COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Before she started running a soul food kitchen in Dayton, Brooke Whorton had to overcome homelessness. Now, she's doing so well that she's bringing her "stuffed burgers" to her hometown of Columbus.
Whorton's eatery "StuffedEnuff" is opening in Buckeye Food Stop, a digital food court at 1282 Essex Ave. in the Milo-Grogan neighborhood. The ghost kitchen's first day will be Sept. 14.
StuffedEnuff's menu features soul food favorites such as lamp chops, catfish, wings, pork chops, macaroni and cheese, yams and greens. But the item it's most known for is its gigantic stuffed burgers.
The item comes with a beef or turkey patty, then they're stuffed with a variety of customizable toppings. For example, the Hawaiian stuffed burger comes with jalapenos, pineapple, bacon, pepper jack cheese and a honey garlic glaze.
"What it is is that there's a patty on the top or patty on the bottom, and then all your stuffings, your sauces, and everything go in between," Whorton said. "Then, we put it all together and it makes a gigantic sandwich."
As a ghost kitchen, StuffedEnuff will be primarily focused on pickup and delivery service. Whorton said her shop will be available on all delivery platforms. It will also have limited seating for dining in.
Whorton's journey to opening not one, but two eateries was not easy. She used to be a single mother experiencing homelessness. But she always knew one thing for certain.
"I always loved food," Whorton said. "I've always been a foodie and I always wanted to be in the kitchen."
During her homelessness, Whorton was doing people's hair just to get by. That's when a nonprofit called Homefull helped connect her with housing. She said the group gave her six months to get into a place of her own.
"I did it in three months, thank God," Whorton said.
After securing housing, Whorton started cooking more. She began to let her family try her meals, and the praise was resounding. Her father, whom she credited as her biggest fan, began giving her ideas on how to turn her cooking skills into a business. So, she took her son door-to-door and they started handing out menus.
"By the time we had opened up, my phone was ringing nonstop, literally," Whorton said.
Once her business took off, she was able to start her first restaurant in Dayton. But her first foray into the food business did not survive the pandemic. She sold that restaurant and eventually gave it another shot by opening StuffedEnuff. For Whorton, who also thanked her husband, ShaQuan for his support, the success of her restaurant marks her victory over homelessness.
"Ever since I have leaped out on faith and jumped into my business, I have never looked back," Whorton said. "I have never seen what homelessness looks like again; my children have not seen it."
With two StuffedEnuff locations now under her leadership, her ascension shows no signs of stopping.
"Once you hit rock bottom, you understand that you have no other place to go but up," she said.
