Ma Daisy’s Porch Is Bluffton’s New Center For Gullah Food, History, And Community

Late this past summer, Old Town Bluffton welcomed Ma Daisy’s Porch to the neighborhood. The two-acre cultural hub honors the history and heritage of the Gullah Geechee, the descendents of enslaved West Africans brought to the coastal South, including Bluffton, South Carolina. The project is co-owned by Bluffton councilwoman and chef, Bridgette Frazier, and entrepreneur Billy Watterson, and is named for Frazier’s grandmother and Gullah matriarch, Daisy Pinckney Frazier. 

Gather On The Porch

The porch part of the name is a nod to the role the gathering space plays in Gullah culture.

“The porch has been a place where baptisms have happened. People have gotten married on the porch. It’s also been a place where loved ones who have passed or gone on, you meet on the porch to celebrate the life of those who become ancestors,” Frazier says. 

Ma Daisy’s as a concept reflects how the porch is a multipurpose gathering place, as it includes a Gullah cultural heritage center, a restaurant called Chef B’s, Backus Bakery, and De’ Maket, an open-air market, as well as an outdoor beer garden and entertainment pavilion for community events, like movie nights. It took Frazier and her partner five years to bring the multifaceted concept to life, but since its late August opening, it has been lovingly embraced by the community and created over 40 new jobs in the area.

Grab A Bite

A first of its kind in the region, Ma Daisy’s Porch will allow Lowcountry locals and visitors alike to learn more about the too frequently overlooked Gullah history of the region. 

“For a long time Gullah Geechee history was hidden and invisible. So many would come to the area and they would get a history, but they wouldn’t get any of the history of the rich contributions of the Gullah community,” says Frazier. Ma Daisy’s heritage center, in particular, strives to contextualize who the Gullah people are and all that they have contributed to the Lowcountry.

“The Gullah were horticulturists, they were herbal doctors, they were cooks, and they were mathematicians, and they brought those skilled individuals to this country and made them slaves,” she says. “Gullah culture kept all of those important features through the way they were able to come and adapt to this new area, and they brought many of the crops that were native to them, like okra, sweet potatoes, and other things, and they created a completely new culinary type in this country.”

Come to Ma Daisy’s for a taste of that Gullah cuisine at Chef B’s, like E’crab soup (she-crab soup) or Fush & Grits (fish and grits), and then stay for the rich history of how these Lowcountry dishes came to be, and the people who helped shape the recipes. Ma Daisy welcomes you in, quite literally with her portrait posed with open arms, to the space and invites you to stay awhile.