Are Soul Food Restaurants Dying All Over the Country? A Serious Eats Poll
Fried chicken from Amy Ruth's in Harlem.
The New York Times notes that many traditional soul food restaurants have closed in Harlem as victims of the neighborhood's changing tastes. Having been a big fan of a number of the now shuttered restaurants, including Pan Pan, Wimp's, Singleton's, Copeland's, and Wilson's, I am saddened by this trend. Especially for those of us who love fried chicken, this is a real loss, and these restaurants may not be replaced. (Note: The Times story said that M&G Diner, another fried chicken stalwart, was still open. Were that the case. I believe it closed a couple of months ago, and the phone there was disconnected when I called.)
The story made me wonder if this trend is going on in other non-Southern cities with well-established African-American neighborhoods. Are Chicago soul food restaurants also on the endangered (fried chicken) species list? What about Los Angeles soul food spots? Serious eaters want to know.
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23 Comments:
There is a boom of soul food in Charlotte, NC, which, yes, is in the South, but it is not a particularly historically African-American city. In fact, the number of African-Americans in Charlotte has been growing over the past decade, because Charlotte really is a New South, post-racial city in most ways.
Garvey at 4:18PM on 08/06/08
I know that my favorite soul food place in Minneapolis (Lucille's Kitchen) closed in 2004 after several years of financial trouble. I don't think they ever reopened, which was a shame, it was the best fried chicken in the Twin Cities.
kaszeta at 4:35PM on 08/06/08
Believe it or not Denver Colorado has good soul food!
Our Five Points neighbohood is working on a renaissance.
This article in the Denver post talks about some of our restaurants.
http://www.denverpost.com/food/ci_9605805
which reminds me I need to go support some local eats...mmmm. deep fried heaven!
bisbee at 4:50PM on 08/06/08
Soul food restaurants in my small city (Syracuse NY - now down to under 140,000 population vs. the 200,000 we had back in the booming early 1960's) have always struggled on the edge and have come and gone over the years. A majority of our more affluent and more highly educated African-American citizens have been migrating out to larger metro areas where the economies and the job opportunities are far better.
The handful of soul food restaurants we've had over the years have been undercapitalized and also in locations (i.e. neighborhoods) where they have little opportunity to get cross-over customers from the non-minority community. I've seen a half dozen such places come and go in the past 15 years. The one upscale soul food restaurant that this city has ever had was a sort of small town version of Soul Cafe in Manhattan. But mediocre food, amateurish service high overhead costs and lack of marketing had them on a downward spiral within months of opening.
A few years back I was visiting Charlotte NC regularly and loved the choices... Price's, the Chicken Box, To The Bone... and many others.
phaelon56 at 5:05PM on 08/06/08
Hey Ed,
So I clicked on the "soul food" tag and boom, this is the only post on SE. Any more thoughts on where you like to go now? With all the closures and all, what's your opinion on what's left?
foodinmouth at 5:06PM on 08/06/08
I just tried a brand new soul food spot in LA called the Waffle Factory. It's alive and kicking here in LA...
http://www.diglounge.net/food/the-waffle-factory-south-la/
diglounge at 5:09PM on 08/06/08
We have a few soul food places here in SF...and one of them in particular, Hard Knox Cafe (over here in gentrifying Dogpatch), has recently expanded and opened another location across town in the outer Richmond. From what I understand, both locations are doing quite well.
Ande at 5:29PM on 08/06/08
They've dwindling in Brooklyn since I've lived here it seems. My current favorite in Mitchell's on Vanderbilt. Their fried chicken makes me crazy: I crave it fortnightly!
bonnie at 7:30PM on 08/06/08
They seem to be going strong in Cleveland, where African Americans comprise of over half the population. I can think of 3 soul food restaurants w/in 3 miles of where I work. One is at the same location as one of my favorite Vietnamese restaurants. :)
Cassaendra at 9:41PM on 08/06/08
What on earth is "post-racial?"
ccbweb at 10:09PM on 08/06/08
Well, ya'll, we here in Mississippi are not experiencing the demise of soul food restaurants-actually, there are quite a few totally fantastic "Soul Food" spots around Jackson and the surrounding area. Best one by far is right around the corner in my neck of the woods- the absolute hands-down best ever fried chicken (out of a deep cast iron skillet) five days a week with yams, fried okra, butter beans, cornbread- additional dishes such as neckbones and rice, meatloaf, mashed potatoes, fried squash...sweet potato pie and bread pudding, too. A "large plate" is two pcs of chicken or a pc of chicken and a slice of meatloaf, butter beans and squash, cornbread and tea all for $4.50. We sorta have a secret club going on with this particular restaurant because we don't want the sweet old ladies who run the place to get overwhelmed by customers with more money than manners and "time sensitive" schedules. There are only 5 tables and a short counter and no one is ever, ever in a hurry. That's a large part of Soul Food to us-- the savoring of the experience of the food.
hobcat57 at 8:25AM on 08/07/08
Hoover's (http://www.hooverscooking.com) and Dot's (http://www.yelp.com/biz/dots-place-pflugerville) here in the Austin area are both Great Soul Food places.
ronzoni at 9:06AM on 08/07/08
Hm. I always thought of "soul food" as just good ol' down-home Southern food, regardless of the skintone of the person cooking it. I didn't realize it was supposedly African American in origin. Either way, it's still darn tasty! Here in Georgia there's still a few good little Mom and Pop places. My husband and I favor the Southern Skillet that's down the road from us. Fried chicken, green beans, and cobbler for dessert. Yum!
PastaPerson at 10:33AM on 08/07/08
@ cobweb...post racial is the glorious phenomenon that is occuring where people view their fellow humans not through the color of the skin, but the content of their being...particularly in the South, where, as we know, so much progress in all phases of life until very recently has been impeded by 'black this' or 'white that', instead of 'Americans us'...at least, that's my take...peace, as always
iwannacook at 10:44AM on 08/07/08
There's a delightful place in Springfield, MO called "Lamberts." Their schtick is that they are the Home of Throwed Rolls -- seriously, as the hot, fresh rolls come out of the oven, the wait staff throws them near and far to awaiting diners' hands. Their fried okra is the best anywhere, and is just one of the pass-arounds that wait staff brings by tables periodically.
http://www.throwedrolls.com
lailshie at 11:24AM on 08/07/08
@hobcat-OMG I loved eating inJackson MS! I used to go to 2 Sisters Cafe for lunch when I was in town- so delicious. Also I crave those red hots from Hal & Mals. You are just SOOO lucky to live near there. (
bisbee at 12:17PM on 08/07/08
All the good soul food places here in Indy are still going strong. In fact, a new chicken and waffles joint (Maxine's) just opened up last week and it's fantastic.
deeoh1 at 12:26PM on 08/07/08
There's a place in Seattle called Ezell's that has amazing creole spicy fried chicken and all the rest -- it's in the Central District and I never can get there. I used to go to their old University District place, but that is gone with the sands of time.
Stushi at 1:18PM on 08/07/08
could it have to do with fast food? how are diners and burger places doing? there's a 24 hour palace fried chicken near me that seems to be going strong. i mean, that's not a soul food place, but i could see hard economic times making folks who crave fried chicken choose kfc over a sit down real food restaurant.
despite vegetarianism, soul food is still my favorite kind of food.
al oof at 1:42PM on 08/07/08
I live in NYC, not far from Harlem, and I think it's fair to say that every restaurant serving low-priced fare that is not a major chain is at serious risk of losing their lease. There may be decreasing demand for a few of these places (obesity and diabetes are epidemics in Harlem,) but the economy and gentrification are the real reason places are closing. At least half of the long-standing, 20-year-plus local joints around here have closed. It's not just soul food.
Ghostly at 1:59PM on 08/07/08
St. Louis and Kansas City both have great soul food restaurants. My current fav in St. Louis is Sweetie Pie's. The owner used to be an Ikette in the Ike and Tina Turner review.
And the Peachtree Restaurant in KC is also outta site.
Irol8 at 10:49PM on 08/07/08
i used to live right around the corner from Taste of Seafood at 125 and madison. is it still there? i moved away in 2002 but still remember their fried seafood and red velvet cake.
astarteny at 11:10AM on 08/11/08
@bisbee-- Two Sisters is still alive and fryin!! Fryin quite well and, btw, Hal and Mal's is still groovin rite along. Things have changed in jackson quite a lot but some of the great things still remain the same-- didja ever make it to Peaches cafe on Farish street? They are still there but a bit "updatedi haven't beenmyself in some time since (as previously said) THE BEST soul food joint is rite up the street from us here in brandon... Here's a chicken wing atcha!
hobcat57 at 8:40PM on 08/12/08