In 2020, we closed 2 locations. We furloughed our employees for a quarter of the year. We fought against public fear of restaurants. We lost all caterings. And we dropped down to only 7% of our sales. We nearly lost it all.

But I’m so thankful our story doesn’t end there. For much of the year, that is all that sat in the forefront of my mind. All the negative was my only reality. I was fearful of loosing it all – because it was so quickly slipping through my hands. We were struggling to keep the restaurant doors open and the lights on at home. And it wasn’t from a lack of hard work, it was a rapidly crashing economy. And there was nothing I could do but pray.

The kindness that came from our friends, family, and customers was so touching. The way y’all cared for each one of us brought tears to our eyes daily. Checking in on every employee and their family. The thoughtful gifts. The kinds notes. Sharing tears together. The constant encouragement. You know who you are – and there is some amazing karma in store for you.

But like I mentioned, our story doesn’t end there. There were so many sweet things that came through the hardships of 2020. Even though it hurt to close 2 locations in communities we absolutely loved, we knew it was the best thing to keep us alive. But in it, we were able to get back to the basics – making good, quality, small-batch food that is perfectly delicious. Even though we had to furlough staff, we saw many of our beloved team move to bigger & better things as they changed careers and poured into their children. We said hello to new faces when we rehired, and we are thankful for what they bring to our business. Yes, we lost about 93% of our sales, but we built strong relationships with our customers and found new, creative streams of income. We did special pre-order forms, neighborhood deliveries, started serving hot plate lunches, and did a lot of individually packaged foods.

We came together, as a herd, to survive through 2020. We comforted each other, poured into our community. We ended the year with record breaking holiday season and some caterings returned! We were busy – and oh so happy to be busy again.

Who knows what 2021 holds. But I am confident that, together, we can survive. As 2020 tried its hardest to crush us (and at times, it succeeded), I say that we won the war. So bring it on, 2021. We got this.

Here are some fun stats for 2020 carryout (as of 12/29/20 – 6:30pm) – doesn’t include catering/special events:

• 2750 rolls of toilet paper given away (March – June)
• 425 rolls of paper towels given away (March – June)
• 2,000 K-N95 masks generously donated from Lowe’s for giveaway – yes we stilll have some!
• 40,185 items sold
  • 14,935 entrees
    • 2,445 poppyseed chicken
    • 1,109 chicken enchiladas
    • 1,112 shrimp & grits
    • 877 chicken & dumplings
    • 703 lasagna
  • 4,654 sides
  • 2,666 shareables
    • 941 chicken salad
    • 574 corn dip
  • 2,719 soups
  • 5,722 desserts/breads
    • 1,073 chocolate cakes
    • 1,033 banana puddings
    • 1570 heath bar cookies
• Over $15,000 in food and monetary donations to food banks, schools, and local charities
• 2nd year in a row nomination for Best Caterer (Best of the Best Rankin County) – we get the results from voting in January.
• Chef Jordan won Top 40 under 40!

Even through a pandemic that left us in 7% of our normal sales, we are so very humbled for each person we fed this year. Through our estimations, we fed over 250,000 meals this year (including caterings and special events).

We love what we do. We love the people we cook for.

THANK YOU.

As long as God above allows us to serve our community, we are forever thankful for His grace to do so.

PS: Make sure you are following our Facebook & Instagram profiles! We have a lot of great photos and albums from the year, and adding more!