Meet Barkeen Caldwell | Chef and Owner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Barkeen Caldwell and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Barkeen, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
As I was growing up watching my mother and grandmother cook and prepare meals for us I always knew I wanted to become a cook/chef! I started working in the food industry at the age of 14 as a server working at Fields catering company. After attending culinary arts school I began working inside the kitchen soon after becoming the lead cook. I decided after 5 years that I wanted to try working for myself and becoming a business owner! I wanted to put my own stamp and creativity on this large but small community.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
My first business venture started in 2008 as a catering company following the lost of my former boss. I decided that I would continue on with my love and passion for cooking, serving and putting big smiles on the faces of our customers. After catering different events such as wedding receptions, different types of parties big and small, BBQ’s as well as private events for 10 years, I decided to change course and try my hand at a small family operated restaurant in Griffin GA which flamed out after a few short months. After taking a break to regroup and develop a plan that would better suit my business idea I relaunch my small business restaurant in Midlothian VA located in metro Richmond called Cheesesteak Spot in September 2020 during a pandemic that challenged the success of the restaurant, but after a few shorts months of promoting and pushing the business it took off more than I could imagine. Growing daily, weekly, monthly and yearly. In 2022 my family and I faced a challenge that would require me to move the business and quickly finding a new home in Stockbridge Ga of our currently location. I feel what sets this business apart from the rest is that we care about our customer base more than the average business being sure we treat each and every customer like family and with respect and love. We pride ourselves in putting smiles on faces, filling bellies and leaving every customer felling satisfied and we love to serve. We’ve gotten where we are today by staying true to who we are and what we stand for as we’re about giving quality and exceptional service and food quality. No it wasn’t easy and although its never easy in this business we found that in order to succeed you have to continue to keep pushing no matter the situation and be consistent to overcome the everyday challenges of running a business. We’ve learn that you have to just be study and always be available for your customers and serve our communities. We would like for people to know that we’re more than just a restaurant in a community, we’re family, we’re going to love and respect everyone that comes through our to support our business. Our brand is more than serving quality Cheesesteak and other foods we’re a place that people can come to chat, chew and fellowship with us.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I would take my best friend out in town to visit places like World of Coke, our amazing GA Aquarium, the Zoo Atlanta, our beautiful CNN center to name a few staple places here in our city. We’d eat at Cheesesteak Spot of course lolll, Busy Bee Cafe, Ponce City Market, Java Jive, Little Azio’s, Snackboxe Bistro and Twisted Soul Cookhouse & Pours. We’d also hang out at Andretti’s, Joystick Game bar, SkyLounge, Octopus Bar, Punch Bowl Social Atlanta, The Vortex Bar and Skyline Park. The places I think that are fun and exciting are places like Centennial Park, Mall of GA, Lennox Mall, Piedmont Park, Botanical Garden, MLK National Park, High Museum of Art, Center for Civil and Human Rights, Fox Theater, College Football Hall of Fame and Children’s Museum.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would first like to shout out my Mother Karen Downing, my Grandmother the (late) Rose Downing and my Aunt the (late) Roseanne downing, these are the people who first inspired me to want to cook as I’ve watched them cook early mornings and late nights from nightly dinners to early weekend morning breakfast, including Christmas and Thanksgiving holidays. I also would like to shoutout Robert fields who gave me my first job as a server and taught me the ends and outs of the food business and showed me the art of the catering business.

Website: www.cheesesteakspot.com

Instagram: cheesesteakspotgallc

Linkedin: cheesesteak spot

Twitter: cheesesteakspo

Facebook: cheesesteak spot ga llc

Other: twitter: @cheesesteakspot