Namesake of Minnie’s Uptown Restaurant in Columbus and granddaughter share famous recipes

Minnie’s Uptown restaurant has been feeding generations of Columbus residents since its opening in 1986 and now those famous recipes are yours to try.

Affectionately referred to as Ms. Minnie, she and her granddaughter, Melinda Newton, are sharing some of Minnie’s recipes via a Facebook page named Minnie’s recipes and memories.

Newton said she sits with her grandmother daily and she picks which recipe she wants to post.

“It’s just a fun little activity between me and my grandmother,” she said.

Newton began the page after finding handwritten recipes in Minnie’s saying, “That’s her legacy... we’ve got to do something with these.” Minnie recently went into assisted living due to her health but is still giving back to the community with hopes of creating a cookbook and starting a non-profit.

Newton said the restaurant began in a dirt-floor grocery store, bakery and laundromat. The restaurant now has the food line and two dining rooms, a sharp increase from the 39 people that it could originally seat.

Newton said recipes like the Country Captain Chicken holds a special place in her heart, but has found even more recipes to be fond of since going through the list. Newton said that in the 1980s Minnie would make “beautiful wedding cakes” with buttercream frosting that special to her.

“I don’t even know what else I’m gonna come across that’s a childhood memory of mine,” Newton said.

There isn’t a certain timeline on when the cookbook might arrive as Minnie still has to pick out which recipes she wants to include, according to Newton.

She said her grandmother felt honored that people would want to see her recipes. Minnie told the Ledger-Enquirer, “They’re all just perfect and original.”