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GROVES — Five years ago, Kendra Gilliam decided to turn her passion of cooking into a business.

That was when Klasic Taste Catering was born.

“I have been cooking since I was 12,” Gilliam said. “My mom worked at a nursing home and her shift was 2-10 (p.m.). We were latchkey kids. I had a baby brother and we took care of him.”

After being a medical staffing coordinator for two decades, Gilliam and her husband decided to step out and start their own business.

“It just took off from there,” she said. “It was exciting. We sat down in the garage with our girls and we put a menu together. We were just asking each other what we should put on the menu. We put it together in about a day. We still have the same menu basically. We have tweaked it along the years.”

Gilliam and her family lived in Houston for 32 years and came back to the area after Hurricane Storm Harvey.

The storefront is located at 3720 Main Ave. in Groves.

“We had a place on Lombardi and 32^nd,” she said. “We had maybe a foot of water but other people lost a lot. We came in and cleaned up our building, and my husband had the idea of just selling dinners. We tried that and it took off because many people didn’t have access to their kitchens and things like that. That is one of the reasons we are still here. To get a home-cooked meal was difficult.”

Despite the success of the catering business and to-go plates, Gilliam said she has no interest in having a sit-down restaurant.

“We do dinner sells four days a week,” she said. “We didn’t want to do a sit-down restaurant because of the bookings for catering. (Saturday) we have a wedding so on Sunday, we will be closed, which is a day we would normally be open. It allows us to be more flexible.”

The catering business can provide food for as many as 400 people and can travel as far as the greater Houston area.

“We have a dish that we have done for a lot of weddings and it is smoked catfish,” she said. “It comes on a bed of seasoned rice with lemon butter sauce and fresh pico. You can substitute that with cilantro pork chop or chicken breast. All of those dishes are good.”

Gilliam said the menu is four pages long.

“Once I send the menu out to anyone that is interested, I let them know if there is something they don’t see on the menu that they are interested in, to ask me about it. I am pretty sure it is something we can prepare.”

For those looking to get a meal on the weekend, Gilliam said Sundays are always a hit.

“We call it Super Soul Sunday,” she said. “We do maybe three entrees and they have their side dishes like smothered okra, pinto beans and sausage and macaroni and cheese. Sunday is our best day and during the week, it fluctuates. We put the menu out the day before, because it is never the same. We prepare it the day before and I post it on Facebook and Instagram. For my non-social media clients, I send them texts.”

Those interested can find Klasic Taste Catering on social media or call 832-312-3685. The business can also be found online at KlasicTasteCatering.org.