Sylvia Woods Dead, Sylvia’s restaurant

Sylvia Woods (pictured), also known as the “Queen of Soul Food,” is dead at 86, the New York Daily News reports.

The Woods family said in a statement that “Sylvia gallantly battled Alzheimer’s for the past several years, but never once lost her loving smile.”

Want to Keep Up With NewsOne.com? LIKE Us On Facebook!

Her death comes just as New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg was paying tribute to the 50th anniversary of “Sylvia’s Restaurant” at the Mayor’s Mansion.

“We lost a legend today,” the mayor said.

News of her death spread quickly and kind words celebrating her legacy soon followed.

“Sylvia’s has been more than a restaurant, it has been a meeting place for black America,” said the Rev. Al Sharpton, who recalled dining there with everyone from President Obama to Caroline Kennedy.

“Sylvia’s may have been famous internationally, but its soul has always remained in Harlem,” Rep. Charles Rangel said.

Woods, originally from South Carolina, opened her world-famous “Sylvia’s Restaurant” in 1962. It was a 35-seat luncheonette where she once worked as a waitress. She and her late husband, Herbert, borrowed money from her mother, who mortgaged the farm where Sylvia was born and raised.

Sylvia, a former beautician, was well aware of the high stakes involved in launching the restaurant.

“I know I had to make it or else my mama was gonna lose her farm. So I gave it all that I had to give,” Woods once told Nation’s Restaurant News.

The Daily News has more:

Located at 126th St. and Lenox Ave., it was right around the corner from the storied Apollo Theater.

The business was a hit and has expanded over the years and now seats up to 450. The family also runs a catering business.

1 2 Next page »

Start Gallery

On-Air-Schedule:

Mo Better

2:00a - 6:00a

The Al Sharpton Show

6:00a - 10:00a

The Marketing Pulpit

10:30a - 11:30a

The Al Sharpton Show

1:00p - 4:00p

Sylvia Woods of ‘Sylvia’s Restaurant’ Dead At 86

Comments

Top Stories