Detroit’s new soul food restaurant, Fixins Soul Kitchen, to open Friday

Kevin Johnson is excited about the opening of a Fixins Soul Kitchen outpost in the city of Detroit.

After some construction, supply chain issues and other delays, the Detroit location for the chain of restaurants founded in 2019 by Johnson, a former NBA All-Star and first Black mayor of Sacramento, California, and his wife, Michelle, is set to open on Friday.

Announced last August, Fixins originally planned an earlier-in-the-year opening at 1435 Randolph St. between Gratiot and Grand River in the Paradise Valley Cultural and Entertainment District area.

The area was formerly known as Harmonie Park and the Fixins space was once the home to two restaurants: Detroit Fish Market and Intermezzo.

On Friday at 11 a.m., a short program and ribbon-cutting ceremony takes place and then the restaurant will be open for business. Later in the evening, a red-carpet VIP event also takes place from 5:30-7 p.m. Friday inside Fixins separate, soon-to-be lounge area next door.

Johnson describes all Fixins menus as “accessible and affordable.” Fixins has three other locations: Los Angeles and Sacramento, California, and Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Built around soul food, the menu includes made-from-scratch Johnson family favorite recipes.

The Fixins menu includes its “Lil Bits” such as deep-fried deviled eggs topped with candied bacon — a Johnson favorite — and fried green tomatoes. A menu highlight is Fixins signature fried chicken with its secret sauce of 24-hour soak in a brine before frying.

From fried chicken to grape jelly butter

Fixins fried chicken is well seasoned and juicy with a slight spicey note. You can order as a chicken and waffle combo served with a near-dinner plate-size waffle, grape jelly butter and maple brown sugar syrup. Another option is fried chicken by the bucket or as a family meal. There’s also shrimp and grits, gumbo, oxtails with sweet brown gravy, chicken and waffles and other traditional soul food dishes.

Side dishes include collard greens made with smoked turkey necks and a nicely seasoned mac and cheese. Other sides are black-eyed peas, potato salad and yams. Desserts include peach cobbler, red velvet cake and banana pudding which is ultra-creamy with slices of banana, topped with whipped cream, a Nilla wafer and mint.

Drinks on the menu include sweet and unsweetened tea, lemonade, fountain drinks, juices and several flavors of Kool-Aid.

There’s a full-service bar with bar, table and lounge seating offering beverages and spirits served from predominantly Black-owned businesses including Uncle Nearest Whiskey’s.

At more than 8,000 square feet, the Detroit restaurant is the chain’s largest and will employ about 100 people.

“We've made a significant financial investment,” Johnson said. “The total project cost is several million dollars.”

Inside, the main dining is large with exposed brick, lofty ceilings and exposed ventilation. Amid the comfortable dining area with nearly floor-to-ceiling windows, is a mix of large booths, table and lounge type seating for more than 200. There's another separate speakeasy type of room with seating for 100 people that also has a separate bar, more lounge-style seating and areas for private dining.

Soul food with a nod to Motown

Fixins interior has a Motown vibe and pays homage to the legendary culture and sounds through a display of artifacts and photos of legends such as Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and Aretha Franklin.

“We are also paying tribute beyond Motown, honoring the musicians, the athletes and other folks from Detroit that put their stamp on Detroit and our nation.”

A portion of proceeds from Fixins first day, Johnson said, will go to the support of Motown Museum.

Johnson loves the idea of opening in Paradise Valley and all the momentum happening in Detroit.

“We like to open in historical Black communities or communities that certainly have connections with African Americans,” he said. “When you can build on that heritage, it's really awesome.

Fixins celebrates community along with the culture and heritage of African Americans, according to its website .

This new Detroit location, the chains fourth, reflects that mission. In the 1950s, the area was known as Paradise Valley and was a thriving district of African American business and entertainment just north of Black Bottom. A Fixins location in Tulsa, Oklahoma is in an area that was known as Black Wall Street a thriving Black-owned business district.

Johnson said he loves the idea of Detroit’s Paradise Valley and the connection to the community as well as the restaurant’s proximity to downtown venues such as Ford Field and the Detroit Opera House.

“We like to open in historical Black communities or communities that certainly have connections with African Americans,” he said. “When you can build on that heritage, it's really awesome.”

The Paradise Valley area, Johnson said, is home to many buildings owned by African Americans including the Fixins building. He believes they are on a “trajectory of having this be a really special block in the downtown area.”

“Building on the Black Bottom, Paradise Valley history and how illustrious it was, for us to build on that and have this be a restaurant row or a little bit of an entertainment district where we're two blocks from Ford Field where the Lions play and two blocks from the Detroit Opera (House), I think we're strategically located to really do something special in this community,” Johnson said.

Johnson, who spent the majority of his NBA career, nearly a dozen years, with the Phoenix Suns and served as the mayor of Sacramento for 2008 to 2016, described being in Detroit as “very proud” and an unbelievable feeling to be part of the community and being embraced by the community.

Fixins Soul Kitchen, 1435 Randolph St., Detroit; fixinssoulkitchen.com .

Contact Detroit Free Press food and restaurant writer Susan Selasky and send food and restaurant news and tips to: sselasky@freepress.com. Follow @SusanMariecooks on Twitter. Subscribe to the Free Press .

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit’s new soul food restaurant, Fixins Soul Kitchen, to open Friday