New restaurant opens in downtown Gastonia

A Gaston couple is expanding their downtown Gastonia food truck business into a brick and mortar restaurant.

Mic’s Kitchen opened at 141 W. Main Ave. on Friday.

Chyncia and Micholas Rodgers own several businesses around the county, and even some out of the state.

In 2021, the Rodgers’ opened Mic’s Mini Market to fill the void left behind when long-time Gastonia convenience store Ken’s Superette closed its doors.

According to Chyncia Rodgers, the couple knew they were supporting the needs of workers in the area who formerly frequented Ken’s Superette, however, they quickly realized the need was larger than they initially thought.

“Once we took over the store we realized that there was a really, really big, huge need for food. It’s like a food desert over there,” she said.

Workers in the area would come into the store and tell Chyncia that they wished they could buy food at the mini market.

“Everyday they would come into the store saying, ‘oh I wish you guys had a hotdog,’ or ‘I wish you guys had this,’ and so, we just started listening to their requests.”

The Rodgers’ started selling all beef hotdogs with chili and coleslaw, and eventually, the food offerings grew into a full-blown food truck operation.

According to Micholas Rodgers, the food truck was getting plenty of support from the community, but it really took off after receiving a positive review from a food critic.

When community members started telling the Rodgers’ that they love the food but wished they had a place to sit and eat, the couple decided it was time to expand into a dine-in restaurant.

Chyncia Rodgers said she never planned to be a restaurant owner and had never worked in a kitchen prior to opening the food truck

“For the first time in the 23 years I’ve been with my wife, I decided to let her go ahead, and cook for the world,” Nicholas Rodgers added. “I’ve been keeping her a secret all these years. My mom hasn’t cooked a meal for me in 23 years, my wife cooks all our meals, breakfast, lunch, and dinner for our family and so I’m like, she’s an amazing cook but we never thought about her being a chef, obviously.”

With new apartments coming downtown, Chyncia Rodgers felt that the perfect place to open a new restaurant would be in the heart of Gastonia.

The Rodgers’ named their restaurant Mic’s Kitchen as a reflection of their love for and commitment to the community.

“The name wasn’t just pulled out of a hat, it’s because of the association and the love and the relationships that we’ve built in Gastonia over 15 years,” Chyncia Rodgers said.

The couple and their family are heavily involved in the community and hope to utilize their new space to continue building community in Gastonia, Micholas Rodgers added.

Mic’s Kitchen is decidedly not a soul food restaurant, according to Chyncia who specifically classifies the restaurant’s cuisine as modern American with soul food inspirations.

In addition to food, the restaurant will also have alcohol for sale.

According to Chyncia, the hours of operation will depend on community demand, but will start with being open 11 a.m. - 7 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and on Sunday, and 11 a.m. - 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Mic’s food truck will also be sticking around.

Customers can still enjoy a limited menu from the truck at Mic’s Mini Market from 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

“We believe in food, family, and faith,” Micholas Rodgers said. “Not necessarily in that order but, those are the three ingredients that we definitely put into our stuff for sure…I just want to say thank you again to everyone who has made this possible. I don’t take credit for any of this stuff, you know, glory be to God, obviously, but if it wasn’t for our customers giving us the resources to be able to go do this, then it wouldn’t be possible.”

This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: New restaurant coming to downtown Gastonia