Papa Lou's Kitchen — Restaurant in Fayetteville

This is long so here is my breakdown: the food was tasty, flavorful, and seasoned well. The BBQ chicken needed more BBQ sauce on it. The mac and cheese is not baked, it's like the boxed kind you make on the stove. It was okay. The cakes are delicious but way too thin to be $4 to $5 a piece. The customer service is not great. The cleanliness and care taken to prevent contamination needs work. Easy online ordering, easy to view the menu. I would eat here again, but someone else would have to go pick it up. The whole story: I was coming to the Southside and decided to find a soul food restaurant to grab three meals so my son and I could have lunch with my aunt for her birthday. I Googled and found this place. The total took me by surprise, $65 for three meals that included a main dish, two sides, a roll, drinks and three cake slices. I decided to go ahead and try them, but the price definitely played into my overall expectations. I thought this better be the best soul food next to homemade. I got there before the time given on the online site and decided to go on in and wait. I was greeted right away by the cashier and two young men who were prepping food. I noticed three drinks on the counter in a drink holder with little ice in them. Then three black to go boxes spread out to which the young men were placing rolls in them, but playing around with each other and over the food in the boxes. Since no one was in the store I knew that those meals belonged to me. Now I'm watching the final prep happen with one young man wearing a glove only on one hand placing rolls in each box but opening the boxes with an ungloved hand and touching non food items with the gloved hand. Then one of them tells me it's going to be another 8 minutes on your fried chicken. Since my food was already boxed and my drinks were made, I said well substitute that one with something else. I didn't want to let my other food get cold waiting on chicken that should have been cooked first since it took the longest or they could have waited to box my other food and prepare my drinks. Their response was it has already been dropped. I said well I don't want to wait 8 more minutes and have my food get cold. He calls over, I guess the owner, and he says the same thing. Again, I said that I didn't want to wait if everything else is ready to go. He said we cook to order so that it's fresh. I know how a family owned and run business can be and I wanted to give them a chance so I said fine. I'll order some fried green tomatoes while I wait. The young lady took my order, and we had a whole conversation about the sauce options only for her to not put any sauces in my bag. I didn't noticed until I got to my destination. But I did notice as I was putting the bags of food in the car that I was short a cake so I took the bag back in and told the young lady at the cash register. The young man next to her said you had a key lime, a red velvet, and a strawberry cake. We are out of the strawberry cake. I said well you should ask me what other cake I want, you don't just not fill the order. What if I didn't check until I got to where I was going? He got an attitude and said it wasn't me who did it. I said to give me another key lime cake and left. I hope his business does well enough for him to employee a real staff and not the kids and grand kids. If he can fix that, his business will grow, he'll be more profitable and then he could bring those...

I’d rate 4.3. Almost gave 5 star. Young people working front gave good customer service. When you have specials, it’s good to put customers on notice and maybe a quick menu rundown for first timers. Ordered 3 plates to try their cooking. Pork Chops, Mashed Potatoes, Rice were A1. Might’ve been the best sweet cornbread I’ve ever tasted. 🔥. Some people may prefer more country less sweet bread but it was perfect for me. The okra stew was Southern and fresh-I’ve had better but I’ve certainly have had worse so this stew was good. The cabbages had a pickle juice back taste. They weren’t totally bad, it was giving a pickle vibes just a tad”. I closed the box then came back and my second taste confirmed. Turkey wings decent but gravy tastes store jar bought and added to Turkey Wing. I asked for Fried okra on my second plate and the girl gave me okra stew. I should’ve checked the box-My girl hates when I don’t check. I also asked for green beans and were given black eye peas with green beans. I have black eye peas. They tasted southern but they were a bit salty. The rib tips, beef and Mac didn’t look all that great so I passed. The dressing was ehhh, I’m so used to my moms Dressing. My moms dressing from Albany GA is sent from Heaven. This dressing just wasn’t rich and layered, it tasted quick/few ingredients. The fried whiting was great. Thin slice of cake $5 should be thicker-tastes great. Food boxed well in quality vented box. I spent $60 + $7 tip for 3 big meals and 1 dessert no drink. I’d come back here to try more options and recommend-I like the ability to see the sides because you can see what looks most appealing. Hard to find good Soul food so I appreciate y’all. Seems like family working establishment very clean that’s why I wanted to give 5 star but that fried okra and green beans I asked for would’ve sealed the 5star vote for the...

Me and my Fiancée decided to try Papa Lou's to try out some good soul food for dinner. We saw the reviews and thought the food look delicious but unfortunately we didn't even get the opportunity to try anything. Customer service is lacking tremendously with this restaurant. I called and placed my order and everything was received and I headed that way to pick up my food. I saw reviews saying the wait times were long which i didn't mind for fresh food because i had a 40 min car ride and placed my order 10 minutes before i left home. Once we arrived my fiancée walked in and came out empty handed. He said that the cook (I assume the owner) let him know that one of the items i ordered was sold out. A phone call would've been nice before we made the drive out there to let us know they were out especially since this wasn't mentioned when i placed my order. He also said that nothing was ready but the fried fish we ordered. He hadn't even started on our 4 sides and other entrée (which was sold out) and that it would take a additional 15 mins. When my fiancée told him nobody informed me about the sold out turkey wings the cook pointed to some old chicken leg quarters sitting in cold oil or drippings and told him to ask me if i want that. No apology or sense of urgency or importance of the miscommunication on his part just a very lazy response. He politely told him no and we left. I didn't appreciate the complete disregard for our time and for the unprofessionalism on his end. As first time customers this encouraged us to never spend money again in this establishment since they showed no consideration for our business and time. I definitely would not recommend to family...