Meet Kevin Johnson, a former NBA player and Sacramento Mayor. For years, he played in Detroit and spent time out in Auburn Hills. However, he had never truly felt the pulse of the city until he began his restaurant journey
“I played here in the NBA for many years and I was always out in Auburn Hills, and I always heard how cool Detroit was. I know for sure that Detroit is fire,” Johnson told the Michigan Chronicle.
Johnson has officially brought Fixins Soul Kitchen to Detroit after he recently opened the new location of his soul food chain in Detroit’s Paradise Valley. The selection of location for his business is strategic, as it is about reclaiming a piece of Detroit’s Black history, he said.
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“When I came to Detroit, I wanted to go to the Black community,” Johnson said. “I learned a lot about Black Bottom and Paradise Valley. I was recruited to go to other places around downtown, but I was like, ‘I gotta be in Paradise Valley.’”
Johnson and his wife first founded Fixins in 2019 with a goal to serve the meals that Johnson grew up with. The meals are deeply rooted in Southern traditions passed down through generations. Thus, the menu at Fixins pays tribute to the soul food, which has been associated with African-American cuisine for decades.
His new restaurant is more than just food, as it places the community’s growth at the center of its operations. Johnson has found a way to use his business as an anchor to uplift other businesses by serving drinks from black distilleries.
“We want to bring and build a sense of pride,” Johnson told Michigan Chronicle. “We want to make people proud. We understand that it’s a significant responsibility for us to be invited into a community. We have to bring it. We have to deliver.”
The idea to invest in a restaurant business came to the former NBA star during his active years while travelling the country for his NBA schedules. He soon realized the need for quality soul food spots. This led him to launch Fixins.
“Kevin grew up with soul food being the connective tissue of the broader Johnson family,” explained the restaurant’s website. “BBQs and reunions always featured Grandma Glady’s famous peach cobbler and competitions around who made the best collard greens or potato salad. This restaurant is an homage to this amazing African American family and Johnson’s broader network of friends and associates by featuring all of their best recipes and family favorites.”
Born in Sacramento in 1966, Johnson was raised by his grandparents in Oak Park after his father died when he was three years old. He went on to lead the state of California in scoring as a senior on Sacramento High School’s basketball team before being picked seventh by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA draft in 1987. The following year, he was traded to the Phoenix Suns.
After retiring from the NBA in 2000, Johnson challenged two-term Mayor Heather Fargo for City Hall’s top post. In November 2008, he was elected 55th mayor of Sacramento, the first African American elected into the position. The NBA star was re-elected in 2012.
His new Detroit restaurant is the fourth location for Fixins, with the first three being in Sacramento, Tulsa, and Los Angeles.
