Nostalgia Kitchen + Cocktails, Stone Mountain’s newest Black-owned restaurant, held a soft opening last month and will be open full-time on Memorial Day weekend.
Nostalgia Kitchen offers a beautiful dining experience which showcases global-fusion flavors and comfort foods.
From delicious lamb chops, jerk egg rolls, sweet potato soufflé, to mouth-watering four Mac and Cheese, Nostalgia Kitchen showcases a diverse range of dishes, which effortlessly blends palates from across the world.
Also, Nostalgia offers more than exceptional cuisine because the ambiance exudes a “grown and sexy” vibe with touches of coziness, making every guest feel at home.
In addition to their amazing dishes and drinks, Nostalgia also offers a welcoming and attentive staff who ensures guests have a memorable dining experience.
Phillip Edwards, the owner, is successfully living out his vision for Nostalgia. Whether it’s date night, a girl’s night out, or sharing a meal with friends, Nostalgia Kitchen and Cocktails is the perfect upscale destination.
What is Nostalgia Kitchen + Cocktails?
What started out as an old club known as “Club 426 Restaurant & Lounge”, Edwards bought the property a few years ago and turned it into Nostalgia Kitchen.
Club 426 is where Edwards and Head Chef (also his cousin) Shanice Anderson used to hang out when they were younger.
Anderson said opening Nostalgia Kitchen’s doors feels like “a long time coming”.
“It’s satisfying being open, I’m loving the feedback we’re getting from the community and just after two years and even longer for (Philip), the owner. It just feels like wow, our doors are finally open and we’re selling our food and drinks to people, so we’re loving it being open,” Anderson said.
The inspiration behind Nostalgia Kitchen, Anderson said, was trying to bring everybody together. They didn’t want to do one thing like all American, all African, or all Caribbean cuisines, but to blend them all together.
“We wanted everyone to feel welcomed and to bring back the old school vibe of what East Atlanta used to be,” she said. “We want to kind of bring that back and make them more grown and sexier and keep a different approach to it.”
The name Nostalgia, Anderson said, was bringing back what was old and making it new and giving back to the community.
“We all want somewhere to hang out on our side of town without having to go to Midtown or downtown,” she said.
Anderson also said they chose Stone Mountain as the location because it was where they grew up and the community.
“Even when it was the old club (Club 426), this is where we would party all the time or even at the Atrium. We just want to bring more of the classy effect of downtown here on the east side, and nobody’s doing that yet,” she said.
She also said they want to inspire others to do the same and they do not want to be the last to do it. Anderson said they encourage other businesses, especially Black-owned businesses, to make sure they’re checking out that side of town.
“If we do it, others will get on board as well and we’ll have more than one option to go to this location,” she said. “You have to start somewhere.”
As a family-owned business, Anderson says her cousin’s vision is to franchise one day and they don’t want to be a “Mom and Pop” spot.
“Making sure Phil’s vision is what he wants it to be is important to me and I want to make that happen,” she said.
The Menu From Around the World
The vision behind the menu, Anderson said, was to try to include everyone and not limit themselves to one thing such as Caribbean or all American. This caused many name changes for the restaurant, but they ultimately landed on Nostalgia Kitchen and Cocktails.
“We wanted to make sure everyone was included, and the Caribbean part was thrown in there because I can’t help it,” she said. “We had to do jerk because it’s not just a Jamaican thing, it’s a Caribbean thing as well, everyone does it differently.
Anderson said she tried to do different things for the menu like adding Asian culture to their foods such as the Jerk Egg Rolls or the Soul Food Eggs Rolls, which was Edward’s idea, according to Anderson.
“It made sense with our menu and what we had going on and that’s bringing the southern side of things to it, but still a little Asian fusion as well,” she said. “It was a lot of ups and downs with the menu and we’re still playing with it to this day.”
Also, she said they love what they’re putting out but will still be tweaking the menu in the future to not be tied down to simply one specialty.
Anderson said her favorite item off the menu is the Jerk Grilled Lamb Chops. She also loves the four cheese Mac and Cheese.
Anderson said she “must be a glutton for punishment” when asked what made her fall in love with being a chef.
“It’s a lot of hard work,” she said. “If you don’t love it, you won’t like it at all. I just love being in the kitchen and it’s my happy place.”
Anderson also said she can’t see herself anywhere else and doing the business side of her passion is new to her.
“It’s a lot to learn and I have a lot of friends in the industry thankfully, so I can lean on them and ask questions, but that’s a whole new aspect of it as well that I’m learning to love and I didn’t think I would, but it’s a new chapter for me and I’m excited to see where it goes”
Additionally, she said when people visit Nostalgia Kitchen, she wants them to remember “good food, good service, and good choice”.
“The experience is also something we are striving for our guests, and I think those are things I think about when I leave my favorite restaurants,” she said. “When I can’t stop thinking about it, I’m ready to tell everybody about it.”
Nostalgia Kitchen & Cocktails is located at 5469 Memorial Dr., Stone Mountain. For more information, visit https://nostalgiarestaurants.com.