PORT ALLEN — Long before there was a full parking lot outside Sisters Soul Food Cafe, there were four sisters with a dream.

Now, that dream is serving up soul food in the heart of Port Allen.

Tina and Sonceria Brown are two of the four sisters behind the family-owned restaurant. The siblings are close in age — just a year apart — and grew up surrounded by a family where cooking was always part of the story.

Their aunts cooked in cafeterias and owned restaurants, while their mother spent plenty of time in the kitchen. Eventually, the pair began cooking from home, but they always hoped to have a place of their own.

“This is something that's a lifetime dream that we wanted to have our own restaurant because we started cooking out of the home first,” Sonceria Brown said.

That dream eventually became Sisters Soul Food Cafe.

And each sister brings something different to the kitchen.

“My sister, she's good on the gumbo. And my sister Michelle, she does the macaroni and cheese,” Sonceria Brown said.

The menu changes from day to day, giving customers something new to try.

“Every day is a different menu. We have different things,” Sonceria Brown said.

What started with four sisters cooking at home has grown into a restaurant serving the Port Allen community.

For the Brown sisters, Sisters Soul Food Cafe is more than a place to eat. It's a lifelong dream built on family, tradition and a love for cooking all brought together under one roof.