Jimmy Young enjoyed a premier table to watch the ripple effect of the River Market District’s Ottenheimer Market Hall when it made the scene in 1996. Young’s long-time vantage point was next door at Sonny Williams’ Steak Room, opened on May 15, 1999.
“I came in at the end of July,” Young said of his change of jobs 25 years ago. “I was the GM of the Underground Pub, and I knew the chef [at Sonny Williams’] back then.”
That chef was Jason Morell, now chef de cuisine at the Clinton Presidential Center’s 42 Bar & Table.
“Do you need a bartender?” Young asked Morell.
“Can you be back in 20 minutes with a tuxedo shirt?” Morell replied.
Young became a stockholder and general manager at Sonny Williams’ in 2002 and has remained a fixture at the restaurant except for a brief interlude in 2015-17 after he sold his shares in the business.
“The partnership asked me to come back in 2017 and run it,” Young said. “I agreed, only to the fact that I would be the main partner this time. I started when I was 29, and now I’m 54.”
Envisioned as a Vegas-style steakhouse, Sonny Williams’ became part of a cadre of mainstay restaurants in the River Market area along with Flying Saucer (1998), Sticky Fingerz (2000) and Flying Fish (2002).
“We’re part of the big four,” Young said. “Could it be better? Sure. But it’s been a great area.”
Sign up for Daily E-news
