Southern Style Eatery

This is the spot NOT MARIOS!!! For now on this is my go to place for catfish… the staff and service was the best I ever had at a soul food place the food was A-​1 so were the employees come by and eat you won’t be disappointed at all trust me!!!

The food and the people are great… I get the chicken fingers made fresh… not frozen seasoned. And great amount for the price… the cook is funny and. always glad to see you… nothing like getting your moneys worth…

Stopped in for some catfish, yams and greens. So delicious! If you’re looking for some sweet soul, this is the place!!! Juicy fried fish, sweet yams, excellently flavored greens… Not bitter at all with a nice little hint of vinegar. Delicious southern style food!

In all honesty, 5 stars is not enough to rate the quality and taste of the food. The fried catfish is wonderful. Add collard greens and yams you will be in soul food heaven.

Great place! Had the fried catfish, definitely would eat there again.

Update from earlier review. I contacted the restaurant about the tainted food my wife and I ate last Tuesday before Christmas. The person who answered the phone could not have sounded less sympathetic, he told me manager was not in and to call back around 2pm. This was on Saturday, well I called back and sure enough, no manager and no owner on duty!
Needless to say, I will not eat in or order from this place ever again and I hope you dont either, believe me, your stomach and backside will thank you!

I wanted this place to succeed. I needed somewhere that reminded me of home. I wanted this place to shed all of the negative reviews and become a place people like myself can feel good about supporting. I’m so disappointed with this place.
With all of that being said, My friend and I visited this place tonight, for the second time this week. We wanted the same thing we got last night, maybe minus the long wait and the banana pudding. We wanted that good southern soul food taste that we had been craving. We couldn’t deny it, we were hooked.
We traveled 20 minutes away from home and got to this place at 7:09 pm. When we walked in, we were greeted by our server yesterday. We knew the process already so we picked a seat and sat down. That was at 7:10 pm. We didn’t get a menu until 7:14pm. It took us 2 minutes to decide what we wanted, but it took her until 7:20 to come back out to take our order.
We ordered the Sunday’s Special: Smothered Chicken (White Meat) with Dressing and Mac&Cheese as sides and Yams as the additional side. My friend ordered 3 piece Whole Wings with Mashed Potatoes (No Gravy) and Greens as sides. She also added 3 pieces of Fried Fish on too. This time, drinks were optional and we declined.
Let me mention, I asked the waitress if I could add on the Fish and she ignored me. I assumed she didn’t hear me but there was no way for her not too. My friend then repeated my question and she nodded yes, like we should have known the answer already. That was strike one.
As we were waiting for our food, another couple walked in. This was maybe 10 minutes after we sat down. She promptly gave them a menu and took their order. They didn’t have to wait for her to finish talking in the back, like we did. They ordered and started waiting like us.
It’s now, 7:40pm, 20 mins before they’re suppose to close. We were getting very irritated, because this was now the 2^nd day of waiting 40+ mins for food that should take 15 – 20 mins tops.
The waitress came back, I thought she was going to give us an update on our food, but she didn’t. She grabbed a mop and went to clean the restroom. She was accompanied by 3 little boys, around the age 8, as she cleaned the bathrooms. They stayed in there for about 10 minutes.
She came out and went back into the kitchen. To be honest, we didn’t think she was going to wash her hands, so I got up and walked towards the front, where the kitchen is. I did see her grab a paper towel so I assumed she washed her hands, although I was too slow In walking to actually confirm.
It’s now 7:50pm. I stood at the front for a few minutes. I wanted to see what the hell was taking so long. I observed 3 little boys in the kitchen. I didn’t see them wash their hands at all. 1 of the boys, in particular, was coughing profusely near the food. I presumed he was sick because he was taking out trash with no jacket on.
Let me throw in, while I was standing there, the cook asked if I wanted gravy on my dressing. I realized that she was working on our food. With my response, they finished a couple plates, and stuck the plates in the window to be picked up and dropped off at our table.
The waitress grabbed the plates and walked towards the couple that entered after us. This was at 7:55pm, by the way. She served them their food 1^st. I was confused as to why they were getting food 1^st, so I walked back towards our table, which happened to be next to the couple.
The lady went back to the window and grabbed the other plates, she then took those plates to that table also. At this point they had 3 plates of food on their table.
The woman of the couple told the waitress that it wasn’t her food. The waitress then took our plate of food back to the window and she was pissed. She said, «This is the s**t I don’t like!» Her and the male cook had a short argument and then she stormed away and came towards our table. She put the plate on our table, in front of my friend, and walked away. She walked back to the window and inquired about my plate.
At 7:59pm the waitress walked up to our table and said, we only have dark meat left. They gave away the last white meat. Do you want me to bring you a menu?” I said, «No!» The waitress away like that was that. I called her back over after few seconds and she hesitantly walked back over. I told her that my friend’s potatoes had gravy on it and he ordered it without gravy. She said, «Sorry, I’m not in the kitchen.» I said that I didn’t have any food so my friend didn’t want her’s. She didn’t want to eat food that was picked over by another table either.
The lady snatched the plate off the table, without saying a word, and slammed it in the window. She said, «Y’all didn’t have the other plate, now they don’t want this one.» We could hear the cooks in the back complaining. They were saying, «That’s f’d up!» This was 8:03pm.
We went out the main door and said that were not waiting another 40 mins. They never acknowledged us!
They were added to our «Never Again» list!!!

This place has gone to sh*t. We used to happily drive across town to come here. It used to be great, but it is consistently bad now. The last time we came here, the catfish was dry and overcooked. We came back thinking it was an off day last time… nope…it sucked again. Some pieces were dry and overcooked and some were flat out raw. So disgusting. Someone there likes to flag the bad reviews… shady. Here’s a thought, why don’t you try improving your culinary skills instead of hiding Unilocal reviews and the rest will take care of itself.

Soo I used to love this place but my they dropped the ball the Mac n cheese blah… the fish is always good but all of the sides need work really bad… for now on I’ll just get my fish from here

Food was very good. I ordered the catfish with greens and yams (I thought my sister made the best yams but this place gave her a run for the money or should I say yams) the greens were very tasty as well as the catfish
My sister ordered the whole chicken wing meal with yams and Mac & cheese everything was very good and the Carmel cake was the
we had to order more because the cake we planned to take home but that never happened

update…
we have been to this place several times and each time we love it. we start trying new things everytime we go. well we tried the greens and yams and omg!!! they were absolutely delish!!!
everything always… always…come out fresh and hot!!! the fish is great, huge shrimp, and my favorite fries always good. seasoning always perfect and love going here.

Wanted to get a quick bite to eat & ended up with a meal that I couldn’t stop eating. This place I would say is a hidden gem! The owner Fred is super nice, place is really clean & the best part, the food was AWESOME! There is salt & then there is flavor, this place has the flavor in spades! I had the fried catfish, greens, red beans & rice & a side of fried oysters. Everything was delicious, catfish has the right amount of crunch on the outside & fish was flaky & moist on the inside. Same with the fried oysters. I would even go as far as saying their catfish was better than hush puppies. My husband has the fried shrimp po-​boy, the sauce was flavorful, the shrimp are really big & juicy. This place is worth many trips back!!! Check out their website
. They have different specials all days of the week.

If you like catfish you better make the drive to see the folks at Southern Style Eatery ! Their fish is bomb, top that plate off with greens and yams and you’ll experience true Southern taste. I love this place!!!

⁵⁄₅ stars does not express how GREAT this place really is! The customer service was top notch, «Kris» is the lady who was serving was friendly, attentive, and helpful. The cook also stopped by to say hello and and asked how everything was. I could not stop praising the fresh, all WHITE catfish, homemade mac&cheese, yams, and mashed potatoes w/​gravy! My experience was so fantastic, I promised to come back with my family and even got a to go order of chicken for tomorrow!
If you’re looking for a soul food place that beats M&M’s, Ella Em’s, Hush Puppies, etc. you have found the place! Thank me later!

This is a mom and pop’s restaurant. Their food has a very good home taste to it. However, you can tell they lack some business experience. When we arrived the older lady was arguing with the person who was taking our order. I felt a bit awkward and surprised that they were running a business that way. In regards to the food, the spaghetti was awesome. The meat sauce had a lot of fresh tomatoes which were delicious. We also had the fried catfish which was crunchy and perfectly cooked. The sides were very average. The coleslaw had very large pieces of cabbage. The mac and cheese looked dry and lacked some flavor. The prices were reasonable and the overall taste of the food was good. I can see why some reviews are only one star and why some others are four stars. The food is really good, but the customer experience is not that great.

«Wow!» you might be asking yourself, «How could they go from five stars to ONE?»
Simple. Rudeness and horrible, horrible customer service.
It has been made very plain to us that if you call in an order, YOU ARE BOTHERING THEM AND THEY DO NOT WANT TO DEAL WITH YOU. Since we never eat in the always sweltering dining room, this is a problem. They are flat out rude. I tried to tell the old owners that randomly changing their business hours (without posting a sign) and barely speaking into the phone enough to be heard over the background noise was NOT a way to do business, but they never listened.
Apparently, that is the ONLY way to do business in that building. We were excited when I read there were new owners, but the new staff of Southern Style Eatery are just as UN-​grateful for your business as the old ones. They’re only slightly better organized, but any discounts for checking in or reviewing are have been randomly applied depending on the technological competence of the person at the computer.
Yes, the food is good… when you get it and if your order is correct. Honestly, that’s why we stopped going. Look at how many check-​ins I have for this place. We made excuse after excuse for why the side orders were in the wrong meals or they ran out of something, but having to consistently fight to get the right food as the prices kept creeping up got old and we stopped going.
If your family who staffs the restaurant is driving business away, then find people who won’t. I am tired of trying to fight to even PLACE an order and give you my money, so my family just isn’t going to do it any longer.
I’m sorry, but after a long love affair, we just cannot excuse the incompetence so that we can get catfish cooked with Louisiana Fish Fry mix. We are officially over.
The next new owners should feel free to contact me so that they can learn from the mistakes of the past.

Not long ago,
was having one of their somewhat usual sales where you could pick up super cheap coupons. Southern Style Eatery happened to be one of those and I purchased a $ 15 coupon for under $ 3. If you’ve ever used
you know that their coupons really have no expiration date, and it’s generally always up to the restaurant when they start or stop participating in offering them. Unfortunately, SSE seems to be a place that likes to be very selective on accepting coupons. In what would have easily been a 4 star review, the coupon eventually ended up being a fiasco and ruined our whole experience here… but I’ll get back to it.
I believe Southern Style Eatery has only been around for a year or so, maybe two. We’ve seen it a number of times when in the little strip mall, and they’re actually getting ready to open a second location inside the AMPM on Craig & Rancho, which I drive by daily. I heard that location was going to have a much more specialized, somewhat limited menu, so I figured it was finally time to check out the original. From the outside it looks like a take out only place, but they have a pretty large dining area in the space next door. When you dine in, it’s full service for the most part, besides a drink fountain in the back corner. There’s not much going on in the place, it’s a very simple restaurant, but there’s certainly nothing wrong with that. I actually really like the simplicity.
After we get seated, we start checking out the menu. It’s a pretty big menu, and most of their stuff is priced really well. I was a bit surprised that they don’t offer fried chicken though, especially since they offer quite a few fried items. No big deal, I like it all and we had a coupon, so we decided to order a few items to try.
Fried Catfish — With so many good reviews, this was something I had to try. For only $ 8, you get 3 pieces of fish. At that price, I was not expecting to get such large pieces. The cornmeal batter was just right, and had great flavor. One of my pieces was unusually big and a small portion of it wasn’t cooked all the way though. A very minor setback as the rest was nice and flaky, and for the price, this is some really good fried fish.
Ribs — These were on a special that day, so we figured why not. I believe the special price was only $ 9 and included one side. You can a good amount of ribs, the meat was cooked well and nearly at the point of fall off the bone, but there was a little too much sauce on it for my taste. Even still, really solid for the price.
BBQ Chicken — Another item in their special menu. It came out hot and juicy, and was cooked well. My only gripe was that much like the ribs, it was kind of slathered in sauce. If the skin had any crispiness at all, it was lost in the sauce.
Sides — Since we ordered multiple items, we sampled nearly all their sides. While nothing really stood out as excellent, they were all fairly decent. The mac & cheese was slightly bland, but both the potato salad and greens were above average.
When the waitress/​cook (the owner’s mother) was ready to get our check, I informed her of the coupon I had. From there on, her tune changed in a big way and everything went downhill. She basically got pissed at me and told me I should have told her that we had a coupon before we sat down. She then went on to tell me she didn’t know how to use the coupons and we had to wait there at least 30 minutes for someone to come back and put the coupon in. When I asked her how she didn’t know, she showed me a printed one and said that’s the only ones she knows how to take. I sat there and compared the printed, and one on my phone and couldn’t find any difference. She insisted I had to wait until whoever knew their POS came back to input a simple code. When he arrived 45 minutes later, he had an attitude with me and told me they don’t take them anymore, but would do it this one time. Wait… what…this lady just showed me someone else’s printed coupon sitting next to the register, and you’re acting like your doing me a favor by accepting mine? C’mon. I wouldn’t find out until the next day when I decided to check, but they were still selling the same coupon. Why they wanted to cause such an issue and make me wait because their employees aren’t trained properly is beyond me. How their attitudes changed so much over a simple coupon made me seriously reconsider ever coming back.
But while standing around at the counter waiting to finally pay for my food, I witnessed the lady who waited on us and assumedly cook our meal prepare food, in a way that had to break health code violation. She was answering phones, taking orders, touching the computer and making food all at the same time. Never once washed her hands, then even went on to put her pen and pad right on to the same prep station the catfish was on.
Since I didn’t get sick or die, I’ll hope my food was different and 2 stars is likely too generous, but I won’t be back now for sure.

No frills, soul-​food establishment really specializing in seafood!
First off I have to say the service isn’t exactly M&M Soul Food, but I didn’t mind because I was really there just for the food. Ordered the catfish with collards and red beans and rice. Catfish was very nice and flakey on the inside while the cornmeal batter was greatly seasoned.
Have to come back here to try the rest of their menu!

One word. CATFISH.
No, not the stupid reality show. The actual fish. You can get your catfish fix here. Wifey was craving fish so a search on Unilocal turned up with this place as the first entry. First visit here I am impressed with several things.
For to go orders, you order at the counter. For dine in, you go sit down in the adjacent room and somebody comes out to take your order.
We ordered two entrees of catfish, one fried and one grilled so that we can taste both styles. Both come with 2 sides, in which we got yams, collard greens, mac n cheese, and fries. We also ordered fried oysters and 10 piece wings.
The catfish (3 piece $ 7.99). I like the fact that you have the choice of having it grilled or fried. Only thing is, I like it better fried here. Dont get me wrong. The grilled is ok. Its just that it seemed more oily than the fried. Like they deep fried it really quick, than threw some seasoning on it. There seemed to be way more oil on the bottom of my plate for the grilled fish. The fried? Stupendous. Just the right amount of cornmeal. Very crispy and flavorful. Now this folks, is what southern fried catfish is supposed to taste like.
The sides. For you sugar lovers, the yams would be right up your alley. It just might end up being dessert. I think they had it simmered in some kind of molasses infused water until soft. Then serve it to you with sprinkled brown sugar on top. The collard greens were decent. I would say almost equivalent to spinach. This dish was tad bit salty for me though. The mac n cheese good. It is sprinkled with a bit of black pepper so for you that have kids, they might not like it because of that. The fries are crinkle cut. Nothin special.
Fried oysters (6 piece $ 11.99). Im not into these things but my wife and oldest son said they were very good. I was almost tempted to pick one up and eat it because it was breaded perfectly just like the fish.
The wings (10 piece party pack $ 8.99). Make sure specify what wings you want. You can order whole chicken wings which are like half the chicken. Kind of like chickens on steroids. The wings I got were your basic hot wings. Only 3 flavors available which were mild, hot, and barbeque. I got hot which was a buffalo hot sauce style and barbeque. Btw, the wings are breaded so if you are not into that, then pass on it.
Service was above average. There were three guys behind the counter constantly staying busy so that was a good sign. One of them took our order and brought our food out to us. He also checked up on us every so often. The dining area is a decent sized one with enough tables and chairs for about 25 people.
Overall, I would recommend going to this place because the fried catfish is on point, the drinks are unlimited serve yourself (there is a fountain drink machine over in the corner with coke products), and the sides are as southern as you can get. Only gripes were that they didnt have fried okra, the grilled fish was more greasy than the fried, and that wait time was a bit long to get the food. In their defense though, they make everything from scratch so I can understand why it took so long. Just dont come here if you’re pressed for time. I will definitley be back to try their pork chops, chicken tenders, and po boy sandwiches.
Unilocal 2015 review #18
517 overall

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO STINKIN DELICIOUS!!!
We ordered a fried shrimp po boy, order of catfish, chicken tenders, and kids burger.
All the food here is simply amazing! The catfish here is FAT. They give Mario’s a run for their money for sure! The breading is perfect and it’s cooked really well!
The po boy is seriously the best one I’ve had, EVER. The shrimp were HUGE! The breading was perfect, they were juicy and the sandwich itself is large! The side of fries were also delicious and not all soggy and funky. The chicken tenders were soooo juicy and tender and not overly breaded and HUGE as well! Would def purchase them again! The stand out of this meal was the coleslaw! It’s a mayo base and I swear I could just eat it all day!
They also serve a franks red hot sauce (idk if its the real franks) hot sauce, not this Louisiana hot sauce crap! The real deal!
Food is simply delicious and we will be going back for sure!
Yay!