Walk into Soul Food Joint and the first thing that hits you is the smell—tangy, greasy goodness fills the air. The menu features all the classic soul food favorites, from fried chicken to pulled pork to mac and cheese. And if the food didn’t tip you off, the decor screams “I’ve got soul:” A photo of James Brown smiles down from a collage of music posters on the wall.
It’s a family business, too. “Most of the recipes are my mother’s recipes, and my grandmother’s, from over 70 years ago,” says owner and chef Shaun Jenkins. “That lady in there is my mom; that’s Chef Honey. She taught me how to cook.”
Chicken aside, Soul Food Joint’s downtown space is also the kitchen for Jenkins’ catering business. The 22-year Charlottesville resident says that Soul Food Joint’s two dozen different types of catering appetizers are his favorite dishes to prepare, and many of the high-end catering items have Southern roots. “We make a garlic cheddar biscuit, punch a hole right in the middle and fill it with chutney, and put the Virginia ham right on top,” he says. “And one of our most popular [appetizers] are our deep-fried deviled eggs.”
(You don’t have to get married to get your hands on a deep-fried deviled egg, either. Jenkins says they’ve become a popular part of the restaurant’s regular menu.)
Jenkins began his career in hospitality. In 2017 he took an 18-week course with the Charlottesville Investment Collaborative, which he says was instrumental in giving him the knowledge he needed to grow his business. Soul Food Joint opened its physical location in the middle of the pandemic, but Jenkins says that, all things considered, he thinks the first year in business has gone “perfectly.”
For him, the most satisfying part is connecting with customers. “If someone walks in that door, and we didn’t have anything to sell, I could still have them leave happy,” Jenkins says. “We have open doors and open arms to anyone that wants to come in and have a conversation on a bad day, or if they want a home cooked meal.”