Cary, NC
Nana Morrison's Soul Food is a Southern comfort food restaurant with locations in Indian Land, Charlotte, and Cary, North Carolina, operating since 2011. The restaurant describes itself as 'Rooted in Family, Tradition, and Southern Soul Food,' building its menu around family recipes and what it calls 'comfort food that tastes like home.' The restaurant markets its offerings as 'Signature Soul Food' and 'Authentic Southern Comfort Food,' with a 'Meet the Morrisons' section on its website emphasizing the business's roots as a family operation. Guests can order online for pickup, and the restaurant also runs daily specials to keep the menu fresh for repeat customers. Beyond individual dining, Nana Morrison's Soul Food offers catering services for larger events and gatherings, extending its family recipes to parties, celebrations, and corporate functions. The restaurant also runs a VIP membership program for regular customers, offering an additional layer of engagement beyond a standard loyalty card. With more than a decade in business and a presence spanning both North and South Carolina locations, Nana Morrison's Soul Food has built a footprint across the Charlotte region and into Cary, bringing traditional Southern dishes to a broader customer base while maintaining its family-run identity. For Cary-area diners looking for classic soul food rooted in family tradition rather than a national chain's version of Southern cooking, Nana Morrison's offers a locally connected option with a menu built on recipes passed down through the Morrison family.
Nana Morrison was a real person — the grandmother of Kiana Morrison, and the cook whose food the restaurant is built on. Kiana and her husband Shawn moved from New York to Charlotte and found the city short of the soul food they had grown up eating, so in 2011 they opened a place to serve it: the recipes Kiana's grandmother and mother had made, cooked properly and served in portions people came back for. It has since become a family operation in the literal sense, with the Morrison children each taking on a piece of the business as it has grown. Shawn Jr., 24, runs the original location on Oak Lake Boulevard in Charlotte. Gabriella took over as general manager of the second Charlotte restaurant on Corning Place at the age of 16. Hank, 18, is taking on the Port St. Lucie location in Florida. From that first Charlotte kitchen the business has expanded to five restaurants across three states — two in Charlotte, one in Cary, one in Indian Land just over the South Carolina line, and one in Port St. Lucie — while remaining what it started as: one family cooking their grandmother's food.
