Shannae Mims, 37, recently opened Cafe 24, a soul food restaurant at 848 E. Fifth St.
JENNIE GEISLER/ERIE TIMES-NEWS
USA TODAY Network, Reuters
Shannae Mims, 37, would rather cook than do anything else, and she recently took a leap of faith, leaving her nursing home job to open Cafe 24 Catering Co., 848 E. Fifth St.
She said she pours her soul into her food, serving up customer-favorites fried whiting, macaroni and cheese, yams, collard greens (“the cabbage is the key,” she said), cornbread, ribs, wings, strawberry and chocolate cake and more.
It’s true Southern soul food.
“We have nothing gluten-free,” she said with a laugh. It’s all traditional dishes, made from scratch, by Mims. She’ll get it to you any way you want it, but her true love is catering. She’s done church barbecues, birthdays, reunions and more, for any size from groups of 10 to more than 100.
“I would love to do a wedding,” she said, adding that she can also provide a team of servers if a customer wants that. “I have a group of teenagers who want to work.”
Come and get it
Mims offers takeout from her own website, as well as delivery via DoorDash, Uber Eats and straight from the restaurant. The Fifth Street location can seat about 40. She doesn’t do table service, but customers are welcome to eat their takeout at one of her booths.
“I like catering the best,” she said. “Because I can just focus and concentrate and do my thing,” she said, meaning the kitchen. But the restaurant helps pay the bills, and she loves being busy.
“I’m here until 11 every night, even when we’re not open,” she said. “I prep everything the night before for the next day.”
Cooking soothes her soul
Before she found the location on East Fifth Street, she was working in a nursing home, dreaming of cooking soul food for crowds.
“I said, ‘I’m not going to do this the rest of my life,” Mims said. “I love feeding people and I love cooking, so this was in my soul.”
The menu changes a bit depending on what she decides to make that day, but the fried whiting with two sides is by far her most popular dish, and it’s always available. She also makes sure to have a batch of banana pudding every Sunday.
She studied culinary skills online for two years, but she’s been cooking since she was old enough to hold a spoon. Her parents taught her when she was growing up in Tennessee. “I’m a Daddy’s girl,” she said, but also gave her mother credit, and, like many in Erie, her family tree’s roots are in Laurel, Mississippi.
“My mom was one of eight kids,” she said. “And she would cook every day for ‘whoever shows up.'”
Mims has five children of her own, and recently held a “trunk-or-treat” event for the neighborhood, including face painting and musical chairs, a type of involvement she wants to continue.
“I loved that trunk-or-treat. I felt like a big kid,” she said with a laugh. “I want to do more in the community with kids.”
Cafe 24 is open Tuesdays through Saturdays, noon to 11 p.m.; Sundays, noon to 5 p.m.; and closed on Mondays.
Contact Jennie Geisler at jgeisler@timesnews.com. Find her weekly newsletter at https://profile.goerie.com/newsletters/erielicious/.
(This story was updated to change a photo.)
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: New Cafe 24 serves soul food with love from Erie’s east side
Reporting by Jennie Geisler, Erie Times-News / Erie Times-News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
Shannae Mims’ Cafe 24 serves homemade soul food, including macaroni and cheese, greens and conbread. JENNIE GEISLER/ERIE TIMES-NEWS USA TODAY Network, Reuters 
Cafe 24 is a new soul food takeout, delivery and catering spot at 845 W. Fifth St. JENNIE GEISLER/ERIE TIMES-NEWS USA TODAY Network, Reuters 
Cafe 24, at 848 E. Fifth St., offers takeout, delivery and catering, but customers are welcome to sit and eat. JENNIE GEISLER/ERIE TIMES-NEWS USA TODAY Network, Reuters
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This story was originally published October 24, 2026 at 5:10 AM.