Eagle Rock entrepreneur put his heart and soul into eatery.

When Larkin Mackey quit his job as a medical research assistant to open his own soul food restaurant, friends told him the same urban legend his father and grandfather had heard growing up in Bakersfield.

"They told me to just go and get one of those 'black people loans'," said Mackey, who is black, laughing. "The Community Express Loan I got from the SBA is geared to help minority business owners. But it takes a little more than just being black."

In Mackey's case, a 640-plus credit score and running a catering business "on the side" were enough to convince SBA lenders that his contemporary take on soul food would succeed.

It also meant approaching the Valley Economic Development Center and attending classes on how to start a new business. The development center helped strengthen the business plan Mackey had been working on since finishing cooking school. And it walked him through the $10,000 Community Express loan, packaged by Innovative Bank at 13 percent interest for seven years.

Mackey, 32, further secured a $15,000 SBA Microloan through the development center. SBA loans are usually for more than $35,000 and collateralized with property. The micro loan allows startups with no prior experience to borrow less than $35,000. But unlike the Community Express Loan, paid directly to Mackey to be used "at will," the micro loan was dispersed by the development center only after receiving vendor and equipment invoices.

All told, Mackey spent $150,000 to renovate the 95-year-old Eagle Rock home where Larkin's is located. That also required Mackey to get a $20,000 term loan and a $35,000 line of credit from Wells Fargo, as well as a $10,000 line of credit from Bank of America. The rest he put on his credit cards. The development center helped Mackey get the non-SBA loans through their affiliations with the banks' small business programs.

Mackey's partners in the venture are sous chef Rick Rowan and hair salon owner Joshua McBride. The trio's landlord already is a believer in the venture.

"He gave us an option to buy after three years, and a right of first refusal. The VEDC said that if I want to purchase the property, assuming the terms were right, we could go SBA for that as well."

"Opening Night," a cable TV show airing on the Food Network, has been documenting Larkin's since last May. Mackey describes his new restaurant as a "Harlem renaissance-era juke joint."

Mackey told the cable channel the same thing he told his lenders about being a first-time business owner. "My goals are about peace of mind," he said. "If I can pay my bills, be my own boss, and cook in my own place, I'm already way ahead of the game."

BY DAVID GEFFNER

Contributing Reporter