Sylvia's Restaurant of Harlem, often called Sylvia's Soul Food or just Sylvia's, is a

soul food Soul food is the ethnic cuisine of African Americans. Originating in the Southern United States, American South from the cuisines of Slavery in the United States, enslaved Africans transported from Africa through the Atlantic slave trade, sou ...

restaurant located at 328 Malcolm X Boulevard, between 126th and 127th Streets, in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Founded in 1962 by Sylvia Woods, it sells a line of prepared foods, beauty and skin care items, cookbooks, and a

children's book Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. In addition to conventional literary genres, modern children's literature is classified by the intended age of the reade ...

written by Woods. The restaurant attracts a clientele that ranges from Harlem locals to visiting celebrities.

History

Sylvia's Restaurant of Harlem was founded as a

restaurant located at 328 Malcolm X Boulevard, between 126th and 127th Streets, in

in 1962 by Sylvia Woods. It has since expanded to a much larger space at its present location, and an adjacent building. The restaurant also sells a line of prepared foods, beauty and skin care items, cookbooks, and a

written by Woods. Woods purchased the original luncheonette by borrowing money from her mother, who had to mortgage her farm to provide it; Woods repaid the loan a year after opening. Since opening, the restaurant has remained within the family, and as of 2021 is owned by Sylvia's son, Kenneth Woods, and managed by Sylvia's grandson, CEO K. De’Sean Woods. The restaurant attracts a clientele that ranges from Harlem locals to visiting celebrities.

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and

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are among those who have dined there. Sylvia's was also featured on a

-themed episode of the

Travel Channel Travel Channel (stylized as Trvl Channel since 2018) is an American pay television television channel, channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, who previously owned the channel from 1997 to 2007. The channel is headquartered in Manhattan, with ...

's '' Man v. Food'' in early 2009. On September 19, 2007, commentator Bill O'Reilly received criticism regarding comments he made on his syndicated radio show, about having lunch at Sylvia's with

. O'Reilly concluded that stereotypes regarding African Americans were not true based on observations he had made at the restaurant. In response to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Sylvia's Restaurant participated in relief efforts by donating meals to Harlem Hospital. Sylvia’s also operated a food pantry donating over 1,000 meals a week to those in need. The restaurant announced plans to open a pop-up pantry featuring meal kits to serve the community.

References

External links

* {{Harlem Restaurants established in 1962 Restaurants in Manhattan Buildings and structures in Harlem Soul food restaurants in the United States 1962 establishments in New York City

History

See also

References

External links