Inspiring Milwaukee, One Family Recipe at a Time

Latoya James has a simple but powerful message to share: you can do this. 

You can go from growing up in a low-income Milwaukee neighborhood to investing in those same streets as an adult. 

You can go from growing up with holes in your shoes to helping donate shoes to local youth as an adult. 

And you can go from growing up watching your mom and grandmother pour their souls into their cooking to opening your own restaurant as an adult, spreading the joy of their recipes. 

“No matter where you come from, you can always be who you want to be,” Latoya says. 

Latoya didn’t have a lot growing up, but she did have her hero: her mom. 

“My mom made sure there was a roof over my head and food in my stomach,” Latoya says. “She’s taught me everything I know, and she’s still teaching me to this day.” 

As a kid, Latoya found inspiration watching her mom and grandmother cook fried catfish. She loved the togetherness of it, often helping cut green beans while the three listened to B.B. King. 

As a young adult, Latoya got into real estate, opening a corner store along with her husband in Milwaukee’s Franklin Heights neighborhood. The location was intentional: there wasn’t much in the neighborhood, so by opening on the corner of 33rd and North Avenue, Latoya was able to provide the community with a convenient location for groceries. 

Slowly but surely, Lattoya started cooking food sold at the store. Nothing fancy – chicken tenders and nachos, for the most part – but her work in the kitchen felt increasingly fulfilling. And the food was a big hit. That led to her expanding her cooking to a local meat market, Bill the Butcher. That also proved to be a success, so Latoya decided last year to take things to the next level: she opened Toya’s Homestyle Kitchen in Fall 2024. 

The menu at Toya’s bears a striking resemblance to what Latoya grew up with her mom and grandmother making: chicken, catfish, and potato salad are Toya’s specialties. Toya’s is open five days a week, and Latoya’s mom is there three days a week, helping her daughter and making the potato salad from the family recipe. 

“It feels like we’re back home in the kitchen again,” Latoya says. 

Latoya chose SpotOn as Toya’s restaurant point-of-sale partner, and the hands-on support from her local Hospitality Specialist Steven Sobolewski has freed her up to focus on the comfort food she’s cooking up.

“Steven is the greatest,” Latoya says. “I can call him any time of any day if I need to. He helped a lot with our menus and all his help took me to another level.”

Toya’s has been a big hit with the community – even more than Latoya expected it to be. It’s just the latest way she’s been able to make Milwaukee a better place. Once a year, Latoya helps her cousin’s organization with a fundraiser, donating hundreds of bikes, shoes, and backpacks to local youth.

“I’m really big on the community since some people really need help, but they might be afraid to ask for help,” Latoya says. “Seeing kids happy makes me happy. It makes my heart happy to help people who need help.”

Four decades ago, Latoya was one of those kids. It’s her life’s work to provide them hope, and she’s proud to share her beloved family recipes in the process.

“It doesn’t matter what you didn’t have,” Latoya says. “You can become whatever you put your mind to, no matter where you come from.”