ORLANDO, Fla. — Three generations of entrepreneurs and cooks in Orlando are keeping their family’s history alive, one plate at a time.

Nikki’s Place in downtown Orlando is celebrating years of service and family history. 

What You Need To Know

Started and continued as a generational family visit, Nikki’s Place originally began in 1999

The Orlando restaurant’s general manager is a third-generation worker at the establishment, and keeps the memories alive

Shannea “Nikki” Akins, says it’s been an honor learning her family’s recipes and keeping tradition alive

Nikki’s Place has become a generational staple for families in downtown Orlando, serving authentic southern, soul cuisine. The restaurant is led by general manager Shannea “Nikki” Akins.

“The food represents a story and a love that I have for our culture,” said Shannea Akins.

The building was built in 1949 along Carter Street. Customers walking in will find years of service celebrated and awarded on the walls.

Akins’ father, Nick Aiken Jr., started working at the restaurant as a child. He learned from the former owner, Roser Mae Jones.

“I was here on time, and I didn’t have any place to go,” said the elder Aiken. “I was right here working with her and doing things.”

Aiken says he was tired of picking oranges and working in the fields in Zellewood. He was ready for something new, so he accepted a job from Jones. The memories — and recipes — are still fresh in his mind decades later.

“I was right here working with her and doing things. She said, ‘OK, we’re going to teach you how to make candied yams today.’ I said, ‘What’s a candied yam?’ ‘It’s a sweet potato.’ So we make that candied yam today as she had first taught me in the 40s,” said Nick Aiken.

Rose became his family, igniting his love for cooking — and his love for his wife, Inez, whom he met at the restaurant. The couple took over the family business and renamed it Nikki’s Place in 1999.

“It was something unbeknownst to me what an honor that was going to be until I got older,” said Akins.

The couple has now passed the business keys onto their daughter, who is finding ways to make it her own.

“Yes, this is my parents’ business, but when it’s transitioning to me, it’s like my own creation through the stories that I tell, the information that I provide, and definitely the food I cook,” said Akins.

She says it’s been an honor learning her family’s dishes.

“It was just a lot of fun things that I ate growing up, and I just learned those flavors by tasting everything cause I was always in the kitchen trying to get me a little taste of something,” said Akins.

This year, Nikki’s Place celebrates 27 years of serving the community. The business has come a long way from its initial launch as Roser’s Restaurant.

“She would be so proud to see me in the kitchen, and my dad sometimes, when he sees me cooking, he’ll say, ‘You look just like Rose, like Grandma Rose,’” said Akins.

She is keeping the tradition alive. For her, it’s not just through food — it means standing alongside her family too.

“It just gives me pride to know that I’m offering these wonderful dishes and keeping the legacy going,” she said.