Elzo Atwater, Jr.

Sunday Plate Catering.  He began his odyssey in food as a youth working in his family’s restaurant called Harlem Cafeteria in 1963. Throughout his youth, he was tutored by seasoned cooks and inventive home chefs. During his senior year of high school, his dream of taking the tutoring he had experienced to another level developed.

In 1977, he was encouraged by family friends and his own dreams to open a second family-owned restaurant name by his father, Atwater’s Cafeteria. Shortly, after Atwater’s Cafeteria opened, it was consolidated with Harlem Cafeteria and became a customer favorite for the introduction of the “golden recipes” from the early decades of American home kitchens and cafeterias but enhanced by his fresh visionary food presentation interpretations. In 1977 and 1999, Elzo was able to expand his food philosophy beyond the cafeteria services via off-site catering. He was invited to begin in-plant food services by the University of South in 1997 and later in 1999 by the Tampa Rays in Tropicana Field Stadium. In 1979, he also created the off-site concept of American Sunday Plate Catering.

His future goals are publication of books highlighting the “golden recipes” that have been passed down to him, while incorporating his own unique twists and partnership with the Ocala branch of American Sunday Plate Catering, spearheaded by his godson, Mario McTier.

Education & Credentials:

Off Site: American Sunday Plate Catering, St. Pete, Ocala & Tallahassee Florida, 1979 to present

Site Location: Atwater’s Cafeteria, St. Petersburg, Florida, 1977 – 2011

In-Plant Catering: Tropicana Field Stadium St. Petersburg, Florida, 1999 – 2009

In-Plant Catering: Bayboro Café @USF St. Petersburg, Florida, 1997 – 1999
B.A., Pastoral Studies, Church Org & Development, Smith Chapel Bible College 2009

A.A., Business and Sociology St. Petersburg Junior College, 1987

Listed in the 1985-1987 Edition of Who’s Who in Community Colleges

Featured in Jeff’s Klinkenberg’s book, “Real Florida”