Inspiration is on the menu at Sandra’s Next Generation, a family-owned, local staple in New Haven, Connecticut. Sandra Pittman and her husband Miguel earned the #56 spot on Yelp’s 2023 Top 100 Places to Eat in the U.S. by cooking Southern-style soul food—and food for the soul—in the same kitchen for 34 years.
“When you come [through] our door, you know you’re gonna get a good meal, but you’re gonna get some good inspiration as well,” Sandra said. “I want [our customers] to feel the vibes. I want them to be inspired. I want them to know that any dreams that you have—it doesn’t matter how big—you have to believe you can do it.”
The owners delight in inspiring their guests, but what keeps them inspired after 34 years? Read on to learn what motivates this passionate team.
1. Staying connected to their roots
According to Sandra and Miguel, their biggest inspiration is family. Both business owners grew up with matriarchs who were known in the community for their cooking, and they opened the restaurant to carry on that legacy.
“As a little girl, I used to always hear my mom’s stories about how hard she worked on the farm growing up, working from sunup to sundown,” Sandra said. “I actually went to the South when I was 16 years old, and I saw the cotton fields and I saw how they grew their vegetables. It connected with me then. [Through Sandra’s,] I’m able to share her recipes and keep her inspiration going and keep her fight going and let her know that everything that she did wasn’t in vain.”
Sandra’s Next Generation is how they preserve that heritage—starting with the family recipes, which haven’t changed since they opened in 1989. By bringing their four adult children into the business, the couple hopes to also share their inspiration with the next generation and give them space to create new memories.
“[There’s] just something about when a Black family gets together and eats,” Miguel said during Yelp’s Black in Business Summit. “We provide a landscape where a family could come and enjoy food that might bring back memories of when they were a youth or bring back memories of stories that their grandmother said or their great-grandmother said.”
2. Getting creative in the kitchen
Sandra has never changed her mother’s recipes—her fried chicken, sweet potato pie, and fried cabbage taste just the same as they did in her mother’s kitchen—but for the rest of the menu, she’s open to experimenting. She and Miguel stay inspired in the kitchen by creating fusion specials and sides, such as their Soul Empanadas and Soul Rolls, filled with mac and cheese, collard greens, and yams.
“I’m very passionate about what I do, and I kind of chase the trend. I watch what people like, and I just add my own little twist to it… just adding my own [touch], being creative,” Sandra said. “My husband knows that I’m always coming up with different ideas. We talk about ideas literally almost every single day.”
For added inspiration, Sandra monitors food trends and looks for ways to add her own twist. For example, searches for oxtail were up 45% on Yelp from 2021 to 2022, so the dish made an appearance on Sandra’s menu this year. “I love how you’ve incorporated a top 2023 food trend [with the Rasta Pasta]. You’ve topped it with oxtail,” Yelp reviewer and community manager Alex T. told Sandra. “I feel like that was just such a genius move.”
Sandra knows she has a hit when she surprises a customer or makes someone say, “That doesn’t make sense.” She said: “[If] it doesn’t make sense, just throw it up there, put it together, and people love the idea.”
Pro tip: To find terms customers are searching for on Yelp, check out Yelp’s analysis of the top 2023 trends in food, beauty, and home design.
3. Building bridges in their community
Sandra and Miguel also draw inspiration from the community around them, and in turn, they inspire their community. Miguel said: “Sandra’s Next Generation plays an important role in our community. Folks in our neighborhood know that you can do it. You could have your own business, you could have your own vision, and you could reach out for it.”
When the restaurant opened in The Hill neighborhood of New Haven in 1989, the community was primarily Black and low-income and lacked access to affordable or high-quality food. Miguel and Sandra pride themselves on having stayed in the neighborhood to provide quality meals for their neighbors, rather than leaving to serve the more affluent parts of New Haven. This was part of their founding mission—and remains an ongoing source of inspiration.
“We always had ideas that we would shoot for the stars, regardless of what environment we are in,” Miguel said. “It’s up to us to change the environment. The people in the neighborhood knew [Sandra’s] was a space that was off limits to any type of negativity.”
Now that their neighborhood is being gentrified, and longtime Black and brown residents face the threat of losing their homes, Miguel and Sandra see their restaurant as part of the solution. As a commissioner economic development for the city of New Haven, Miguel has also been able to educate the community on future plans for their neighborhood. “We are building bridges so certain families won’t have to necessarily be moved out—they could be a part of the process,” he said.
For more insights from Miguel, watch his panel below from Yelp’s third annual Black in Business Summit—now available on demand along with all other sessions from the day.
Photos of Sandra’s Next Generation from Yelp
These lessons come from an episode of Behind the Review, Yelp & Entrepreneur Media’s weekly podcast. Listen below to hear more from Emily, Sandra, and Miguel, or visit the episode page to read more, subscribe to the show, and explore other episodes.
The information above is provided for educational and informational purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice and may not be suitable for your circumstances. Unless stated otherwise, references to third-party links, services, or products do not constitute endorsement by Yelp.