Soul food restaurant Hill’s Chicken and Waffles opens in Edgewater
This new soul food spot is serving chicken and waffles, grits, mac and cheese and more this summer.
Hill’s Chicken & Waffles is preparing for its grand opening in Edgewater next month.
The new restaurant, which replaces the former La Familia Latin Cuisine, is located at 2120 S. Ridgewood Ave. and is intended to bring a much-needed soul food twist to the city, say siblings Chris, James and Quiana Hill, who are New Smyrna Beach natives and own the business with their younger brother Thadio, who lives in Alabama.
“We’re coming out of the gate with a bang,” James said with a laugh, describing the opening of the new restaurant as a first-time venture that the family is eagerly anticipating — and one that they hope the community will, too.
How Hill’s Chicken & Waffles was created
After returning to Florida in 2017 after 25 years in North Carolina, Chris always knew he wanted to open a restaurant – a way to simultaneously foster a sense of community and honor his late mother, Barbara, who, the siblings say, was famous throughout town for her generosity and unparalleled wizardry in the kitchen.
“We come from a family that loves to cook, so we decided to do this together as a family, because what brings people together better than home cooking and family,” said Chris.
“So that’s kind of the goal and the model of this restaurant – to bring people together over food.”
“Zen, cozy and inviting”: New French cafe delights the palate in New Smyrna Beach
Growing up, their own home served as a kind of communal table – a place where, they say, people always met, laughed, and left the room in a good mood and with full stomachs.
“When you came to our house as a kid, you were part of the family – so that’s the concept,” Chris said. “And our parents brought everyone to us. Our doors were always open and they were always generous. They fed everyone.”
After closing La Familia Latin Cuisine in late March, Chris said the available location was almost too perfect, right next to the Center of Deliverance in Edgewater, where James and Chris currently serve as pastors.
“You get full and you get blessed,” the brothers joked.
What’s on the menu at Hill’s Chicken & Waffles?
The new restaurant’s Southern cuisine concept evolved rather organically, Chris explained, emphasizing the lack of soul food in the city that he and his siblings are keen to remedy.
“Our family is known for soul food,” Chris said. “…So I said, ‘Let’s do chicken and waffles, but not breakfast. Let’s do chicken and waffles with a soul food twist.'”
As the name suggests, the new restaurant will offer a creative selection of simple and specialty homemade waffles, including Red Velvet, Oreo Cookie, Fruity Pebbles, Sweet Potato and Cinnamon Toast Crunch waffles, as well as stuffed waffles and waffle sliders.
“We stay local”: Hawaiian-inspired poke restaurant opens new location in Ormond Beach
“Everything is made from scratch,” says Quiana, who will take the helm in the kitchen.
In addition to the eatery’s chicken and waffles offering, she’s offering a full menu of popular comfort food dishes that she’ll prepare herself, combining her late mother’s favorite homemade recipes with some of her own creations.
Dishes customers can expect include collard greens with smoked turkey, candied yams, shrimp and grits, fried pork chops and waffles, fried fish and homemade macaroni and cheese.
“We use five or six different cheeses,” Quiana said.
“And I’m also thinking about using her dressing. She was famous in town for her dressing… So I think that would be an important staple recipe for the restaurant.”
4 new brunch spots that do not disappoint in the Daytona, Flagler area
The restaurant also plans to offer a special menu of oxtail with yellow rice (tentatively available Friday and Saturday) and a simple breakfast selection including eggs, bacon and grits.
“My dad makes some of the best grits you’ll ever taste,” Chris said, smiling. “The key to good Southern grits is to wash the grits first and then cook them slowly.”
Looking to the future with Hill’s Chicken & Waffles
As Hill’s Chicken & Waffles prepares for its upcoming opening in just a few weeks, Chris says the family-oriented eatery ultimately aims to be a gathering place where hospitality and delicious Southern specialties go hand in hand.
“The way our parents cooked – they cooked with a lot of love, and that’s soul food,” he said. “The essence of soul food is the love you put into it, and I think that’s what will set us apart from everyone else.”
Hill’s Chicken & Waffles is located at 2120 S. Ridgewood Ave., Unit 8, in Edgewater and offers dine-in, takeout and delivery. The eatery hopes to open in July, with hours tentatively set to be Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. For more information, visit facebook.com.
Applesauce helped Michael Jordan survive the famous “Flu Game” of 1997
Chris Avila shocks former UFC champion Anthony Pettis with a decisive point victory
“The US came within a quarter of an inch of civil war”: Economist Sanjeev Sanyal on Trump’s survival of the assassination attempt
About The Author
