Louis Martin III, owner of Uncle Lou’s Fried Chicken restaurant in South Memphis, still remembers where his famous recipe was conceived — not in a restaurant, not on television and not under the bright lights of an awards stage.
It all started in his mother’s kitchen.
Martin, a celebrated restaurateur who has appeared on The Food Network, was honored Thursday, June 25, at the fourth annual Small Business Expo, hosted by the Economic Development Growth Engine for Memphis and Shelby County. The free event was held at the Renasant Convention Center, where dozens milled about the room, networking with entrepreneurs, lenders, business support organizations and community partners, while connecting over samples of fried chicken, waffles and specialty lemonade.
“People ask me where I went to culinary school,” said Martin, after receiving EDGE’s first Small Business Legacy Award at the expo. “I tell them I went to the Mary Martin School of Fine Culinary Arts — my mom’s kitchen.”
The event also marked the debut of Culture Corner, a new space at the expo created to give exposure to artists, crafters and creative entrepreneurs. With music drifting from the creative side of the room, the expo blended the feel of a business resource fair with the energy of a community marketplace.
“The purpose of this is not just to showcase the businesses, but to bring you all together here so that we can continue to uplift Memphis,” said Dr. Joann Massey, president and CEO of EDGE, speaking from the stage. “Because guess what? Nobody’s coming to save us. It’s up to us to do what we need to do for our community.”
The expo is part of the economic development agency’s broader push for “Entrepreneurship City,” an effort to connect small business owners with resources and relationships that can help them grow.
For Massey and EDGE, the expo’s message was straightforward: Small businesses are not minor players in Memphis’ economy. They are job creators, community anchors and, in many cases, the places where future entrepreneurs first learn about business ownership.
“We’re so excited to amplify the importance of small business in Entrepreneurship City, which is Memphis, and also again highlight the way that we power progress through partnership,” Massey said in a social media video captured at the event.
A family recipe fuels a thriving business
For Martin, whose Uncle Lou’s Fried Chicken has become a Memphis institution, the award means more than a plaque to display on a mantel. It is a reminder of what a small business can achieve with faith, family, skill and persistence, even during lean years.
“It started with my mom, my grandmother, my great-grandmother,” said Martin. “One day she was doing chicken and she said, ‘The secret to good chicken is – ’”
Martin paused just long enough to tease the audience, making some believe that he might give up a tip — buttermilk marinade, imported flour, something.
No luck. Psych.
“And she went on to give me the recipe,” he said. “I guess she thought I wasn’t listening, but I guess I was. Here it is, years later, it stuck. It’s not a cliché. It is a family recipe that we’ve taken and shared with the world.”
Martin also thanked Harold Collins, Shelby County’s chief administrative officer, for helping connect him with Massey and EDGE.
“He’s not just a guy in the office,” Martin said of Collins from the stage. “He does what he says he’s going to do.”
The next generation gets a taste
At the awards presentation, another Memphis eatery offered a glimpse into the ways small business owners share knowledge with aspiring entrepreneurs.
Tiffany Wiley, co-owner of Riko’s Kickin’ Chicken in Midtown, enlisted summer interns hired as part of the city’s MPLOY youth employment and professional development program to help out at the expo and learn about the demands of entrepreneurship beyond the finished plate.
Riko’s, located at 1329 Madison Ave., has been in business for 12 years, said Wiley. Through MPLOY, Wiley said students get exposure to the behind-the-scenes realities of running a small business.
“We show them different sides of the business — not just the good side,” said Wiley. “We show them what we have to deal with — customer service on one end, hiring on the other end. We show them all the aspects of it, the brick-and-mortar and the food truck side.”
Jemias Powell, a 16-year-old Bolton High School student, was not looking for summer work before accepting an MPLOY internship. His path to a job at Riko’s started with his concern for a family member.
“If we really want to be honest, it was because of my little cousin,” said Powell. “I didn’t want her to be by herself, so I was thinking of her when I wanted to join.”
Powell, who turns 17 in August, said he was open to either food service or working around cars. After landing at Riko’s, watching Wiley operate her businesses, he has started to widen his view about his future.
“I’m thinking about it,” Powell said of becoming an entrepreneur. “She’s been encouraging me to do it. She’s got multiple businesses, and as I’m working for her, it’s just making me want my own business.”
His first choice would be trucking, he said.
“I really want to have my own trucking business, get my CDL and eventually have my own trucking business,” said Powell. “But if not, I’d have my own restaurant. I don’t know what I’d name it yet, though.”
Changing with the times
Martin said the road was sometimes rocky for Uncle Lou’s, which operated for two decades at another location before moving to its current address at 1725 Winchester Road.
“I had been where I was for right at 20 years, and that piece of property got sold from under me twice,” said Martin. “I was a little upset, not knowing God had something else for me.”
That “something else” turned out to be the former Wendy’s building around the corner, where Uncle Lou’s relocated in 2025.
“It was a blessing,” Martin said. “It was a good thing that it went that way for me and my crew.”
At 67, Martin is still thinking about what comes next for Uncle Lou’s. He is exploring licensing or franchising opportunities built around a smaller food service format, including walk-up, drive-thru, delivery and online ordering.
“With DoorDash and Uber and online ordering, people are in a hurry,” said Martin.
Still, his restaurant will remain the flagship for the foreseeable future, he said.
“The mothership — the mainstay, the one that put us on the map — we’ve got a nice dining room,” Martin said. “We’re never going to get rid of that one.”
Advice for entrepreneurs
Surviving uncertainty, managing through unexpected turns and doing the work long before the recognition comes are the lessons Martin said he tries to pass along to other entrepreneurs who seek his advice.
“I talk to anybody,” Martin said. “Whatever little knowledge I have, I don’t mind sharing.”
But Martin also tries to make it clear that entrepreneurship is not only about passion or a good idea. It requires sacrifice. For Martin, that meant years of long days with few breaks and an unyielding will and drive to succeed.
“There’s NDO — no days off — when you start. It might have been six to eight years into my business before I could take a vacation.” Martin said. “If nothing else, believe in you. You’re going to have hurdles. You’re going to have highs, but you’re going to have a whole lot of lows in the beginning. You’ve got to build a foundation to get to where you want to go.”
