Ms. Ethel's Kitchen | Our Story
A PIVOT worth taking
After two decades advising Fortune 500 companies and supporting executive leadership teams on how to develop talent and build better businesses, and holding executive posts at hospitality brands like Marriott, Popeyes, and Denny's, founder Carl Jefferson made a life-changing decision. He stopped training others on leading transitions and began living through his own entrepreneurial transformation.
The heart of the vision
BUKU Cafe & Kitchens was founded to bring together talented chefs, entrepreneurs, and community partners to build multiple food brands that create opportunity, celebrate culture, and serve neighborhoods with exceptional food and genuine hospitality. Ms. Ethel's Kitchen became the flagship restaurant and the heart of that vision.
A living laboratory
Today, Ms. Ethel's Kitchen serves as a neighborhood restaurant, an eatery, and a living laboratory where culinary ideas become thriving businesses, young people receive hands-on training, and hospitality becomes a catalyst for community development.
Backed by our community
Supported in part through an Invest Atlanta small business improvement grant and strengthened through partnerships with the City of Atlanta Summer Youth Program and Tri-Cities High School, we're committed to developing future chefs, entrepreneurs, and hospitality professionals while serving exceptional food every day.
Beyond the dining room
Our goals extend beyond the dining room. We're creating careers. We're supporting local talent. We're mentoring future business owners. We're building community one plate at a time.
Just getting started
This is our PIVOT, and we're just getting started. Every plate we serve is an investment in the next generation of chefs, entrepreneurs, and community leaders. Let us serve you!
Jamma Jerk: Southern Hospitality Meets Island Flavor
Ms. Ethel's Kitchen is proud to introduce Jamma Jerk as a featured culinary partner, the first food brand and concept featured from the BUKU Café & Kitchens family. Jamma Jerk brings the warmth, spice, color, and unmistakable energy of Caribbean-inspired cooking into our kitchen, giving guests another way to experience the global flavors that are becoming part of the Ms. Ethel's story.
