Owner Rachel Ward said their first attempt at opening this restaurant “were not as successful” as they hoped.
“There was serious trepidation about being painted in a negative light,” she said. “We were very much aware of our shortcomings and wanted the time and opportunity to improve. As we were upgrading our restaurant and training our staff, tensions were mounting in our little town regarding the Haitian population.”
Because the family was planning to include authentic Haitian cuisine on the menu, Ward said they “took a step back” to determine if that was a wise economic business decision. However, she said this was embarrassing to admit because their Haitian native staff had been a part of this journey almost since the beginning.
The business, under faith-based management, made the decision to move forward with their original business model, with a purpose statement, “To warm the hearts and souls of our community by bringing us all together through full-filling food.”
“We hope that our establishment will become a place where members of the entire community can come together and enjoy each other’s company over a fusion of good old fashion, down-home cooking from a variety of cultural backgrounds,” Ward said.
Ward said safety and cleanliness is one of their priorities. The minimum educational requirement for the kitchen staff is food handler ServSafe certification from the National Restaurant Association, and all management has higher levels of certification.
Queens House of Soul has event rooms available, and plan to have featured chefs in the near future.
The restaurant will be open from 3 to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.
For more information, visit the website at queenshouseofsoul.com, call 937-342-2654 or visit the “Queens House of Soul” Facebook page.
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