R&J Southern Homecooking — Restaurant in Downey

AWFUL CUSTOMER SERVICE!!!!!! I have never encountered such a rude person as the woman who manages this restaurant. She is an Asian lady and I don't know her name but she was so rude to my husband on the phone, then to me. When we made an order on Postmates on 11/29/18, we got our food delivered & it was both the wrong items, cold and sitting in a pool of grease. It was just terrible. Inedible. We called Postmates who told us to call them. When we called, the lady on the phone knew us as we have been frequent visitors. She apologized and said there was nothing they could do as they don't have drivers but that she remembered us and would give us the meal next time. We had to throw away this food and buy new food. This waste cost us $48.72. Postmates told us to call the restaurant to work it out. We did. We thought it was worked out. We then had to buy more food. That night, our at home meal cost us almost $100. In a good will gesture, we accepted the mistake and said we will save the replacement meal for another day. Well, today was the day we decided to use it. When we tried, my husband called and was put on the phone to the manager lady. I know she is an Asian, shorter lady, from seeing her at the restaurant. She is never friendly to customers and she was really rude to my husband. She argued with him for ten minutes and really made him feel bad for even using this credit. He was so embarrassed that he accepted her demeaning offer of a 4 piece meal with 2 sides, worth $11.99, to replace our order which cost us $48.72. I felt awful seeing my husband on the phone being questioned and treated this way for doing what he was told to do for their mistake. (He's a really nice guy and way too patient with rude people.).

I called back and was not happy about her rude attitude to him and her disrespectful tone. I told her so and she was NOT SORRY AT ALL. She continued to tell me she could not find our order and thought her offer was fine. She then put me on hold without waiting for me to even say ok. I was on the phone for 7 minutes and finally just got sick of waiting, when she came back and said sorry for the wait. As I said, you are not sorry because you didn't even ask me if I could hold. I told her I don't want her food (who knows what she'd do to it after this anyway...) And I won't be back. I did tell her I would put a bad Yelp review and she replied 'Ok.'. That tells you all you need to know about her attitude.

We lost almost 50 bucks on this. I told her to keep her $11.99 replacement and she obviously felt this was all fine and a bad Yelp review was OK. It was not a misunderstanding, just simple rude, ill-mannered and inconsiderate behavior. It's also a business which isn't ethical and does NOT keep its word.

While we used to like this business, it is not the only restaurant and we will find a business that has respect for good customers and their hard earned money.

I will never recommend this business again and that manager needs to get some lessons in how to speak to other people. She is one of the rudest people I have ever encountered. Now I will return to my day, give my sweet husband a hug, tell him to let this go and try to help him forget about this terrible experience.

Oh, just for those of you who like to see that these reviews are factual (I do!) I have placed a picture of the original referenced Postmates order. We like our food and don't mind paying for it... And we also like businesses to keep their word, be polite and not try to act like we're calling looking for freebies when they've offered to make something...

I approached writing this review with some hesitation. To begin, the exterior of this establishment may appear somewhat uninviting; however, it has the potential to offer excellent cuisine. Upon entering, you are welcomed into an atmosphere reminiscent of a traditional barbecue shack, complete with family-friendly decor and the comfort of your grandmother's kitchen.

As this is a soul food restaurant, I anticipated an authentic experience, with familiar names such as Aunt Betty or Mabel in the kitchen. To my surprise, the establishment is operated by an Asian team, who also prepares the meals, which was a bit unexpected. It seems that this restaurant may have been sold along with its recipes.

Now, regarding the food, my opinions are quite mixed. Most dishes were well-seasoned, but I found the smothered pork chops disappointing. Although they had a crispy exterior, they were topped with gravy rather than being smothered and baked, which did not meet my expectations. Instead, they resembled fried pork chops with turkey gravy and fresh diced onions. Not traditional at all. Additionally, the pork chops were quite fatty, and a true smothered pork chop should melt in your mouth.

I also ordered Black Eyed Peas, which were flavorful and served over sticky rice, altering the overall taste. The collard greens were tasty despite lacking meat, and the accompanying cornbread was satisfactory.

We also tried the baby back ribs, which were just average; they seemed boiled and then baked with sauce. Unfortunately, the macaroni and cheese was disappointing—lacking flavor and resembling the texture of powdered Kraft mac and cheese, dry and completely devoid of the expected cheese pull.

The mashed potatoes appeared to be instant, lacking the fresh taste that homemade mashed potatoes provide. Given the affordability of potatoes, I believe this is an area that could easily be improved.

We ordered lemon pepper wings and hot wings. The lemon pepper wings were crispy and had a decent flavor, but nothing remarkable. Unfortunately, the hot wings did not meet expectations, tasting more like a hot sauce mixed with excessive vinegar, which I wouldn't recommend.

On a positive note, the fried shrimp was well-prepared, featuring a fish fry batter that had potential; it simply needs a bit more seasoning to elevate it further.

Our server, whose name escapes me, was very attentive and ensured we had everything we needed throughout our meal.

Overall, while my experience at this restaurant wasn't thoroughly enjoyable, I encourage others to try it for themselves; taste preferences vary widely, and there are certainly many areas where the food...

The food and service used to be good but now it’s horrible me and my kids are here waiting to even be acknowledged! No one want to take our order and no it’s not busy it’s only one other customer in here and this is ridiculous!!!!!! It’s 1:38 and I’ve been here since 1:00 and the o my thing they have said was “ oh do u want to order?” Of course after 30 mins of standing up at the counter! So we are currently 43 min in and I placed my order however lol when I place my order (yes I ordered off the menu) the Chinese man said he didn’t understand what I wanted SO I REPEATED “I want your turkey chop special that comes with rice and gravy NO SIDE and your 3pc fish special that’s comes with 1 side” y’all I had to grab the menu and POINT to what I wanted how are you taking orders b it don’t know what’s on the menu!!!!! And let’s not get on the spider webs hanging over the refreshments! The holes in the roof is a whole different problem! This place has went down hill! The people in the kitchen are literally going at it with the server because they don’t speak English and keep making the 1 customer that is here order wrong! She orders chicken 😂😂😂✌🏽 two sides I can’t...