Credit: Natalie Jones
Credit: Natalie Jones
Kings & Evans was a soul food restaurant open for about three years. Her late-father was from Eatonton, Georgia and learned how to cook from his family. Myrick recalled her father letting her cook for her aunts and uncles at the restaurant. She loved the instant gratification she received after they ate her food.
“I began to love that experience,” Myrick said. “I caught the love then.”
From cosmetologist to cook
Myrick, a Dayton native who grew up in Westwood and graduated from Belmont High School in 1992, didn’t start cooking immediately after high school. Instead, she went to hair school and was a licensed cosmetologist until her 30s.
As things started changing in the hair world, she “lost the love for it.”
When Myrick was a cosmetologist, she was also bartending at night as a second job to support her four kids. She bartended at Frank & J’s and started bringing in free food. Customers loved it, so she sold her food there.
Myrick has been cooking under Dana’s Soul Food, previously known as Dana Dane’s Soul Food, since the early 2000s. She has cooked at several places throughout Dayton such as Therapy Cafe, Silver Fox Grill & Bar, Kumasi-Kejetia African Market and most recently, American Legion Post 613.
Credit: Natalie Jones
Credit: Natalie Jones
“I’ve been a lot of places and I got people that have followed me from every place that I’ve been,” Myrick said. “These customers, I totally love.”
The secret ingredient in soul food
Dana’s Soul Food offers anything from chicken wings, burgers and sandwiches to smothered pork chops, ribs and fish. Customer favorites include oxtail, baked chicken and dressing and soul rolls.
Credit: Natalie Jones
Credit: Natalie Jones
Soul rolls are essentially large egg rolls with ingredients such as chicken, macaroni and cheese and greens inside. Customers can create their own rolls with anything on the menu.
Favorite sides include greens, macaroni and cheese and yams. For those that choose to go with the chicken wings, Myrick recommends trying the spicy garlic, Carolina gold or garlic parm sauces.
“It takes a lot of hard work, a lot of sleepless nights... but, I love what I do,” Myrick said. “If you put love into everything that you do, it will show.”
Love is the first ingredient in Myrick’s cooking. Everything is made from scratch using her family’s recipes. Myrick said she and her employees come in every day ready to make good food and have a good time doing it.
Credit: Natalie Jones
Credit: Natalie Jones
The move to Club Evolution
Dana’s Soul Food opened inside Club Evolution, located at 130 N. Patterson Blvd. in Dayton, in early January.
Myrick said she had a friend that kept telling her to meet with the owners, but she was hesitant because she thought she might have to cook Italian food. Once she met with the owners and found out she could make any type of food, as long as she made the club’s signature pizza, she was all in.
With the move, she is offering expanded hours and is “looking to get people fed through their soul.”
Credit: Natalie Jones
Credit: Natalie Jones
MORE DETAILS
Dana’s Soul Food is open daily from 11 a.m. to 2:30 a.m. for pickup and delivery. Club Evolution is currently not open during the day, so customers must pickup their food through the rear entrance of the bar on Race Street.
The restaurant is also available via Grubhub or DoorDash.
For more information, visit dana-danes-soul-food-kitchen.square.site or the restaurant’s Facebook page (@dana.myrick.5). Orders can be placed by calling 937-581-5737.
Credit: Natalie Jones
Credit: Natalie Jones
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