About Us
Everything’s better in a bowl!
Soul Bowls is a fast-casual soul food eatery with a focus on high-quality comfort food. Our story began in 2021 when co-founders Malik Golden and Hughann Thomas met to discuss the idea of bringing a soul food restaurant to life.
Malik, who had just recently retired from the NFL purchased a commercial building with an empty restaurant storefront. He knew he wanted to bring it back to life with the help of “Chef Pop”. Hughann, with a culinary and hospitality background, had been cooking and selling food from his home during the pandemic. With his large social media presence and strong following of foodies, he had a great idea of what could come to life with a restaurant space.
The two sought an additional business partner who could guide the operations and met with Willie Fair. An established entrepreneur and businessman, Willie had sold his shares of a successful online fitness brand and joined Malik and Hughann to create Soul Bowls.
Our Story
2022
Our flagship location opened its doors to the public on March 9th in the South End neighborhood in Hartford, Connecticut. Within hours, we sold out of everything.
2024
We nearly quadrupled in size as we opened our second location on March 3rd in the Elmwood community in West Hartford, Connecticut.
The Future
We plan to scale our operations and bring authentic, comfort soul food to thousands of locations across the United States.
Soul Bowls in the News
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‘New-Age Soul Food’ Now in West Hartford with Opening of Soul Bowls
Two of the three owners of Soul Bowls are from West Hartford – graduates of Conard High School and former football teammates – but the opening of the second location will likely be more than just a local success story.
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Soul Bowls brings fast-casual soul food to West Hartford
The build-your-own bowl concept is hot for 2024, according to the National Restaurant Association's culinary forecast for the year. The owners of Soul Bowls, which just opened its second location in West Hartford, are a couple of years ahead of the trend.
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Owners of Hartford's Soul Bowls Expand Business, Inspire Entrepreneurs
Meet the three visionaries behind Soul Bowls, a fast casual, soul food eatery on Wethersfield Avenue in Hartford’s South End: Malik Golden, Hughann “Chef Pop” Thomas and Willie Fair.
