History of Fred's Southern Kitchen
IT'S A FAMILY TRADITIONFrom left to right: Owen, Elton, Fred, Caleb, Michael Elton’s father was a musical man and he saw to it that every child played an instrument. Sunday afternoons were spent practicing together. This was especially hard for Elton, who – like most boys – would have rather been running and playing games with his friends. Even so, those Sunday afternoons instilled a strong family bond in the Johnson clan.
At the hight of the great depression at the age of 17 Elton moved South from Opp, Alabama with his family. They heard, “there is work,” in Central Florida. They settled in the Springhead area, just outside Plant City, and worked together picking strawberries to make a living. Over the next few years, Elton spent time at a CCC Camp (Civilian Conservation Corp) just South of Tallahassee cutting fire lanes. He also worked with the WPA (Works Progress Administration) repairing many of the roads in and around Plant City. “Those were hard times.” Elton worked with he WPA for three or four years, bringing home $7.00 a day, which was a lot of money for someone whose family depended on him for support.
By the time he was 22, Elton had found a new line of promising work. He learned that there was more money to be made packing tomatoes than any other crop. He began working at a tomato packing plant and before long he and two friends were traveling the country from one plant to the next following the work. They traveled as far north as New York, as far west as Texas and many places between.
As a young entrepreneur, Elton started his own trucking business hauling oranges to the juice plant. Soon he had so much work that he needed a new truck to handle the load. That sparked the most important event in his life. At the Chevrolet dealership he met a lovely lady that really caught his eye. Evelyn Ruis was much younger than Elton and was seeing someone else, but that did not put him off. “We’ll just have to see about this,” he determined.
At first, Evelyn believed that Elton was married, and turned him down flat when he asked her out. After a little investigation, however, Evelyn learned that he was not married, and
since he persisted in
asking, she finally agreed to go out with him. After a few months of
“going steady” Elton began to talk about marriage but Evelyn thought he
was rushing things and refused to see him for a month or two. Of
course, they did get back together and were married on April 10, 1951.
By this time, Elton’s trucking business had grown and changed. He was
now hauling produce from Homestead, Florida to Atlanta, Georgia. He was
on the road a lot but it was a livingElton and Evelyn Johnson
In May 1952, Elton and Evelyn gave birth to their first son, Phillip Elton Johnson. When Elton was out of town overnight, he would call to check on his wife and son. It was on one of those calls that his son said, “Dada” for the first time. It was music to Elton’s ears and pain to his heart; he was missing his son’s childhood. He decided then and there to get home and stay home. Which is exactly what he did. Elton quit hauling produce and, in 1954, built a Supertest gas station on Highway 39, South of Plant City. In June that same year, Elton and Evelyn welcomed their second son, Fred Owen Johnson.
Elton was always looking for ways to branch out and expand his business. Eventually, he started selling pre-made sandwiches out of a side room of the gas station for a dime a piece. The idea was so popular that he added a small
kitchen and eventually a dining room to
make it a full-service restaurant. He got his family involved by asking
his sisters to cook. So the first Johnson’s Restaurant was established.
Folks began to gather there and enjoy the good home cooking and
hospitality. After a change in locations in the early sixties to Haines
Street (presently W. MLK Blvd.) Elton began to work on a plan to add a
barbeque pit to one end of the kitchen. Slow-smoked ribs, pork, beef,
and chicken were paired with classic Southern side dishes.. it’s no
wonder they were, “as busy as they could handle.”Supertest Gas Station where it all began
Again looking for ways to branch out, Elton started catering. He built a barbeque stand for the Florida Strawberry Festival and from 1972 until the present, it has been in the same spot. During the ‘70s and ‘80s Johnson’s Catering served their delicious food to thousands at a time. Elton engineered the buildings of several catering trailers to haul their smokers, grills, and fryers across the state. In 1977 they sold the restaurant on Haines Street to focus their energy on the catering business.
Elton’s sons followed after their father’s footsteps and opened some restaurants of their own. One of which was BuddyFreddy’s which they sold in 1998. Fred and his wife, Tammy, opened Fred's Market in 1998. Fred's Market stuck with the family standard of fresh Southern favorites. Being located on the State Farmer's Market gave them year round access to fruits and vegetables that are, "as fresh as it gets." In 2003, Fred and Tammy decided to bring back an old favorite that Elton (Grandpa) had started many years before - barbeque. The slow smoked pork, beef brisket, turkey, chicken and ribs returned in Johnson Barbeque. This time, a third generation of Johnson's was called on to manage the Barbeque and perfect the recipes. Fred and Tammy's oldest son, Owen, took on the challenge. After countless hours spent over the hot smoker and fine tuning his original sauces and rubs, he has creast the, "best barbeque you will ever taste."
Never one to sit still for long, Fred started looking for new ways to expand. Lakeland offered the first opportunity and in 2004 the new Fred's Southern Kitchen opened. Offering the
same Southern favorites
and a few new items. After searching for just the right community, Fred's opened in Bartow in June of 2008. Fred's Southern Kitchen continues to grow in Polk County and will be opening in Winter Haven this Spring. Ribbon Cutting for new Bartow location, June 2008
Fred and Tammy have also developed Southern Gourmet Catering. Southern Gourmet provides the same great taste and quality as Fred's Southern Kitchen and Johnson Barbeque, but step it up a notch with fine dining options and on-site cooking and service.
Fred continues to run all the restaurants with his wife, Tammy. Fred first saw Tammy when they were children in Sunday School. Fred said it was then that Tammy caught his eye. Today they have been married for 29 years and have three children and three grandchildren. Owen, their oldest son, manages Johnson Barbeque in Plant City as a fourth generation restraunteur. Their second son, Caleb, has served as a Marine Corps platoon sergeant at Camp David Presidential Retreat. Michael, their youngest, has finished at The Institute of Culinary Education in Manhattan, NY and hopes to one day have a restaurant concept of his own.
The strong emphasis on family heritage, values, and good old Southern cuisine is a major part of what has made each Johnson restaurant so popular and successful over the years. Our focus has always been on the food. Fine old fashion Southern cuisine. We hope you and your family will enjoy our family recipes today, because they truly are, "a taste of the south."
