Soul Food Bistro — Restaurant in Jacksonville

First time visiting was on a Sunday afternoon and there was a very long line from the entrance of the restaurant stretching out into the mall. We waited an entire hour+ just to get to the counter to order food, and once we were finally able to go down the line to get food it moved somewhat quickly but most of the staff was very rude about it all. The older light skinned black woman welcoming everyone at the door in was extremely nice compared to the order staff. We were rushed through the line, the menu wasn't clear because there were things on the line nowhere mentioned on the menu which slowed things up. One guy told me that they were out of yams but as I moved down the line there were yams as plain as the eye can see not 3 feet from him, so he either lied or just didn't see the yams that were sitting out and clearly being given to patrons. After that we get down the line to pay and it takes another 6 minutes for that because we are waiting on the food, and somehow the food wasn't right. They didn't listen to the orders which resulted in us waiting longer for them to fix it. My wife got so upset that she vowed never to return even though that was our very first time visiting this location. The prices were reasonable, the seating was fine, sit where you like, but take heed this establishment seems to attract ratchet and loud behavior mostly from the females that come in carrying small children and babies that they have no control over. This didn't seem to bother the men on the cleaning staff because they were busy flirting (instead of cleaning or telling them to quiet down) with the ratchet females that had the uncontrolled babies. All in all we will more than likely never visit this location again and that's not to say that the food wasn't good, it was ok, not great, it was ok. The breaking factor was the wait, the staffs rude behavior, which included a staff member blatantly turning her back on my neice when she asked for a drink refill, and all the ratchetness. There's only so much loudness, baby screaming, and ugly behavior...

This was my first time eating here and the food isn’t bad, but it’s not great. I got the FRIED CATFISH, with 2 sides ( MAC and CHEESE and OXTAIL RICE) and CORNBREAD for $13.99. The catfish is a 10/10, you get 2 pcs., made to order, SEASONED well, it was FANTASTIC. The MAC and CHEESE was thrown in the trash and the recipe needs to be BURNED. It was HORRIBLE! It was cheesy but lacked flavor and it had a funk taste to it. I think the cheese is made from some kind of cheap powdered cheese sauce, it was gross, 2/10. The OXTAIL RICE deserves a standing ovation, an Oscar, an Olympic Gold medal. It was seasoned to perfection, the rice wasn’t overcooked, it wasn’t overly spicy, it was just perfection, 12/10. The CORNBREAD was giving Jiffy vibes, sweet and cake like, so it’s good, but not great, 7/10. I also got the DAILY SPECIAL, which was MEATLOAF with 2 sides (COLLARDS GREENS and BLACK-EYED PEAS) and CORNBREAD for $11.99. The COLLARD GREENS are good, no stems, seasoned ok and not overcooked, 8/10. The BLACK-EYED PEAS will cause your BLOOD PRESSURE to rise, and you will end up in an AMBULANCE on the way to the Emergency Room if you eat these. I love my life, so these went into the trash with the boxed mac and cheese. The BLACKED-EYED PEAS get 1/10, too salty, too salty, too salty. The MEATLOAF was made with good quality beef, but under seasoned and a little under cooked, so I give it 6/10. I got the BREAD PUDDING for $4.50. The flavor was nice and subtle. It’s not too sweet, it’s not too dry. They didn’t try to do a whole lot with it, like add chocolate chips to it, which is good. They just kept it simple! It probably would’ve tasted better warmed up with vanilla bean ice cream. It was an 8.5/10 for me. Total...

It was soooooo good. Y'all this post isn't gonna be enough to explain it to you. They know what they are doing in there. Now I will say that we had a bad experience the first time we tried them but it wasn't the food. It was that they didn't get our order and they were trying to close when my husband went to pick it up and it was just a mess. I had sworn this place off after that but then my husband and I had a rare afternoon off together and we decided to give it another go since we hadn't has soul food since we've been here besides our own of course. We both got the ox tails because why not right? And I got the fried cabbage and mac and cheese and he got the broccoli rice casserole and the fried cabbage. He said the cabbage had a little too much sugar and not enough but we both enjoyed it. The mac and cheese was fiya but the broccoli rice casserole needed more cream of whatever because it was lacking. We both also got peach cobbler and some drinks. The highlight was those ox tails atop a bed of rice and brown gravy. When I tell you it took me back to my grandma's house you just don't understand. They were everything and then some. My husband and I raved about that food all night. Best restaurant we've been to so far in Jacksonville! If you made it this far into the review you're the real MVP and you need to go to the restaurant. You will not be disappointed. Oh yeah masks were required and they had dine in options with the seating available spaced out. Most people were getting it to go. And the service from our waitress was a blessing....