After a two-year closure, Austin's Soul Food and Catering is back open on Jacksonville's Northside, serving up oxtails, smothered pork chops, smothered shrimp, collard greens, macaroni and cheese, homemade salads, and desserts to a neighborhood that never stopped asking when the doors would reopen. The restaurant has now operated for 20 years, and owner Alissia Austin says the milestone represents far more than just a business anniversary.
Austin, who has been part of the family operation for about 14 years, told WJXT News4JAX that the restaurant represents her family's legacy and that she never considered moving to another part of Jacksonville during the closure. Instead, she used the roughly two-year pause to complete building repairs at the same location on the city's northeast side. City of Jacksonville property appraiser records show the 1,890-square-foot commercial property is owned by Austin Girls Properties LLC, family real estate that helps explain why repairing rather than relocating made sense.
The timing wasn't purely about construction. Austin also used part of the closure to prepare for the birth of her first child, according to the station's report, and she says she now hopes to eventually pass the business down to her baby, extending the family legacy into a third generation.
A Menu Built on Family Recipes
Much of what's on the menu traces directly back to Austin's mother and grandmother, whose recipes still anchor the restaurant's daily offerings, the report notes. Even the seafood salad has a family story behind it: Austin says her brother taught her how to make it. She says she aims to provide love, recipes, traditions, and memories through the food, not just a meal.
Beyond the core menu, the restaurant's official social media announcements point to rotating specials like a $20 Spaghetti Wednesday dinner featuring swai fish or drummettes, alongside daily staples including chitterlings, liver and onions, and conch salad, according to a Facebook post from the business. Orders must be placed in person, since the restaurant does not take call-in phone orders. It's open Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays from noon to 6 p.m.
Multigenerational Customers and a Neighborhood Role
Austin says the restaurant is supported by multiple generations of customers, some of whom she began serving years ago and who now bring their own children and grandchildren through the door. Since reopening, customer reactions have been excited, per the same account, with longtime regulars saying they'd missed the restaurant during its two years closed.
Austin hopes the business continues serving as a neighborhood resource for people in need, and the restaurant already provides meals to the community while collaborating with local churches and organizations. That mission carries particular weight in the surrounding area: Austin's Soul Food sits in Jacksonville's Brentwood neighborhood, ZIP code 32206, where Black residents make up roughly 83.8% of the population and median annual household income was about $56,370 in 2024, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. A study reported by First Coast News found that 38% of census tracts across Jacksonville's Northside are classified as food deserts, leaving residents reliant on local eateries for access to affordable meals.
Part of a Larger Culinary and Economic Story
The restaurant's dishes fit into a much older culinary tradition. Jacksonville is home to one of the largest concentrations of Gullah Geechee descendants in the country, whose coastal foodways built around rice, collard greens, sweet potatoes, and one-pot meals form the foundation of the city's soul food scene, as historical research published by The Jaxson explains.
Reaching two decades in business also puts Austin's Soul Food in rare company. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows only about 26% of restaurants survive 20 years, according to Toast. That endurance is even more notable set against national figures on Black entrepreneurship: Black-owned employer businesses generated $249 billion in gross revenue in 2023 while representing just 3.4% of all U.S. employer firms, despite Black Americans making up 14.4% of the population, per an analysis from the Brookings Institution. Access to capital remains a persistent hurdle industry-wide, too — federal data shows Black-owned businesses received $1.4 billion across just 5,054 approved SBA 7(a) loans in fiscal year 2024, roughly 7.2% of all SBA-approved loans nationwide, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration.
For now, Austin is focused on the neighborhood in front of her rather than the national numbers behind her. She's back behind the counter with her mother's and grandmother's recipes, watching customers who first ate at the restaurant as kids now bring in kids of their own — and already thinking about the day the business passes to the newest member of the family.
