Today we’d like to introduce you to Shannea Akins.
Hi Shannea, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
My story really begins with family, food, and Nikki’s Place. I grew up around the restaurant business and Southern cooking, so food has always been a part of my life. My parents built Nikki’s Place on a foundation that was already rich in history and tradition, through grandmother Rose and her legacy. Because the restaurant carries my name, I’ve always had a special connection to it.
But I didn’t always fully understand what that would mean for my life.
As I got older, I began learning more—not only about cooking, but about what it actually takes to operate a family business. I started taking on greater responsibilities, learning the administrative and financial side, managing employees, working with customers, marketing the restaurant, and eventually stepping into leadership. At the same time, I continued developing myself as a chef and finding my own creativity in the kitchen.
There came a point when I realized I wasn’t simply helping my parents run their restaurant anymore. **I was becoming responsible for carrying our family’s legacy into the next generation.**
That realization changed the way I approached everything.
Today, I’m helping lead Nikki’s Place into its next chapter. I’m still honoring the Southern recipes and traditions that built us, but I’m also bringing my own vision to the business—creating new menu items, developing our lunch concept, building our digital presence, telling our story through social media and media appearances, and looking for opportunities and partnerships that can help us grow.
Where I am today feels like the intersection of **legacy, leadership and evolution**. I’m honoring what was built before me, putting my own fingerprints on it, and making sure that when it’s time for me to pass it forward, I’ve left the next generation something even stronger.
That’s really what drives me now. I’m not just trying to keep Nikki’s Place going. **I’m working to make sure the legacy keeps growing.**
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It definitely has not been a smooth road, but I think the difficult seasons are a big part of why I am the woman and business owner I am today.
Running a family-owned restaurant comes with challenges that people don’t always see. You’re not only managing a business—you’re managing something your family sacrificed to build. There is a different kind of pressure that comes with knowing that your decisions can affect your parents, your employees, your customers, and a legacy that existed before you.
One of our biggest challenges was a devastating fire that forced Nikki’s Place to close and rebuild. We were out of operation for an extended period, and there were moments when the future wasn’t certain. Then, after rebuilding and finding our footing again, we faced the pandemic. Like so many restaurants, we had to figure out how to survive in an industry that was changing almost overnight.
I’ve also had to navigate the transition of leadership within a family business. My parents built this foundation, and as they’ve gotten older, I’ve had to step forward and take on responsibilities that they once handled. That transition can be emotional because you’re trying to respect what your parents created while also recognizing that the business has to evolve.
There have been financial challenges, staffing challenges, changing technology, rising costs, changing customer expectations, and the redevelopment happening around our historic Parramore community. I’ve had to learn parts of the business that have nothing to do with cooking—from taxes and administration to marketing, operations, partnerships and long-term planning.
And personally, one of my biggest challenges has been learning to trust my own voice as a leader. When you’re following strong generations before you, it can be easy to question whether you’re ready to make your own decisions. I’ve learned that honoring my parents doesn’t mean I have to lead exactly the way they did. I can respect the foundation they gave me while bringing my own creativity, personality, and vision to it.
So no, the road hasn’t been smooth—but I wouldn’t remove those difficult chapters from my story. They taught me how to rebuild, adapt, ask for help, make difficult decisions, and keep moving forward.
Our story isn’t powerful because everything went right. It’s powerful because when things went wrong, we found a way to keep going. And we’re still here.
We’ve been impressed with Nikkis Place Southern Cuisine, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Nikki’s Place Southern Cuisine is a family-owned restaurant located in the historic Parramore community of Orlando, Florida. We specialize in authentic Southern and soul food—the kind of food that is cooked with patience, seasoned with intention, and rooted in recipes and techniques that have been passed down through generations.
Our culinary story reaches back more than 70 years to Roser’s Restaurant on Carter Street, where my father began learning the restaurant business and the traditions that would eventually become part of Nikki’s Place. In 1999, my parents took over the business and renamed it Nikki’s Place after me. Today, I have the privilege and responsibility of helping lead the restaurant into its next generation.
We’re known for Southern classics like fried catfish, smothered pork chops, baked chicken, liver and onions, collard greens, macaroni and cheese, candied yams, black-eyed peas, cabbage, and many of the dishes people remember growing up eating at their grandmother’s table. We don’t try to reinvent Southern food just for the sake of making it trendy. We believe there is value in preserving the way these dishes were meant to taste.
What sets Nikki’s Place apart is authenticity and history.
There are many places where you can buy a plate of soul food, but when you eat at Nikki’s Place, you’re experiencing generations of our family’s story. These aren’t recipes we researched because soul food became popular. This is how our family has cooked, served people, and built community for decades.
At the same time, I’m very intentional about making sure our history doesn’t prevent us from evolving. We’ve begun introducing a new generation of Nikki’s Place through our lunch menu, including sandwiches, bowls and creative takes on familiar Southern flavors. I’m also expanding how we tell our story through social media, content creation, media appearances, community partnerships and future product opportunities.
One of the things I’m most proud of brand-wise is that we have remained ourselves.
We’ve survived a devastating fire, rebuilding, the pandemic, economic challenges and tremendous change throughout our neighborhood and industry. Through all of that, we haven’t abandoned the food, the people or the values that built us. Being recognized as the 2026 Foodie Awards Critics’ Choice for Best Soul Food was especially meaningful because it showed us that tradition still has a place in today’s culinary world.
But awards aren’t the only measure of success for me. Some of our greatest compliments come from customers who tell us our food reminds them of their mother or grandmother, or from families who have been eating with us for generations and are now bringing their children and grandchildren.
That’s what Nikki’s Place is really about.
We’re not trying to be the fanciest restaurant in Orlando. We’re trying to be one of the most authentic. We want you to walk through our doors, smell something familiar, sit down, eat a good Southern meal, and feel like you’ve become part of our family.
As we enter this next chapter, I want people to know that Nikki’s Place isn’t standing still. We’re preserving our history while building for our future. I want to expand the brand, develop new products and concepts, create meaningful partnerships, and introduce our story to people far beyond Orlando—all without losing the soul of what made us special in the first place.
Our motto says it best:
“Cooking for the People — Without you, there is no us.”
That was true when our story began; it’s true today, and I want it to remain true for generations to come.
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
I could never tell my story or talk about the success of Nikki’s Place without giving credit to the people who helped build the foundation I stand on today.
First and foremost, I have to give credit to **my parents**. They are my greatest mentors. They taught me the restaurant business in a way no classroom ever could—from cooking and serving people to understanding sacrifice, consistency, hard work, and what it means to have your family’s name attached to a business. I’ve watched them work through good seasons and incredibly difficult ones, and their perseverance has shaped the way I lead today.
I also have to acknowledge the generations that came before me, including **Miss Roser Mae Jones, affectionately known as Grandma Rose**. The traditions, recipes, techniques, and love for feeding people that began long before I stepped into leadership created the foundation that I now have the responsibility of preserving. I truly believe you have to know where you come from to understand where you’re going.
Our **Nikki’s Place team** also deserves tremendous credit. A restaurant cannot operate because of one person. There are people behind the scenes prepping, cooking, cleaning, serving, answering phones, helping customers, and doing the everyday work that keeps our doors open. Some have become like extended family. Their commitment has helped us survive difficult seasons and celebrate some incredible ones.
And then there are our **customers and the Orlando community**. They are a huge part of our story. We have customers who have supported our family for years and, in some cases, generations. Now we see parents bringing their children and grandchildren to experience Nikki’s Place. That type of loyalty is something you cannot manufacture or buy, and I never take it for granted.
I’ve also been fortunate to have community leaders, fellow business owners, media professionals, organizations, friends, and advocates who have opened doors, shared our story, offered advice, made introductions, and sometimes simply reminded me to keep going. As I’ve stepped more fully into leadership, I’ve realized how important it is to have people around you who can see something in you before you completely see it in yourself.
And I have to acknowledge my own family and personal support system. Entrepreneurship can consume you if you allow it to. Having people who encourage me not only as Nikki from Nikki’s Place, but as **Shannea the woman, the chef, the entrepreneur, and the person with dreams of her own**, has been incredibly important.
One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is that success is never truly a solo accomplishment. My name may be on the restaurant, and I may be helping lead its next chapter, but I’m standing on a foundation that many hands helped build.
That’s why our motto means so much to me:
**“Cooking for the People — Without you, there is no us.”**
For me, that’s more than a slogan. It’s an acknowledgment that Nikki’s Place would not be what it is today without our family, our team, our customers, and the community that continues to believe in us.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.nikkisplace.net
- Instagram: @Nikkisplace99
- Facebook: @NikkisPlaceInc
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shannea-akins-492a8936a/
- Youtube: @theglow86
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/nikkis-place-orlando-3
