Kevin Johnson, a former NBA All-Star and Sacramento, California mayor, is opening a Fixins Soul Kitchen restaurant in downtown Detroit.
Fixins will be located at 1435 Randolph St. between Gratiot and Grand River in the Paradise Valley Cultural and Entertainment District area, formerly known as Harmonie Park.
Johnson said he’s always had a special affinity for Detroit and was also drawn to the connection to the Black Bottom community and Harmonie Park in Paradise Valley.
“It’s a very similar community to the one I grew up in, but it’s certainly Detroit, which is a whole different level,” he said.
The full-service soul food restaurant celebrates community along with the culture and heritage of African Americans, according to its website. The location Johnson chose reflects that mission. In the 1950s, the area was known as Paradise Valley and was a thriving district of African American business and entertainment just north of Black Bottom. A Fixins location in Tulsa, Oklahoma is in an area that was known as Black Wall Street a thriving black-owned business district.
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Johnson is expected to announce the new restaurant later today.
This is Fixins’ fourth location. At 8,400 square feet, the restaurant includes seating for 325 people, from the main dining room to the bar area to private dining and patio seating.
“It will be our largest restaurant to date, and I believe that Detroit deserves our largest,” Johnson said.
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At the location, there’s a lot of infrastructure already in place and Johnson said the build-out is “not as difficult.” Years ago it was the former home of two restaurants: Detroit Fish Market and Intermezzo.
“It will have a Motown vibe with artifacts that will reflect the very best of Detroit and the role it has played in our country,” Johnson said.
Fixins menu is built around and pays homage to the soul food Johnson grew up with. Its menu includes made-from-scratch family favorite recipes, according to a news release. There is the signature chicken and waffles along with oxtails, shrimp and grits and deep-fried deviled eggs.
Johnson said the secret for its fried chicken is that it’s brined for 24 hours.
“The name Fixins is like get your fixings,” Johnson said. “So there are a lot of sides such as collard greens, yams, mac and cheese and other dishes.”
On the menu is also Kool-Aid, which Johnson deems the most fun drink and one that you order by the color, not the flavor.
Fixins will have a full bar and the beverages and spirits served will be from predominantly Black-owned businesses.
In 2019, Johnson and his wife Michele founded the restaurant now with three locations: Los Angeles and Sacramento, California and Tulsa, Oklahoma. The restaurants combine Johnson’s “love of Black culture” and his wife’s “obsession with great food” according to a news release.
Johnson spent the majority of his NBA career, nearly a dozen years, with the Phoenix Suns and served as the mayor of Sacramento from 2008 to 2016.
An opening target date is mid-December, Johnson said, and no later than the beginning of the year.
“We certainly want to be up and running and going at full tilt in time to be available when the NFL draft is coming to Detroit … so that’s also a good target for us strategically as well.”
Contact Detroit Free Press food and restaurant writer Susan Selasky and send food and restaurant news and tips to: sselasky@freepress.com. Follow @SusanMariecooks on Twitter. Subscribe to the Free Press.