Couple to bring sought-after soul food creations to Lansing Mall site

DELTA TWP. — Eldred Carter's food won awards two years in a row from the crowd at the annual Michigan Chicken Wing Festival before he and his wife Kameron Carter decided that was enough proof they should open their own restaurant.

The couple offered chicken wings, mac and cheese, and fries at the event, founded by Eldred's mother Shirley Carter in 2015 and held every September at Adado Riverfront Park. The couple was among several vendors taking part in the festivities, but it was clear people buying their food wanted the opportunity to find it year-round, Eldred Carter said.

"Where is your restaurant?" people asked them each fall.

"The festival was the only place they could get it," Eldred Carter said. "So after winning two years in a row, we decided, 'Well, let's give them a restaurant so they don't kind of just wait once a year just to get our food.'"

The couple's new soul food eatery, The Carter's, is poised to open later this month in the Lansing Mall's food court.

Focus on soul food

Eldred Carter said after years of working jobs as a roofer, at area warehouses and in management, opening a restaurant offers him the opportunity to "be my own boss."

"I've always liked food," he said. "I've been cooking since I was younger."

From their spot in the mall's food court Eldred and Kameron Carter will serve up what people know them for — chicken wings — but The Carter's menu will also feature traditional soul food, including rib tips, greens, mac and cheese, chicken, baked spaghetti, and cornbread.

The Carter's will create its own barbecue sauces for customers, using flavors like strawberries, blueberries, mango and pineapple and mustard. The menu will feature unique creations like "soul rolls," a soul food-style take on an egg roll stuffed with mac and cheese, greens and meat, rather than the traditional fillings.

"I want satisfied customers and I want to give them a taste of something new," Eldred Carter said.

Opening expected later this month

The Lansing couple signed a one-year lease on the mall's food court space in October. The space was previously occupied by Delicious Delights Cakes, which closed in July.

The couple painted the space's back wall and already has signage above the front counter.

The Carter's will open in mid to late December, though a specific date hasn't been set. The couple plan to run the operation, with help from family. They eventually expect to hire additional staff.

Locating in the mall was intentional, Eldred Carter said. The influx of new development at the property, including the opening of Best Furniture Outlet in the long-vacant Macy's space, and the soon-to-open Zap Zone XL in an anchor space on the opposite end of the building, is encouraging, he said.

"I frequently visited the mall when I was young, when I was in high school, so I like that now it's being revitalized," Eldred Carter said. "It's bringing renewed energy into it."

Learn more about the eatery on its Facebook page at The Carter's.

Contact Rachel Greco at rgreco@lsj.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter, @GrecoatLSJ .

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This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Lansing couple to open soul food restaurant at Lansing Mall