By Riley McCoy
For The Register-Herald
Beckley — A grand opening celebration on Friday gave downtown Beckley some more soul.
Soul’d Up, a soul food restaurant on Neville Street, opened this weekend with a ribbon-cutting ceremony hosted by the Beckley-Raleigh County Chamber of Commerce.
For owner and head chef Yafeesa Johnson, the ceremony marked the latest step in a journey that began several years ago when she started the business as a food truck.
“Well, I grew up in Beckley, West Virginia,” Johnson said. “I went and got my CDL and I said, ‘I’m going to go out here and make some money driving this big truck,’ and then I’m going to buy my food truck.”
Johnson operated the food truck for several years before finding herself in the Neville Street building when it was still home to Cheers. She cooked there and, after seeing the turnout and hearing encouragement from others, began reconsidering her original food-truck plan.
“If we always continue to support each other, it’s only going to become better because we need this,” Johnson said. “We need every restaurant that’s up here. We need every establishment up here to bring it back to life.”
Soul’d Up had already been serving customers for about a month during a soft opening before Friday’s official celebration. Johnson said much of the early business spread through word of mouth and social media.
“It’s been great,” she said. “It’s so surprising. I guess because I’d be shocked every day. Like, more people come just by word of mouth, from TikTok, or from Facebook. It’s just been awesome.”
Johnson said everything served at Soul’d Up is made fresh using her own recipes. The menu includes pork chops, salmon, chicken wings, collard greens, green beans, baked and sweet potatoes, barbecue ribs and Tuscan salmon.
“Everything we cook is made fresh,” Johnson said. “We have everything from pork chops, we have salmon, we have chicken wings — I make my own sauces.”
The opening also placed the soul food restaurant within a broader effort by city, business and education leaders to bring more activity downtown.
“You are just another piece to what we’re creating,” Chamber President and CEO Michelle Rotellini said to Johnson during the ceremony.
Among those attending were Beckley City Manager Phillip Jarrell, WVU Tech President T. Ramon Stuart, and Beckley council members Natalie Coots, Janine Bullock and Sherri Hunter, along with Rotellini and other chamber staff.
“Because what you guys are doing here at Soul’d Up is enhancing what we’re trying to do in partnership with the city of Beckley, with Jose Rizo and the art scene downtown, with Dr. T. Ramon Stuart and WVU Tech,” Rotellini said. “I keep saying, ‘Why not Beckley, why not now?’ But you have stepped up to be a part of that.”
Johnson said being part of downtown Beckley’s renewed activity carries particular meaning for her as someone who grew up in the city.
“It means everything to be a part of it because I can remember when there was nothing in some of these buildings,” Johnson said. “And so just to see different things come to our community, I love it. And I’m excited for it.”
Soul’d Up is located at 327 Neville St. and is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday through Monday. It is closed Tuesday.
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