Gregory's Soul Food — Restaurant in Lansing

Overall this was an excellent experience. One negative was I got all the way home and found out I was missing my yams. I was really not happy about that because I live far away. So I'm definitely not driving back today.

Now let's get into the food. I ordered the catfish dinner. This meal comes with 2 freshly fried catfish filets, 2 sides and either a cornbread muffin or Texas toast. I ordered am additional 3 sides even though I only got 2. I chose the cornbread. The sides I chose are greens, Mac n cheese, dressing, blackeyed peas and yams.

The catfish was fried to perfection. Well seasoned. Nice and crispy on the outside. But moist, tender and flakes on the inside. The fish tasted fresh, clean and of good quality. I wasn't as excited about the sides as I am about the fish. But let's get into that. The dressing was good but I prefer my dressing to have a little jiffy in it. A salty slightly sweet balance. This dressing was straight salt. What is lacked in sweet it made up for in both flavor and texture. It was well seasoned and quite flavorful and nice and smooth. The Mac was my least favorite of all the sides. And this made me sad. It lacked flavor, texture, cheese and any hint of salt/seasoning. Now the greens had excellent flavor. They were cooked perfect. Nice and tender but definitely not soggy. I usually only eat my mommy's greens. I would definitely order these again. They were delicious!!!! But the absolute star of the sides were the blackeyed peas. I am not even a huge blackeyed pea person. I eat them. But they are never my favorite thing on any plate. That changed today. I have never enjoyed blackeyed peas this much ever in life. They left me wanting more.

All in all the service was excellent. The gentleman at the bar who took my order was very helpful and we had great conversation. Even though one of my items was missing I was still overall pleased. The fish was heavenly and aside from the mac the sides were excellent as well. This is definitely a 4.5 star establishment. And I will absolutely be visiting them again in the...

The exterior of this place reflects the inside, rough. The food was by far the weakest point, not because it was awful, just that it was all incredibly bland with no flavor. I ordered the wings and catfish meal with yams and mac&cheese. The catfish was incredibly thin and so dry that it might as well have been jerky. The wings, while cooked well, were also flavorless tasting of old overused cooking oil instead of a tasty seasoning or marinade. The yams were surprisingly good, but only when compared to everything else, on their own, they were too sweet. The side of mac&cheese was similarly unremarkable with no flavor whatsoever the cheese tasting only of milk. The real strength here is the vibrancy of the staff and their patrons. Everyone was happy, cheerful and badgered each other like old friends because they probably were. This isn't a place for everyone, only those looking for a long-term watering hole with people they want to see time and again. Because of this, I can only give it a 2/5 star because you go to a soul food place for soul food, not bad, deep-fried food. However, everything is surprisingly cheap, so not a bad option for locals looking more for a drink than...

Amazing experience! I left feeling like I'd discovered one of Lansing's best-kept secrets.

Our server was very friendly and helpful (I'm new when it comes to soul food), the atmosphere was great and the food -- oh, man -- the food was incredible.

I had the 'Plate of Bones' (!) which was fried chicken wings, a drumstick and a pork chop and it was full of flavor and not at all oily. My meal also came with cornbread and, I kid you not, it was the best cornbread I've ever eaten In. My. Life.

Finally, not only was the food and service memorable, but so was the welcoming by the other patrons! The other diners in the restaurant went out of their way to wish me a good dining experience and made me feel right at home.

In short, this was my first time eating at Gregory's but it won't be my last, especially knowing I can call in and get the...