Fixins Soul Kitchen — Restaurant in Los Angeles

This is the best review you'll need for this restaurant.

Atmosphere: It feels great to be surrounded with so many brothers and sisters. They play music from black artists, and it is fitting for the occasion. The decor on the wall from the Nilla Wafers poster to the Crisco Oil poster is very creative. Know that no matter what day you go for dinner, the place will be full. It was a Monday night we went and there were no extra seats. MAKE A RESERVATION, unless you don't mind waiting

Service: I didn't get any water refills, and if you know anything about soul food, you NEED a beverage. The hosts, servers, and waiters were kind, but after the food was served, the waiter never came to check up on us. We also had a reservation but when we arrived, our table was taken, and we had to wait about 5-10 minutes.

FOOD:

Let me begin, THE STAR OF THE SHOW WAS THE PEACH COBBLER. ABSOLUTELY DO NOT LEAVE WITHOUT GETTING THE PEACE COBBLER. BECAUSE OF THAT, THE RATING OF THIS ENTIRE RESTAURANT WENT UP. BEST PEACH COBBLER I HAD IN MY LIFE. Okay... on to the food now lol.

-Artichoke Dip: 6/10 It was more on the thicker side than what I'm used to. It had a strong flavor of maybe jalapenos. Reminded me of just thick queso with a touch of soul. Chips were good.

-Oxtails (with rice): 8.5/10 Really nothing negative to say about the oxtails. My aunt is Jamaican, so I know what a 10/10 oxtail taste like. But this was pretty good. Nice flavor, pretty tender. I wish I had more rice but that might just be a personal thing.

-Fried Fish: 10/10 The batter around the fish was really crispy and seasoned perfectly. It was a perfect combo with the soft fish inside. With the hot sauce, maybe 10.5/10!

-Mac and Cheese: 5/10 Every black person prefers their mac and cheese differently. What I will say is it was seasoned right. I the creole seasoning (probably tony chachere's). It was creamier than baked and I didn't really like that. The pasta was also too soft/cooked for me. If you prefer a creamier mac and cheese than a baked one, this one would probably be an 8/10. For more of a baked mac and cheese, I don't really recommend this one.

-Red beans and rice: 5/10 It had more beans than rice, actually had very very little rice. It also had a smokey flavor that I'm not used to. I've had red beans and rice in Louisiana, and it just didn't taste similar at all. Wasn't that good, wasn't nasty.

-Banana Pudding: 7/10 It was alright. I didn't like that it came in a small mason jar instead of like a slice from a pan. Because it's in the mason jar, it has way less Nilla Wafers. I only had like two full vanilla wafers in the pudding and like two banana slices. I prefer much more vanilla wafers than two. Without it, it makes it seem like your just eating banana pudding from the store in the small cups we used to eat as kids.

-THE STAR OF THE SHOW!!!!! PEACH COBBLER: 100000000/10 I don't think you guys understand how much I love peach cobbler. I'd like to call myself an expert. Peach cobbler is my all-time favor desert ever. This was so flavorful. The taste of the cinnamon along with the fresh peaches AND the scoop of the vanilla bean ice cream. OUUUU my back. It had liked a nutmeg flavor i can't explain. JUST GET THE PEACH COBBLER.

Overall, I do recommend coming here. The sides that I had got, I don't seriously like. Maybe try to collard greens or something else. If the sides were more of my liking, this place would be a 10/10. You do have to keep in mind that everyone cooks soul food and prefers it differently. The main entrees though were pretty solid. I'd definitely be...

Fixins Soul Food Kitchen is located in downtown Los Angeles at LA Live. Authentic soul food that celebrates African-American/Black culture. Let's jump right into this review.

Let me say any restaurant that sells Kool-aid and calls it red, blue, and purple on the menu, understands the assignment and Black people. We don't refer to Kool-aid as cherry, tropical punch, and grape - It is red, blue, and purple. Giggle if you feel me. It's culture not race, B-A-B-Y.

What did we order - 2 Piece (white or dark) & a Waffle $16+ $2 per chicken breast - Chicken was juicy. Waffle was ok - lacked flavor. Nothing spectacular about it. A large side of butter comes with this entree. You can get that waffle will greasy if you prefer.

Fish Nuggets Seasoned cornmeal dusted catfish, fried to a golden crisp. With spiced chipotle mayo dipping sauce $14 - Delicious and crispy - would definitely order this again.

Collard Greens w/ Turkey Necks $6 - Not for me, but perhaps someone else would enjoy them. Greens were tender but the taste didn't sit well with my taste buds. Some of the ingredients threw me off but I can't speak to what because my pallette couldn't identify them :(

Red Beans & Rice $6 - Out of the 3 fixins I ordered, I enjoyed this one the most. It was good.

Candied Yams $6 - They were ok. Medium to large chunks served up in a buttery, cinnamon sauce - decent but the flavor was lacking from bite to bite. I did Mrs. Ruth's Picks which is 3 fixins for $16, you save $2 bucks if you are ok with smaller portion sizes *

Blue Kool-aid $5 - Super sweet. I do mean super sweet. None the less I loved it. I am here for the diabetic comma. Lol.

Food presentation was on-point and wait time for food arrival was reasonable, less then 20 minutes.

Pros Staff was friendly. Our waiter was personable and even offered up what his favorites were and made other pairing suggestions.

Decor is very cool. The art work is statement pieces, each and everyone.

The location is great. Heart of DTLA and great a spot to eat at if you are in the LA Live area for a concert, sporting event, or just to hangout.

Outdoor seating.

Tables inside have space between you and the next customer. That's a plus for me. Folks not sitting on top of each other.

Bar in the front. I don't drink but the drink menu looked good, said the non-drinker here.

Prices are reasonable. Portion sizes are good in comparison to prices.

Cons On-site parking at LA Live is not cheap. Check the signs before you enter the lot. I am not sure if Fixins validates. We took the DASH down from the car dealership and avoided a parking lot fee.

There was an issue with a customer when we were there but it was handled quickly by management. I'm listing it as a con because this is an urban spot in my opinion. Just know your audience. That's all I'm saying. Don't come for me readers.

In comparison to the inside/outside of the restaurant, the bathroom could be upgraded and the toilets are low. You need your good knees ladies. My mom who is 70ish said, "Why these toilets so low?" LOL.

Overall - I would return if I'm in the area. Try some different menu items and go with a friend and/or my crumbsnatchers. It's a lot of hype about this place. I would manage your expectations and all these social media reviews.

Recommendations Make reservations during peak hours.

Try a variety of items. Given the prices, if you are with a group, definitely pass the...

Will...be...visiting...again, that's for sure.

It's hard to find a real good soul food place in L.A., namely because we're not southern food capital but this just may put us on the map.

I went there today with a co-worker who's been dying to go and was pleasantly surprised that it was close to office and offered reasonable menu prices. We waited a few minutes to be seated. Wait staff are very pleasant (shout out to Robert for his recommendations!) and attentive. We happened to be seat adjacent to noticing the portion sizes. Generous, if you ask me. They shared with us what they ordered and that it was their first time too. The guy at the other table had smothered fried chicken. Should've tooken a picture of it because it looker reaaaalllly good.

On Wednesday afternoon during a heatwave, I didn't expect the restaurant to be jammed packed, but they definitely wasn't lacking for customers.

We started off with fried green tomatoes per my coworker's suggestion. Not a fried green tomato person but it wasn't bad. Crisp and juicy all at once. Topped with a Chipotle sauce and cherry tomatoes.

My co-worker ordered fried chicken, 2 pieces, breast and thigh. Her "fixins" were macaroni and cheese and red beans and rice. She let me try her red beans and rice. Definitely getting that next time. That tasted like... my mom's mom's red beans and rice (my dad's mom wasn't a good cook). I ordered the smothered pork chops because if you gonna smother something, it might as well be the hog. My "fixins" were the candied yams and the macaroni and cheese. Nothing wrong with the macaroni and cheese. I'm just use to my mom's. There's fiddy-eleven ways to make mac n cheese these days and everyone's gonna be a little. But I did eat it. All.

Now those candied yams! They tasted like sweet potato pie without the crust. I wanted to smack my co-worker, they were so good (but I also want to keep my job). For my beverage, I had me a sweet tea, because at this point, I was somewhere in the south. And they gave me a nice big mason glass of tea. I thought I was going ask for a refill but didn't need to. Will warn you: it is sweeeet. My co-worker ordered one of their cocktails, I think it was called Hurricane. She said she enjoyed it.

And because the job was picking up the tab, we both ordered peach cobbler to go. I ate some later when I got home. Also, very sweet. More peaches than crust and I like be a 50-50 ratio, but still very good. Thank God I'm going to the dentist tomorrow.

Highly recommend. I'll definitely will be going back. Bring someone who enjoys soul food and make...