EVERETT, Wash. — Grandma’s in da Kitchen just opened this March 2020. The owner, Sharon Tolbert has been making many happy customers with her southern comfort food.
“Everything in there is so good! I mean they got ribs!" said one of the customers, Darrick Lanier, "Do you know they have candied yams, cobbler, different desserts, and everything? Different collards, everything in there is pretty good."
There’s the Sample Plate that has two slices of meat, three sides, and one of those sides can be a homemade dessert: like a slice of Reese's Peanut Butter Pie, which is her most ordered dish.
But the most beloved is Southern Staple!
"Everybody loves the catfish and okra,” said Sharon who’s smiling behind her mask, “because you should see the looks on peoples’ faces when they find out they can get fried catfish, okra, and some Southern Sweet tea!”
That smile you can't see is how this chef is coping with opening a new restaurant in the middle of a pandemic.
"It's been extremely hard I say. That because I'm a fighter regardless of what happens I try to come out swinging and try to make lemonade out of lemons! But COVID has made it super hard," shared Sharon.
Sharon is getting through these hard times by helping others - she recently cooked free meals for census workers. "What I'm saying is it's been a struggle but I tell you what has been a godsend sometimes when you don't have a lot if you give, you're blessed," said Sharon.
And the people she sustains with her buttermilk cornbread, mac and cheese, and pecan pie help sustain her. "I feel really blessed because my customers have come back and come back. And sometimes they'll come in and just hand you something -- and just say this is because we want you to stay," recalled Sharon.
This Grandma will stay in the Kitchen as long as there are people in the Northwest craving food from the South! "If they can come in, and if they can get their smothered pork chops or oxtails, or collard greens, baked macaroni, and cheese that really does that really uplift people,” said Sharon.
Grandma's in da kitchen || 2831 W Marine View Dr, Everett, WA 98201, (425) 322-4145
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