Memphis restaurant that put the soul in soul food says goodbye
Ms. Girlee's owner Jimmie Leach is greeted by a line of hugs while walking in to her North Memphis restaurant, which closed Friday, Dec. 20, after 10 years. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian)
For 40 years, Jimmie Leach has served soul food and love through her various restaurants.
Known as “Mama,” Leach opened her first restaurant, Melanie’s Soul Food Restaurant, on Watkins Street in 1984 with her daughter and late husband.
Now, her career has come to a close.
Her latest restaurant at 629 Chelsea Ave. — soul food staple Ms. Girlee’s — closed Friday, Dec. 20, attracting crowds of customers.
“I really didn’t want to go, but I think it’s time,” Leach, 85, said.
Named after Leach’s mother, Girlee Smith, who lived in the neighborhood, Leach and her family opened Ms. Girlee’s in 2014 after a fire at Melanie’s Soul Food Restaurant in 2013.
For a short period, they also had the Leach Family Restaurant.
Although the restaurants were Leach’s venture, her late husband, Baxter Leach, and her six children were always beside her, helping the restaurant run.
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Melanie's Soul Food Restaurant Ms. Girlee's Soul Food The Leach Family Subscriber Only 2025 award winnersThank you for being a subscriber to The Daily Memphian. Your support is critical.
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Sophia Surrett
Sophia Surrett is a University of Alabama graduate, where she received her B.A. in news media and M.A. in journalism and media studies. She covers small business, nonprofits, restaurant real estate, hospitality and tourism and manufacturing.
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