Roxanne David, a well-known former cafeteria manager at Poe Middle School, opened up a soul food restaurant in Annandale on Feb. 1.After working at Poe for 26 years, David switched career paths and started the restaurant as an ode to the man on the logo, her grandfather, Percy Ledbetter. 

In 1921, at the age of 22, Ledbetter opened a Seafood restaurant in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Before moving to Virginia, David managed the second location of her grandfather’s restaurant. 

Now, years later, David is continuing both of their dreams and is the Co-Owner of Granddaddy’s Skillet, along with her husband, Andre David. 

“I feel like the restaurant business is something that has been passed down from my granddaddy to me,” David said. “Now here I am with the key to Granddaddy’s Skillet 100 years later.”

The journey to opening the restaurant was anything but easy, with obstacles from malfunctioning exhaust ducts to a snowy opening day.Nov. 9 was the first grand opening, but David later had to shut down the restaurant and make some repairs. 

“We truly appreciated all the support we got while we repaired,” David said. “This breakdown caught all of us off guard.”

After about two months of wait time and repairs, Granddady’s skillet was ready for a grand re-opening. About two inches of snow fell throughout the day. Nonetheless, customers showed up.

When you walk into the restaurant, there is an instant sense of family and belonging. All the employees are friendly and personable with customers and each other. Per COVID-19 and food safety procedures, the restaurant provides hand sanitizer when walking in and all the employees are required to wear gloves and masks.

The restaurant is decorated with black and white pictures, including a few of Ledbetter himself. To add to the coziness, jazz music plays in the background to keep the soul feeling going. The menu consists of a variety of salads, sandwiches, greens, signature meals, side dishes, desserts and much more. 

“Yet another thing passed down to me, one day I hope I can teach someone the same way I was taught,” David said.

Since the restaurant was opened recently, there have not been many yelp reviews, but all four reviews gave this soul food restaurant above four stars

The restaurant is open Monday-Saturday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. except for Friday and Saturday. On Fridays, it is open for 24 hours, and on Saturdays, it’s open from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m.