2024 America's Classics: Sylvia's Restaurant
Sylvia's Restaurant is one of six recipients of the 2024 America's Classics Award, presented by Heinz. A Restaurant and Chef Awards category, the America's Classics Award is given to locally owned restaurants that have timeless appeal and are beloved regionally for quality food that reflects the character of its community.
The late owner, Sylvia Woods, founded the restaurant in 1962 after buying out the luncheonette where she had worked as a cook and waitress for 16 years. Since then, Sylvia’s has served traditional South Carolina soul food to her family's beloved Harlem community. The restaurant continues to be a family legacy, helmed today by her son, Kenneth Woods, who has built the brand to include a nationwide line of food products, catering and special events divisions, cookbooks, a real estate holding company, and community service initiatives like scholarships and philanthropic endeavors.