When
you walk in the front entrance of Sylvias restaurant, the
first thing you notice is the photographs of celebrities that
line walls.
At this point you haven't time
to notice anything else because the enticing smells from the kitchen
are assaulting your nasal passages. Your stomach starts to growl
and your only thought is What are they cooking?
Sylvias Restaurant on Lenox
Avenue in Harlem, N.Y.-one of the best known restaurants in the
city- serves its patrons good southern cooking with a dash
of Sylvias secret seasoning.
After your hunger has been sated,
the next thought is always, How did this thriving business
get its start? Sylvias current empire consists
of SYLVIAS ATLANTA in Georgia, the Lenox Avenue location,
and plans to open additional restaurants in Texas, Kansas, Illinois,
California, South Carolina, and Paris, France.
From a small luncheonette to
Sylvias Restaurant, the Lenox Avenue location has succeeded
in ways that no one thought possible when it opened in 1962. According
to Sylvia, God made her success possible and of course her talent
and dedication helped. Their success allowed them to expand their
very popular restaurant.
In 1981 they bought the adjoining
building,renovated it, and turned it into a Dining room. This
Dining room contains the background picture on Sylvias Food
Products. Later Sylvias grown son, Van Woods suggested they
expand further to the space on the opposite side of the restaurant.
At the time it was a Cleaners, owned by a family. In the beginning
she was averse to the idea, she didn't believe they would consent,
especially since they lived there also. She also thought it rude
and disrespectful to even ask the family to sell. Her son persuaded
her to ask, and to her surprise they agreed to sell.
From here, the rest-as they say--is
History. As Sylvia Woods truly entrepreneur extraordinaire, her
advice carries the weight of her success in business. One saying
her mother was fond of always kept Sylvia on track , time
is money and there is no time to waste. Was
Sylvia just extremely lucky to be afforded so many opportunities?
God was the wind beneath my wings, and [I] just
let it flow. Our Southern background [and the fact that]
we are a family of faith [helped us the most].We
also got the opportunity to talk to Kenneth Woods, Sylvias
son and Director of Operations.What do you feel distinguishes
your business from other family run establishments?We [are]
a family That made us different and created the atmosphere
like a home away from home, respectful and clean.
How does the success of Slyvias
Restaurant make you feel? Its a grand feeling to have people
outside of the culture enjoy the Soul Food. Overall its
good,over the past two decades, other people in other cultures
have started to marvel at our cooking,dance, [and] our
culture.What is it like working with family?The family
structure in business is unique. Its a unique and challenging
type of organization. Parents, other siblings, every one has different
personalities.Did you get any financial support in your attempt
to rebuild the community?

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Before all of this Sylvia worked
at Johnson's luncheonette as a waitress. Her opportunity came
when the owner of the luncheonette offered to sell her his business.
He was interested in developing another location, and needed someone
to take over. Mr. Johnson and his wife had taken a liking to Sylvia
and realized that her hard work as a waitress would translate
into her success as a business owner.

After seven years of service
in the luncheonette this offer seemed too good to be true. Despite
her overwhelmed state, Sylvia and her family made the decision
to purchase. Once the decision was made, the Woods family had
to figure out a way to come up with the $20,000.
Although Sylvia had the natural
inclination to save money it would not cover the entire amount.
Unable to think of any way to make up the difference, Sylvia was
considering backing off of the deal. Finally her salvation came
from Hemingway S.C., her hometown. Her mother offered to mortgage
the family farm so that Sylvia would be able to take advantage
of this opportunity. I didn't want my mama to lose the farm
if I didn't succeed, said Sylvia during our interview. She
nor her husband had any experience running a business, but, her
mother had faith in them. Faith and prayer brought us thus
far, said Ms.Woods.
Sylvia's opened on July 31, 1962.
The menu consisted of very simple things; pigtails lima beans,
hamhocks, and neck bones. There was one cook on staff, and they
picked their food up in the trunk of a car.
HarlemLive Reporters sat with Ms. Woods and son on a recent
afternoon to ask these questions:
HL: How does the success of
Slyvias Restaurant make you feel?
Sylvia: Its a grand feeling
to have people outside of the culture enjoy the Soul Food. Overall
its good,over the past two decades, other people in other
cultures have started to marvel at our cooking,dance, [and]
our culture.
HL: What is it like working
with family?
Sylvia: The family structure
in business is unique. Its a unique and challenging type
of organization. Parents, other siblings, every one has different
personalities.
HL: Did you get any financial
support in your attempt to rebuild the community?
Sylvia: The first commercial loan
we received was when we developed the corner project in 1988 or
1989 it was from Carver (Federal Savings Bank)
HL: What do you think attracts
customers to return?
Sylvia: They discovered we
can cook some good food. Although, some people won't even come
to Harlem.
HL: Why did you decide to expand
to Atlanta specifically?
Sylvia: We felt that we had
maxed Lenox Avenue out, we also wanted to go somewhere where
there was more diversity.
HL: What is your favorite dish,
on Sylvias menu?
Sylvia: Hamburgers were my
favorite when I was young, but now its Sunday Baked Chicken
and Grill Chicken, I really like Fried Chicken, but its
bad for you. I like [our] catfish, also BBQ ribs.

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