Davi’s Good Ol’ Fashion Soul Food owner brings southern comfort dishes to Davenport

The business owner held a soft opening to make sure he could work out any kinks before setting hours, and despite undergoing some trial and error, he said people were stopping by daily and wanting to know when he’d be ready to fully open.

“It’s been a blessing,” Holland said. “Now I know we’ll need more staff because of everything so far.”

Davi’s Good Ol’ Fashion Soul Food, 114 E. Myrtle St., held its grand opening May 24. The restaurant is open 11 am-7 pm Wednesday-Saturday and 10 am-4 pm Sundays.

Holland has provided the Quad-Cities with her food through catering for almost a decade and decided to open a brick-and-mortar space after receiving encouragement from customers who want her food as often as they can get it.

The carry-out restaurant offers smoked and smothered meats, hot sides like spaghetti greens and sweet potatoes, cold sides like potato salad and deviled eggs and more. Customers can pick one entree, two hot sides, one cold salad and a bread for $20 plus tax, and appetizers and loaded baked potatoes are also offered separately.

Holland said he’d offer oxtails on the weekends only, as they’re expensive to purchase but popular with customers.

“It’s more of a comfort, southern style,” Holland said. “Most of the stuff that I know I like to eat, that tastes good. I know I’ll find it at family reunions and a lot of other family gatherings.”

Growing up learning to cook with her chef father, she said one of the reasons she got into the food business was to bring people together and put smiles on their faces.

Holland has the help of his two daughters, ages 16 and 20, who share his love of cooking. It’s been wonderful to teach them what she knows and help their passion grow, she said.

“I think that it’s a blessing to show my kids that we can do this; we can beat the odds,” Holland said. “We’re gonna do something to make people happy.”