The trio of restaurateurs knew they could make it work.
And Soul Bowls, which has been cooking up a storm in Hartford’s South Meadow’s neighborhood, now is expanding its second and bigger location in West Hartford.
The business is owned by West Hartford natives Chef Hughann Thomas and Willie Fair, and Hartford native Malik Golden, and the second location at 1142 New Britain Ave. will open by the end of the month.
“I was previously catering and selling food out of my house and built a pretty good following,” Thomas said. “Malik had recently purchased a building and reached out to see if we wanted to open a restaurant together. We set up a meeting a made it work.”
Fair joined the team shortly after and the trio went into business in 2022 in Hartford at 489 Wethersfield Ave.
“We feel God aligned us. The three of us have no egos and come in from different past experiences and business,” Fair said. “We all had a similar vision of what we wanted to do and what the community can identify with.”
Initially, they were going to feature soul food plates but one night Thomas got the idea for bowls.
“We went with soul food in a bowl with fast, casual service,” Thomas said.
Of the most popular choices, Thomas said, is the special egg rolls with mac n’ cheese and yams. He added that the soul sauce is another staple as well. It’s the house made BBQ sauce.
“The sauce is a big staple,” Fair said. “We are making it available for sale online and in the restaurant. It’s a family recipe that has been passed down and we decided to invest in it.”
It’s a homecoming of sorts for Fair, 29, and Thomas,28, who were classmates at Conard High School. Thomas was a 2014 graduate and Fair in 2012. Golden, 30, graduated from Cheshire Academy in 2012, before moving on to play safety at Penn State and later with the Pittsburgh Steelers in the National Football League.
“We all came from different backgrounds and previous ventures,” Thomas said. “Willie owned a gym and Malik was in the NFL. We learned a lot in our solo ventures. When we came together, we had chemistry. We knew what it took to get the job done. We have a shared vision. We are aligned. We see Soul Bowls as a billion-dollar business.”
“I’m excited about expanding the business and getting in front of new clientele. Our goal is to eventually expand to 1,000 locations,” Thomas said.
The hours are Wednesday to Sunday from noon to 7 p.m. Those will also be the hours in West Hartford.
“We get busy right when we open on Wednesday and it gets busy again between 2 p.m and 3 p.m.,” Thomas said. “We have a lot of regulars, many of them supported me before we opened the restaurant.”
Thomas said he catered out of his home for eight years prior to Soul Bowls being opened.
“I have always had a passion for cooking,” Thomas said. “In my high school yearbook, I said I was going to be a chef at a restaurant by the time I was 40. I really don’t know where the passion came from. I always enjoyed cooking.”
The West Hartford location is about double the size of the Hartford site. The Hartford location was takeout only, but West Hartford will have places to eat in after ordering at the register.
“It’s been a long time coming we outgrew the first location, and this will be more of our franchise model that we will replicate in the future,” Fair said. “We are excited, and we are looking forward to opening.”
Fair, who graduated with a business degree from UConn, said Soul Bowls is big on customer service with a focus on food, ambiance and vibe.
“When you come in you will feel what the food is supposed to make you feel,” Fair said. “We aren’t a traditional restaurant – we are a new age soul food style restaurant. There aren’t many soul food places in New England or in this area at all. We want to give our customers something to talk about when they leave.”
Soul Bowls started out with 10 employees in 2022 and has tripled that number over the last two years.
“We are happy to get this going,” Golden said. “I have nothing but confidence that this new location will be a success.”