{"id":7182,"date":"2024-01-09T18:08:10","date_gmt":"2024-01-09T18:08:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wilkinsburgcdc.org\/?p=7182"},"modified":"2024-01-16T14:19:38","modified_gmt":"2024-01-16T14:19:38","slug":"wilkinsburg-business-spotlight-vickeys-soul-grill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wilkinsburgcdc.org\/2024\/01\/wilkinsburg-business-spotlight-vickeys-soul-grill\/","title":{"rendered":"Wilkinsburg Business Spotlight: Vickey’s Soul Grill"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Pittsburgh region isn\u2019t known for its Southern-style cooking, but Vickey Giddens of Vickey\u2019s Soul Grill is going to change that.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy family is from Crystal Springs, Mississippi, and my father was a chef,\u201d says Giddens. \u201cWhen I was 6 years old, I watched my father, and I let that be my dream, to be a chef like my dad.<\/span><\/p>\n

Today, Giddens has two Vickey\u2019s Soul Grill locations: one at 655 Rodi Road and the other in Wilkinsburg at 807 Wallace Avenue in the Hosanna House. Both offer a menu of items that will make your mouth water.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy popular foods are pork chops fried and smothered, deep-fried salmon croquettes, candied yams, collard greens, black-eyed peas, green beans, and mac and cheese. The oxtails are a number-one hit, and everything\u2019s Southern-style.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

How did this Mississippi native end up in Pennsylvania? Giddens thought the region would bring great learning opportunities.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBelieve it or not, Pittsburgh has a lot of culinary schools. My passion for being somewhere brand-new drew me to love it here, so I went to the University of Pittsburgh and took classes at Katz Graduate School of Business in the Health Department discipline. I was just so eager to learn.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to Giddens\u2019 talent and drive, she credits her success to the Idea Foundry, a program that \u201ctakes your ideas and brings them into reality.\u201d <\/span>Founded in 2002, Idea Foundry is a Pittsburgh-based global investor focused on social impact.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey took my vision, dream, and goals and brought them to life. They got me a little kitchen inside the Y in McKeesport, and that\u2019s when it started to prosper from there. They saw that this woman really has something! People were flocking to me like never before.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Idea Foundry connected her with Happy Valley Lunch Box, which also helps entrepreneurs pursue their dreams. She started working with Lunch Box to grow Vickey\u2019s Soul Grill, where she completed six weeks of training \u201cto blossom in the right way.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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