March 24, 2021
Page 7
Mississippi
Alberta
North Portland
Vancouver
East County
Beaverton
photo by M ark W ashington /p ortland o bserver
Jamie Turner and her husband Larry welcome customers to Ja’Das Soulful Eatz, their new family owned and operated restaurant next door to the Miracles Club at 4200
N.E. Martin Luther King Blvd. Ja’Das Soulful Eatz also serves the community from a food cart at 7339 N.E. MLK Jr. Blvd.
Family and Love of Cooking
Ja’Das Soulful
Eatz serving at
Miracles Club
A Black family from Portland has ex-
panded their reach by bringing soul food
favorites to the restaurant space next
door to the non-alcoholic Miracles Club
community center at 4200 N.E. Martin
Luther King Jr.
Ja’Das Soulful Eatz is a restaurant
owned and operated by Jamie Turner,
with the help of her husband Larry, chil-
dren Albert, Alecia and Donte’ and other
family members.
Jamie said she gained her love of
cooking from a childhood spent helping
her grandmother, Ella Mae Smith, in the
kitchen. She was also inspired to cook
by her sister-in-law Lucille Bridgewater.
Originally started as Ja’Das Desserts
in 2008, Jamie was known for her gour-
met cupcakes and desserts. In 2019, she
expanded to a food cart location at 7339
N.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. which
still exists, and opened her latest indoor
restaurant at the Miracles Club in No-
vember.
She finds encouragement from not
only her kids, but other family members
and friends, like from church who often
come for a visit after Sunday services for
good soulful meals and dessert.
Soul food options were once more
common and plentiful in northeast Port-
land, but have become more scarce or
limited. Jamie thought expanding her
reach would be a good opportunity to
bring the community back together
and re-establish the traditions of black-
owned businesses on MLK.
With love and support from her fami-
ly and friends she is determined to bring
love, community and traditions back to
northeast Portland.
“We serve good, quality food, made
from scratch and prepared fresh upon or-
der,” she said.
Ja’Das Soulful Eatz also focuses on
exceptional customer service and good
ol’ fashioned southern hospitality!
“We treat our guests like they’re fam-
ily and pride ourselves on being neigh-
borly. We extend this kindness to every-
one, forming lifelong connections with
everyone that enters our restaurant,” she
said.
Jamie also wants to start a teaching
c ontinued on p age 9