Home Cooking is a Hit in Hendersonville

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Doris Suber-Young and her brother Rev. David Suber are the owners of Daddy D’s Soul Food and Country Cooking Restaurant.  Photo: Wallace Bohanan

by Wallace Bohanan

Just over a year and a half ago, Doris Young, David Suber, and Odell Suber Sr. took on the challenge of opening up a soul food restaurant. 

After years of work, the sister-and-brothers team had restored a building on Seventh Avenue in Hendersonville and turned it into a place for customers to relax and enjoy the restaurant’s wide variety of home-cooked meals.

The urge to open a restaurant came from Doris, who had been catering for a number of years. She recruited her brothers David and Odell to help, and together with other family, friends, and members of the church where David pastored, they set to work. It took three years and much sacrificing to complete the restoration before they were ready to launch the business.

The family had planned to open the restaurant on Good Friday to see
how things would go and then have a grand opening at a later date.
Seventh Avenue is still undergoing a rebirth, so how strong business
would be was an open question. But business has been so brisk that so
far they still have not had time to plan or hold their grand opening.
Meanwhile, the mayor of Hendersonville has already honored the
restaurant with an award for helping the historic district come back to
life.

Although they now have hired staff to cook and clean, at the
beginning the siblings had to do all the work themselves. Even now any
of them might pitch in to cook, wash dishes, or clean the bathrooms –
whatever it takes to keep the restaurant going and the customers happy.

Their father, known to neighborhood children as Daddy D, passed away
while the three were still in the process of restoration, and the
family decided it would be a fitting tribute to name the restaurant in
his honor. The business is nonstop work behind the scenes, what with
getting supplies, prepping the kitchen, cooking, and keeping the
restaurant clean – as well as catering both private and corporate
functions. But, in what might be a reflection of Daddy D’s reputation,
the easygoing, hard-working David

Suber said he likes to create a
friendly atmosphere that feels like home.

In David’s opinion, success – even during a severe economic downturn –
is due to word of mouth from satisfied customers, a wide variety of
delicious home-cooked food, and lots of prayer. The family stays
involved at all levels, especially Helen McDowell, who makes all the
desserts from scratch.

“The most challenging aspect of opening a restaurant is the finances,”
says David, “and the most rewarding is the interaction with customers.”
When asked if there were anything else that contributed to the
restaurant’s success, David answered, “Give God the praise.”