Family-owned restaurant invites the Metro Atlanta community to support a mission-driven business built around opportunity, independence, and legacy.
Nationwide — After watching their twin sons with mild autism apply for jobs without receiving meaningful opportunities, Melissa Muhammad and her husband decided to create one themselves. They invested their 401(k) retirement savings to open Loganville Soul Food, a Black family-owned restaurant designed not only to serve homemade soul food, but also to help their sons work, learn, grow, and build a future of their own. Their restaurant is located in Loganville, Georgia, about 35 miles from Atlanta, and is run by Melissa, her husband, Abdul Salaam, their twin sons, Jacob and Jacoby, and their other son, D’leon.
Now approximately 10 months into business, the family is asking local residents, media outlets, food influencers, and community organizations to help spread the word about the restaurant and its mission. “As parents, we started thinking about what would happen to our sons if something ever happened to their dad or me,” Melissa said. “We didn’t just want to open a restaurant. We wanted to build something where our sons could work, learn, grow, and have a future. We wanted to leave them something they could call their own.”
The restaurant’s story began with the family selling homemade dinners. Over time, those dinners grew into a larger vision: a sustainable family business that could provide employment opportunities for the twins and become a lasting source of stability for the next generation. Opening Loganville Soul Food required a significant personal sacrifice. The couple used money from their retirement savings to turn their idea into a brick-and-mortar restaurant, putting their financial resources, time, and energy into building a business centered on family and opportunity.
Today, the restaurant serves homemade soul food while working to create a welcoming place where family members can contribute, develop skills, and participate in the business. The owners also hope the restaurant can demonstrate how small businesses can help create opportunities for people who may face barriers in the traditional job market. “Sometimes people see a restaurant, but they don’t know the story behind the doors,” Melissa said. “Our savings, our hard work, and our hearts are in this place. Every customer who walks through our doors, every person who shares our business and every person who tells someone about us is helping us build a future for our children.”
Although the restaurant has developed a customer base during its first 10 months, the family says reaching more people remains one of its greatest challenges. Because much of their financial investment is tied up in operating the restaurant, they have limited resources for large-scale advertising and marketing. The family is encouraging the Loganville community to support the restaurant by dining there, sharing its story, following its social-media pages, and connecting the business with local organizations, reporters, and food personalities.
For the owners, success is about more than selling meals. It means building a sustainable business that provides opportunities for their sons, creates jobs, serves the community, and becomes a legacy their family can carry forward. The community is invited to experience its food, meet the family behind the business, and support a local restaurant built on love, sacrifice, and inclusion.
Be sure to follow the restaurant on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok
For press inquiries, contact 470-275-4603 or melissamuhammad1938@gmail.com