Soul Food restaurant to open in Beckley | News | register-herald.com – The Register-Herald

A new restaurant with a familiar taste is coming to Beckley.

Upland Soul Food will host a soft opening Friday at 206 Main St. in Beckley.

The restaurant will be open from 10:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Featuring the beloved family recipes of the Grandjean family, Tamara Grandjean, co-owner of Upland Soul Food, said the restaurant has been a long time coming but is still beyond her wildest dreams.

“I never thought I would have my own business,” Tamara said.

As the name suggests, Tamara said the restaurant will feature a variety of “soul food,” from fried chicken, meatloaf, collard greens, mac and cheese and more.

“It’s comfort food,” she said. “Food that makes you feel good, happy.”

For Friday’s soft opening, the restaurant will offer a special of ribs, two sides, a corn muffin and a drink for $14.

To place an order, call 304-777-7513. The restaurant can also be found on Facebook by searching Upland Soul Food.

Tamara said her family has been cooking for the community for years in a number of different settings, from brick-and-mortar businesses to family functions.

She said her mother ran Mountaineer Ribs and Wings, her sister had a restaurant called Sweetz and her brother ran the former Raleigh Diner.

Tamara said cooking is just one of the things that her family loves to do.

“My mom, she loved to cook, and she was a really, really good cook,” Tamara said. “She taught me (to cook) when I was young and I just love to cook. I love to make people happy by cooking.”

Joining Tamara in this endeavor is her brother Charles Grandjean as a cook.

“Cooking is a big part of our tradition in our family,” Charles said. “It feels really good to be able to have my family here helping us and also doing our own recipes and stuff.”

Charles said they want Upland Soul Food to give off a family atmosphere as he imagines that most of his family will likely be involved with the restaurant in one way or another.

On Thursday, while prepping meals for Friday’s soft opening, Charles and Tamara’s niece, TyJhea, stopped by to help out.

TyJhea said she’s looking forward to people being able to try food that she’s grown up enjoying and loving.

Tamara said the restaurant was meant to be since day one when she was approached by Robert Dunlap, an attorney and Beckley Council member who is also the co-owner of Upland Soul Food.

“He called me on my mom’s birthday a year ago and said, ‘You want to start a business?’” Tamara said.

As Tamara’s mother was the one who taught her and her sibling how to cook, Tamara said she sees the restaurant as a way to honor her mother’s legacy and her love of cooking.

“This is all her recipes,” Tamara said.

Tamara said her mother passed in early 2022 but has no doubt that she’d be proud of them.

Dunlap said he’s known the Grandjean family for years and is excited to be able to partner with them and bring a new offering to Beckley.

“The gifts and the talent that this family has when it comes to food preparation, and just making people happy … I’m excited about it; I think it’s gonna do really well,” Dunlap said.

Dunlap said he’s aided several restaurants, including ones formerly run by the Grandjeans, as an attorney, but Upland Soul Food will be the first he’s ever really had a stake in.

“I’ve obviously been involved in a lot of businesses that have been created, whether it be in mental health or entities in construction, but this is one of the first ones that I believed in enough to get my own checkbook out and make sure that they have a great start,” he said.