MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Memphis is saying goodbye to a beloved institution. After 40 years of serving the community, Ms. Girlee’s Soul Food Restaurant in Uptown is closing its doors Friday.
From A-list celebrities to everyday Memphians, Ms. Girlee’s has served them all — Don King, Stevie Wonder, Ike Turner, Tyler Perry, the O’Jays, Brian McKnight, Alicia Keys, Chris Rock, The Temptations, Mike Epps, the list goes on and on and on.
Owner Jimmie Leach, 85, shared the restaurant’s remarkable journey, starting with just $800 in 1984.
“That’s how it got started. Business begin to flow. I was planning on working a job, but I couldn’t work on it because the business picked up so much all my children started working there one by one and it flourish from there,” she said.
The restaurant became a staple, extending its impact beyond just food.
“A lot of things have happened in this business. People have been healed because we usually pray for them or whatever we can do. Pray, feed the homeless, anything we can do in the neighborhood, that’s what we did. It was more than a restaurant. It was a ministry and that’s what I enjoy the most,” Leach said.