In the two years since Elaine Campbell died, her nephew Matthew Graham has kept the lights on and the curry goat simmering at her Dallas restaurant, Elaine’s Kitchen.
Graham didn’t know much about running a restaurant when he took over the longtime Jamaican spot along Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, but he learned fast to honor his aunt’s legacy and to continue serving the community she spent decades building in South Dallas.
Now, Graham is following through with his aunt’s will and shuttering the restaurant, he said. After nearly 40 years in business, Elaine’s Kitchen will close Oct. 18, 2025.
Matthew Graham, manager at Elaine’s Kitchen, laughs with customer Gladys Weaver.
Angela Piazza / Staff Photographer
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“It wasn’t something we wanted to do, but it was her wishes,” Graham said Tuesday, while taking a break from cleaning and clearing out boxes.
Campbell, who was born in Kingston, Jamaica, and moved to New York as a child, opened the South Dallas restaurant in 1987 after relocating to Dallas. She first set up shop near Forest Theater but eventually grew out of that space.
In 2008, Graham convinced his aunt to buy a building on MLK Boulevard down the street from Fair Park. There was serious talk of the Dallas Cowboys’ stadium going in at the fairgrounds at the time, and Campbell wanted to be there when the area exploded in growth.
“The stadium didn’t work out,” Graham said, “but things still worked out for us.”
Cedrice Bohanon, right, waits to order food from Matthew Graham at Elaine’s Kitchen in South Dallas. In 2023, Graham took over the restaurant which was founded by his late aunt Elaine.
Angela Piazza / Staff Photographer
Elaine’s Kitchen became a steady, nurturing presence in a pocket of Dallas that’s long been at the center of conversations about economic revitalization and food access. Campbell, with open arms and plates of oxtails and pepper steak, built a restaurant that anchored the community around her.
When she died in 2023, Graham knew the restaurant would close eventually, but he wanted to spend a few years continuing her legacy, supporting her employees and showing up for the community that so loyally showed up for his aunt.
When he took over at Elaine’s, he was stunned by how much his aunt did on a daily basis to keep her restaurant running.
“I couldn’t understand how she did this every day,” he said. “It’s like wearing a size 14 shoe when I’m a size 8, but I did what I could and I stuffed the shoes with socks every day.”
His measure of success is the fact customers who were unaware Campbell died were shocked to later learn so because of how consistent the food at Elaine’s was, even after her death.
“I think she would be proud of me,” Graham said.
Elaine’s Kitchen will permanently close Oct. 18, 2025.
Angela Piazza / Staff Photographer
He planned to keep the restaurant open into 2026, but the rising cost of goods pushed him to close sooner, Graham said.
“The community is totally devastated,” Graham said of the closing. “They want this place to stay in the community and they want to do something to help keep it open, but it’s not financial. It’s what she wanted.”
Once he catches his breath, Graham said he plans to keep Elaine’s alive as a food truck that will serve the same recipes his aunt brought to Dallas decades ago.
“You can take the body but you can’t take the soul,” he said. “This building is the body, but the food is the soul.”
Elaine’s Kitchen, which is located at 2717 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd., Dallas, will close Oct. 18. elaines-kitchen.foodjoyy.com.