Former NBA Player Kevin Johnson Is Bringing His Soul Food Restaurant, Fixins, to Five Points

Former Phoenix Suns player Kevin Johnson and his wife, Michelle, opened Fixins Soul Kitchen in 2019 in Sacramento, where Johnson served as mayor from 2008 to 2016.

Since then, they've opened additional locations in Los Angeles and Tulsa. And now they're getting ready to move into Colorado. Set to open in early 2024, Fixins Soul Kitchen will be located at 2600 Welton Street, inside the mixed-use Hooper Building, which debuted in the Five Points neighborhood two years ago, right down the block from the old Rossonian Hotel.

Outgoing mayor Michael Hancock, former mayor Wellington Webb and Johnson are set to attend the official groundbreaking at the restaurant's future home on June 22.

When it opens next year, the eatery will serve a menu based on recipes inspired by Johnson's grandmother, says Erik Rhee, the company's national director of real estate and development. Expect traditional soul food entrees like chicken and waffles, oxtails, and shrimp and grits served with diner-selected "fixins" like collard greens, mac and cheese, red beans and more. The restaurant will include a bar serving cocktails with names like "Adult Kool-Aid." The interior design is intended to honor the neighborhood's jazz roots.

The casual dining room and patio will seat about 190. Rhee, who has been working with Fixins for about a year, has lived in Denver for three decades. While Johnson doesn't have personal ties to the city, the opening in Five Points was intentional, Rhee notes.

As Johnson continues to expand Fixins nationwide, his goal is to open either in larger entertainment districts, like the current Los Angeles location, or in smaller, historically Black neighborhoods, as it did in Sacramento, Tulsa and now Denver. "[Johnson is] all about promoting Black-owned businesses," says Rhee, adding that the location in Sacramento's Oak Park neighborhood, which is where Johnson grew up, has revived business in the area.

Three more Fixins are slated to open in the next year — a second Los Angeles outpost as well as locations in Detroit and Oakland.
Welton Street Cafe, which has been run by the Dickerson family since 1986, has been a beloved soul food fixture in Five Points. After being forced to close its longtime home last March, it's been working to reopen a new location at 2883 Welton Street. That project is currently under construction, with a goal of opening by the end of summer. In the meantime, the restaurant has been hosting a series of pop-ups and offering catering services.

Spokesperson Fathima Dickerson says the family was not surprised to learn that Fixins is coming to the neighborhood, adding that she has been in contact with Johnson for the past year.

According to Rhee, Johnson would visit Welton Street Cafe when he came to Denver for games against the Nuggets. Before announcing that Fixins was coming to Five Points, Dickerson says, he sat down with the family to ask for their blessing to open.

Dickerson has visited the Los Angeles Fixins, and she notes that there are differences between it and Welton Street Cafe, which serves soul food with a West Indies influence. “You cannot duplicate Welton Street Cafe — that's something we know,” she says, adding that her familly's business is more than a restaurant, it's a community.

Fixins sees the difference, too. "It's not a competition," says Rhee. "We believe the more businesses and restaurants in Five Points, the better."

"We are the home team, and right now, Kevin is the visiting team," Dickerson adds, noting that she hopes Johnson and his team work to become part of the collective and consider bringing resources to the community beyond the Fixins dining room.