feature many of the old favorites, including fried fish, which is one of Lolita's specialties. It will be open for lunch and dinner, including on weekends, Lolita said. She hopes to eventually offer breakfast and healthy food options.

Community members said they are excited about the restaurant's return.

"The Knotty Pine is a community landmark that has a great deal of significance to the community, emotional significance," said the Rev. Terrence Keeling of the nearby Central Baptist Church. "Anytime a business is coming into, or back to, the East Side, it's a good thing."

City Councilwoman Zanthia Oliver said she used to go to the Knotty Pine for her usual creamed chipped beef and home fries because "everybody can't fix it."

"It's a community anchor and historical marker, and it needs toI thought, well let me learn to cook because I'm not going up there."

Lolita's new business venture follows the opening of Kameelah's on 8th Street in 2016, which she ran with her husband of 15 years, Warren Johnson. That business was short-lived because of plumbing problems, Lolita said. The couple, both of whom currently work in the human services field, will run the Knotty Pine together.

Lolita never went to school for cooking. She said she learned her craft from "being nosey" and watching her family members make Knotty Pine items like pig feet, Kirby and Holloway scrapple, and muskrat when it was in season.

"They were always cooking and always busy, so I made sure I got in there and seen what they were doing," she said.

Lolita said she