The storefront for Joe Louis Southern Kitchen in New Center. | Brenna Houck
The popular chicken and waffles recipe returns to Detroit next month
More than a year after closing its doors, the successor to New Center Eatery is preparing to open its doors on Woodward Avenue. In posts to social media on Tuesday, the restaurant called Joe Louis Southern Kitchen confirmed that it would be opening in April with New Center Eatery’s signature chicken and waffles.
New Center Eatery quietly closed its doors in December of 2018, a little more than a year after receiving a $25,000 Motor City Match grant to relocate to 6549 Woodward Ave. The restaurant known for serving 11 different styles of chicken and waffles, had resided in a space just a few blocks away since 2003. Owner Johnny Cannon, who also operates Sweet Magnolia’s in Southfield, chalked up the move to “uncontrollable circumstances,” in a release shared by Motor City Match.
Cannon tells Eater he’s partnering with Joe Louis II in the restaurant, which will pay tribute to the famous boxer. The 76-seat restaurant will feature a themed interior based off Louis’s Southern upbringing.
Like New Center Eatery, the rebranded restaurant will feature an all-day brunch menu served seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Cannon says he also plans to extend Joe Louis Southern Kitchen’s late-night menu to make it 24 hours on weekends, similar to the previous restaurant that served food until 4 a.m. “We had so many people at 4 a.m. standing in line,” Cannon says of New Center Eatery.
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Joe Louis Southern Kitchen (@jlskdetroit) on
On the menu, diners can expect items like flavored pancakes, homestyle buttermilk biscuits, croquettes and rice, shrimp and grits, and Joe Louis’s favorite — country fried steak cheese grits. There will also be a smaller list of dinner items such as chicken wings, pasta, and bourbon barbecue sauce ribs. A special Joe Louis Bourbon is scheduled to be released in Michigan and nationwide beginning in April.
View this post on InstagramAttention Michigan: Joe's on his way back home. #JoeLouisBourbon #champBourbon
A post shared by Champion of them All (@joelouisbourbon) on
Cannon and his partners plan to develop the Joe Louis Southern Kitchen as a franchise with multiple locations in metro Detroit and beyond. Though they haven’t begun scouting locations, he says that a downtown restaurant could be a possibility.
The New Center restaurant is currently aiming to open during the second week in April with a grand opening in May coinciding with Joe Louis’s birthday.
The new location is tucked in next to home goods store Urbanum. It’s among a growing list of restaurants and retailers opening along both sides of that section of Woodward including Yum Village, the Kitchen by Cooking With Que, and forthcoming East African restaurant Baobab Fare. The owners of Selden Standard and Supino Pizzeria also have projects in the works on the block.
Update, March 4, 2020, 11:25 a.m.: This story has been updated with comments from Johnny Cannon.
• Chicken and Waffles Spot New Center Eatery Is Moving Into Bigger Digs [ED]
• All Eater Tracking Coverage [ED]
No comments:
Post a Comment