The Underground Railroad Restaurant

Opening the Restaurant

The Underground Railroad Restaurant opened in 1969 at 406 Bloor Street East and was one of Toronto’s first Black-owned soul food restaurants. It became popular very quickly, drawing the attention of musicians, actors, politicians, and athletes. The four original owners of the Underground Railroad Restaurant were Howard Matthews, jazz musician Archie Alleyne, and Toronto Argonauts players John Henry Jackson and Dave Mann. 

With its increasing popularity, the restaurant expanded and moved to this location on King Street East. Both restaurants had a design that was meant to imitate an underground atmosphere. It was a place of comfort and relaxation and was a staple in the expanding Black community of the 1960s and 70s. The menu featured staples such as ribs, fried chicken, cornbread, and collard greens along with a choice of peach cobbler or sweet potato pie for dessert.

After 19 years, the Underground Railroad Restaurant closed. It briefly reopened on Church Street in 1989, but closed permanently after that. Although the restaurant no longer stands, its memory and impact remains integral to Black history in Toronto.

The Origins of Soul Food in West Africa

In precolonial times, West Africans were primarily farmers whose diet consisted of vegetables, starches (such as millet, sorghum, yams), and meat. This changed with the arrival of Western Europeans. Beginning in the late 1400s, Portuguese sea traders built forts along the African coastline. Many West Africans were enslaved and forced to work on the forts as well as to cook their food. It was during this settlement period that West Africans were introduced to foods from Europe and Asia as well as foods from the Americas. 

During this period, many plants from the Americas were integrated into European and Asian dishes. Some of the most popular foods from the Americas included cassava, maize, and plantains. West Africans learned how to use these ingredients and incorporated them into their diet. 

Soul Food and the Middle Passage

The availability of food in West Africa deeply contrasted with the food that was available to those who were forced to endure horrific conditions of the Atlantic slave trade along what was known as the “Middle Passage” beginning in the 16th century.

The Middle Passage exposed enslaved people to extremely inhumane conditions. A single ship would carry hundreds of captives and depending on the destination, the voyages could take sixty to ninety days. The primary goal during these trips was to transport the captives to the designated location as quickly and cheaply as possible. This meant that the captives were given food that had little to no nutritional value; many died as a result. After being transferred across the Atlantic Ocean, the captives were placed into chattel slavery where they were forced to eat what they were given or whatever was available nearby.

In the Southern United States, the 3 M’s – meat (pork), meal (cornmeal), and molasses. Pork became a popular food source because pigs were often loose in the areas that surrounded plantations which made them easy to raise and access. Cornmeal was an easy crop to grow even in places where rice and wheat could not. Molasses was a by-product of the sugar-refining process and was a cheap source of calories.

Understanding the Cultural Significance of Soul Food

“Southern food” is often a term that is used interchangeably with “soul food.” During the period of slavery in the southern United States, large plantations were common on which lived potentially hundreds or thousands of enslaved people, many with specific roles. A separate cook would prepare meals for the enslaved or they would cook their own food.

Enslavers would often hoard luxury items such as ham, refined sugar, and processed wheat flour so that enslaved people would not have access to them. This meant that the food that enslaved people were given was often scraps or garbage.

To supplement their diet and make their own income, enslaved people would fish, forage, garden, hunt, and raise livestock. Paired with the cooking traditions that they had from West Africa, enslaved people in the South were able to develop their own cuisine which over the centuries transformed into the soul food that we know today. 

The term “soul” began to be associated with jazz and the music in Southern Black churches by the 1940s. In the 1950s, “soul” began to be used to describe other parts of Black culture, including cuisine. The term took off during the Civil Rights movement during the 1960s. Today, it serves as an edible representation of Black resilience and ingenuity.