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Velma Johnson with granddaughter Lena and son Lester Johnson
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A mural outside Mama J’s Market by local artist Jason Ford showcases Black culinary icons from Virginia including (clockwise from top left) hotel owner Neverett Eggleston, Edna Lewis, Velma Johnson and John Dabney.
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Mama J’s famous cakes are available by the slice at the market, along with whole pies.
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Mama J’s Market offers prepared meals and other grab-and-go selections.
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Vintage spice containers and an old magazine advertisement accent the interior of Mama J’s Market.
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Beverage cases at Mama J’s Market
At 78, Velma Johnson still works nearly seven days a week. The matriarch and namesake of Jackson Ward restaurant Mama J’s remains at her post, tending the collard greens and baking cakes from scratch with the same care she’s given for decades.
A painting of Johnson and other Black culinary figures from Virginia now stretches across the side of a nearby storefront at 101 E. Clay St. in the neighborhood, considered Richmond’s Black Wall Street in the early 20th century. Mama J’s Market, which opened in the space in early January, is her family’s latest chapter.
Johnson, a born and bred Richmonder, remembers this block as part of her childhood. On Sundays, she and her 14 siblings would stop by the neighborhood store before church for fresh socks. She recalls walking from Dobson Street near Hollywood Cemetery, cutting through Monroe Park, the city unfolding block by block. “This was our little hub,” she says. “It brings back memories.”
Across the street stands a pale green house where her parents were married decades ago. She pauses as she points to it, flashing between then and now. “I never dreamed I would be in this space, owning my own business,” she says.
Two years ago, the Johnsons purchased a space on Second Street in hopes of opening a market there. But after delays and pivots, the building now serves as their catering headquarters. Instead, they decided to secure the building at the corner of First and Clay streets, adjacent to their restaurant at 415 N. First St.
Since debuting Mama J’s in 2009, the Johnsons have served as an anchor on the block, building a reputation that extends well beyond Richmond. Their Southern and soul food refuge has grown into a destination for out-of-towners seeking comfort via cornbread muffins and fried catfish. It has hosted celebrities including Spike Lee and Kevin Hart and, in 2019, earned a James Beard Award nomination for Outstanding Service. Success has been a blessing, the Johnsons say — and at times a bottleneck, with extended wait times for tables on busy weekends.
With the restaurant’s close proximity to the Greater Richmond Convention Center, crowds swell during large events, sending waves of hopeful diners down the block. Mama J’s can only hold so many guests, but the Johnsons aren’t in the business of saying no. Where there was once visible disappointment when visitors saw a packed dining room, the market offers another option: a quart of seafood salad, a slice of sweet potato pie, a hot dish to take home.
“With this, they’ll be able to just walk down the street and grab something; you won’t miss out on the experience completely,” co-owner and Velma’s son Lester Johnson says. “It’s a different way to engage with Mama J’s.”
The market also caters to the work crowd that can pop in on a lunch break and visit the cold cases stocked with grab-and-go sides including macaroni and cheese, alongside entrees and a kaleidoscope of cake slices to go — strawberry, lemon and the slightly boozy rum cake. Essentials from milk, eggs and toilet paper to pantry staples and everyday household goods are also in stock. It’s part corner store, part carryout.
Vintage tins and thrifted relics such as old spice containers and soda crates dot the space. The market has kiosks for to-go orders, and they hope to introduce coffee soon — perhaps in collaboration with neighborhood roasters Buna Kurs Ethiopian Cafe or Urban Hang Suite — and expand the prepared food offerings. They aim to work with more local vendors and listen to the needs of the neighborhood, Lester says. But growth, he insists, will be deliberate.
“People can get ahead of themselves,” he says. “The idea is to grow; we want to be smart about it.”
For the Johnsons, the market is less a reinvention than a return to the reason they started years ago.
“We love the restaurant, but it is really about people coming in, sitting down,” Lester says, explaining that the market has allowed them to connect with customers in a refreshed way. “This feels a little bit more relaxed, a little bit more community oriented.
“We didn’t create anything new,” he adds. “All these markets have been around for years and years, but we bring our own style of food that you’re not going to find at those other places. There was space for us to do it. So there’s opportunity, especially focusing on certain neighborhoods where our customer base is located.”
On Clay Street, where her parents once stood to exchange vows, Velma now stands beneath her own painted likeness — still cooking, still working, still tending to a community she’s known her entire life. The mural, created in partnership with Venture Richmond and painted by local artist Jason Ford, honors Black culinary figures with strong ties to Virginia, including entrepreneur and hotelier Neverett Eggleston; the mother of soul food, chef Edna Lewis; and enslaved bartender and inventor of the mint julep, John Dabney. Velma was the final addition.
Lester says, “It was really to kind of highlight the history of food in Virginia. We just wanted to highlight that there’s been people doing this for a long time and just kind of enshrine it with the market. Again, that’s what Mama J’s is about – how food is so integrated in the family and community.”
Mama J’s Market is open daily from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
