin Johnson to open soul food restaurant in Paradise Valley

[Airforceguy]

Former NBA All-Star and Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson and now restaurateur is bringing his soul food concept to downtown Detroit.Johnson plans to open the next Fixins Soul Kitchen in the city's Paradise Valley neighborhood — an area that featured a thriving Black business and entertainment district from the 1920s through the 1950s.
Fixins Detroit will make its home at 1435 Randolph St. in a building owned by architect Rainy Hamilton Jr. of Detroit-based Hamilton Anderson Associates architecture firm. Johnson aims to the restaurant open in December.

Fixins Soul Kitchen is billed as a full-service soul food restaurant that celebrates African American culture and traditions, while redefining the American soul food experience by offering tradition with great service and a modern vibe.


Johnson told Crain's that the move into Detroit is a part of a national expansion. The Paradise Valley restaurant will be the fourth Fixins restaurant, joining locations in Johnson's hometown of Sacramento, Calif., as well as Los Angeles, and Tulsa, Okla. The Tulsa location is in the area that was home to what was called Black Wall Street, which was destroyed in 1921.

https://www.crainsdetroit.com/restau...itchen-detroit

[401don]

Good luck to him but how many have tried that location? Detroit Seafood seemed like a very nice restaurant but was empty whenever I walked past on a weeknight in the summer. I can't imagine how it did in the winter. Unless they get several restaurants or other businesses operating along that strip patronizing the African-American community I don't see much chance of success.

[Danny]

The New Paradise 'Africantown' Valley was once Germantown and Harmonie Park.

[JonWylie]

Good luck to him but how many have tried that location? Detroit Seafood seemed like a very nice restaurant but was empty whenever I walked past on a weeknight in the summer. I can't imagine how it did in the winter. Unless they get several restaurants or other businesses operating along that strip patronizing the African-American community I don't see much chance of success.

I'm sure the 150+ new residents across the street at the Exchange will help. There's probably been a few hundred new residences added within a half mile of there since Detroit Seafood closed.

[K-slice]

"Paradise Valley" lol. They're still pushing that moniker for Harmonie Park, or Germantown?

That area will be a dead zone until some of those surface lots get filled in with residential.

[stasu1213]

Good luck to him but how many have tried that location? Detroit Seafood seemed like a very nice restaurant but was empty whenever I walked past on a weeknight in the summer. I can't imagine how it did in the winter. Unless they get several restaurants or other businesses operating along that strip patronizing the African-American community I don't see much chance of success.

The problem could be having business that only patronize African Americans instead of all.

[1953]

You would think the city would know where Paradise Valley was and wasn't. This is Harmonie Park.

[Hypestyles]

as long as the food and service are good, people will show up. good reviews and word of mouth will help. and social media.

[royce]

You would think the city would know where Paradise Valley was and wasn't. This is Harmonie Park.

Paradise Valley was located just east of Ford Field and through I-375. To make up for uprooting Paradise Valley, the city decided to replace Harmonie Park with the Paradise Valley name. Doesn't renaming that area offend the Germans that founded that area? I find it to be useless for the city to rename areas with a different name, thinking it brings back what was lost. The plaque describing the history of Paradise Valley should be enough.

[Henry Whalley]

The problem could be having business that only patronize African Americans instead of all.

How so? AFAIK these places are open to all.

[401don]

as long as the food and service are good, people will show up. good reviews and word of mouth will help. and social media.

Kind of goes against location, location, location.

[Henry Whalley]

Kind of goes against location, location, location.

Well, at least you need parking. IIRC parking was in short supply in Harmonie Park.

[JonWylie]

Well, at least you need parking. IIRC parking was in short supply in Harmonie Park.

There's gotta be 1000 parking spots within walking distance of Harmonie Park. If there's one thing the area is not in short supply of, it's parking.

[stasu1213]

How so? AFAIK these places are open to all.

African American owned restaurants are but clothing stores cater to only a certain geographic and not many ofthose living in the downtown midtown areas. H&M, Nike, Carhartt do.

[Henry Whalley]

African American owned restaurants are but clothing stores cater to only a certain geographic...

How so? Could a Caucasian not dine there? I like African-American cuisine. I don't get your meaning.

[401don]

How so? Could a Caucasian not dine there? I like African-American cuisine. I don't get your meaning.

You could certainly dine there but the reality is that location has catered to the African-American community and very few non African-Americans have patronized the last two restaurants there. A soul food rest. is unlikely to change that. If not enough middle class African Americans choose to dine there during this latest reincarnation it won't be successful.

[Henry Whalley]

You could certainly dine there...

I wish someone would open a soul food restaurant in my neck of the woods, Rochester, MI.

[stasu1213]

How so? Could a Caucasian not dine there? I like African-American cuisine. I don't get your meaning.

I said every race will support black owned restaurants. I had said that Black retail is another issue

[Henry Whalley]

I said every race will support black owned restaurants. I had said that Black retail is another issue

Thanks. Now I get your meaning but don't agree with it. Of course, YMMV.