This Corning restaurant draws inspiration from football Sundays and family recipes

C&J's Eatery is a family affair.

Melissa Daniels, John Daniels, Paulette Daniels-Hill and their cousins, nieces and nephews opened C&J's in honor of Daniels' grandparents, Clifton and Jesse. Since it opened this spring, C&J's has been carving out a spot.

Its dirty rice, mac and cheese and fish fry are specialties at their small space across the street from the old Salvation Army spot on Wicks Boulevard in South Corning.

The idea of an actual restaurant was conjured in multiple kitchens on football Sundays at family gatherings. Family and friends would get together and take turns cooking up large meals for everyone.

When all of the friends and family members kept coming back and seemed to enjoy the food, they thought to themselves, why not start a business?

Thinking bigger and their own space

In 2017 the Daniels family brainstormed how they wanted to go about starting their business and moving into a space that suited them.

They didn't have any experience with the business end of things, but they knew one thing. They loved to cook.

"We just enjoy doing this," John Daniels said. "People eating our food and servicing people. So that’s really why we got into it."

Then an opportunity through a mutual friend to run their own restaurant presented itself.

"So then we had an opportunity to go to the [Corning American] Legion. One of our friends was a member there and they were looking for someone to occupy their kitchen," Melissa Daniels said.

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Getting the opportunity to run out of the American Legion kitchen gave the eatery a chance to establish a customer base, which was key for Daniels and the family to really test out their food with people outside of their family.

Their restaurant there did well for about two and a half years. They thought about getting a space of their own, but the COVID-19 pandemic those plans on hold.

"We just really outgrew that spot," John Daniels said. "We were just a little limited there with the days and things we could do."

Family friend Bob Perkins, who set the Daniels family up at the Legion, previously ran B's Pizza on Wicks Boulevard. When he decided to leave that space, he brought the opportunity to his friends.

"He told us he was leaving here, and we decided to jump on the bandwagon," Melissa Daniels said.

Specialties at C&J's

Melissa and John Daniels say they swear by their fish fry.

You can get the fish fry on Friday's at C&J in three different ways — broiled, beer battered or with cornmeal, a family recipe.

"They love our food," John Daniels said of their customers. "They love the mac and cheese, the dirty rice, the baked beans, the coleslaw. It's all different. We try to have something for everyone to enjoy."

For more information, hours and menu updates, visit the C&J's Eatery page on Facebook.

This article originally appeared on The Leader: C&J's Eatery shares family recipes with Corning community