Jackson Soul Food II — Restaurant in Opa-locka

It is rare that I have ever written a two star review, and it pains me to do so, but, three stars gives the impression that things are ok, when they are not, and my reviews are reflections on my credibility, so I must remain truthful. This visit was the worst visit ever. We were seated and that was it. Servers passed our tables serveral times in the over thirty minutes we sat there, never asking if we'd been helped. Nothing. Then the man who appeared to be assigned duties as a busboy, that cleared and wiped down the table, was visibly concerned at the lack of attention we received that when he spoke to a server in our area, she quickly quipped back to him that it was not her table. He went back to find the server for our table, and about five minutes later, with no success, he came, took our order, and was so attentive that I asked him for his name, which was Lamar. Lamar saved the day, and went back to cleaning the tables, and sweeping the floor, after we had been taken care of. The actual servers should have had his realization of customer service, and the tip given to him was to show him it was greatly appreciated. There appeared to be a lack of management, as well as enforcement of rules. Yes, it's a busy place, yes it's a destination spot, but, the purpose should be to ensure the customers are given a great experience. My food was nowhere up to par with what the brand is known for, seasoned soul food. I had the blandest chicken wings ever that day, and they did not look like they normally looked. The coffee was extremely strong. It seemed to be a day when bad got badder. Consistency is key!!! Like I mentioned, I hated writing this review, but, after coming here several times, and speaking to the powers that be, and things are getting no better, hopefully someone reads this and seriously takes note of these deficiencies to bring the food and service back up to the standard the restaurant was initially known for. If you have to meet periodically with the employees to assess their needs, or, concerns, do so. If you need to hire someone to only handle take out-/food delivery service, do so. If you need additional cooks, hire them. Don't just let the restaurant run on its own. Look at the food coming out of the kitchen for quality control. If it doesn't look right, don't allow your customer(s) to receive it. By the way, this was not only my experience that day but, other customers, within my view and hearing, which complained they only received partial orders of their dine-in food, or drinks. I am hopeful that things can and will get better. I hope Lamar gets a raise. He can definitely give training on...

The food is always good here, however, today I GOT PLAYED FOR A FEW DOLLARS!

At around 7:20am, I came into the restaurant and ordered a grilled chicken breakfast platter to go. This was listed at $10.95. I should have figured that something was up when I wasn't directly sent to the register.

As i sit and wait for my order to come up, I notice the lady who came to pick up her order after me, sprinted to the ATM and came back to the counter. I thought nothing of it until I hear "broken" in the woman and counterperson's conversation.

I asked the counterperson if I had to pay with cash. She said yes pointing to the ATM in the corner. I withdrew $20 with a $3 access fee. Wow! I ordered a "flop" when I returned. I saw that it was about $2.50.

As my order came back, the counter person told me that she would come back with my total. She went to the back of the restaurant for a moment and returned with a notepad and calculator. With a few taps of the total came up to %18.65. I don't understand that math. With a 10.95 order and medium drink $2.50, the total should be around $16.55 with %6 salad tax.

I asked the lady why wasn't the flop on the house since it was around the same amount of money spent ad the fee I didn't plan on paying for at the ATM. Her response was that the ATM isn't their property and she didn't know the fee was that high.

At this point, I guess that I could have called for a manager, or asked for a full refund, look for my bank near by, looked for a no fee ATM near by, or cancled my ordered in the first place. But I was so hungry, and so close to my office that I didn't want to be late dealing with this situation. So I left with the food....

Many could say it is just 3 dollars, what does it matter? Well if $3 dollars didn't matter, then why was the flop not on the house? If I were the employee, I would have given the drink for free since she was fully aware that the system was down and that I would need cash. If I had not seen the lady behind me go to the ATM I would have never known. I should have been told this before I even ordered, otherwise I wouldn't have been coerced into using the ATM.

I feel as if I were played like a fool in this situation.

No freebies could be restaurant policy, but atleast I would have been put in the loop to make the best decisions for me.

The 2 stars is for the food. The counter staff lacks good customer service and math skills. I really feel like I was not even a consideration at that moment. Let's just take his money while we get the registers back online. They lost 3 stars for that.

Why not just close the doors until the...

This review is based on the SERVICE from the older lady with the Blonde hair (braided in a ponytail, I believe her name is Angel) if I wasn’t hungry I literally would’ve walked out. I’ve came multiple times and the energy she gave at 10AM Was disgusting, I’ve been serviced by her before but have never heard he talk so bad about the customers. She blatantly said out loud “IM SO OVER THESE PPL & CUSTOMERS” and every time she got off the phone after taking an order while I was there it was a slick comment made. I was looking so baffled in the face because she had just finished taking my order so I initially thought she was talking about me, but after she continued I realized it wasn’t bout me, however, I’m Big on energy especially when it comes to food. I hope my review helps her to be more mindful about what is said in front of the customers, and when talking about her coworkers, I didn’t need to know what issues going on in Jackson Soul Food. I immediately wrote this review while sitting at the bar because I was so distraught, she maybe having a bad day idk but that is unacceptable. (When my food comes out I will finish the review) after receiving my food I asked Steven what was his name and asked for more butter she made a HUGE FUSS, About me asking for the butter not only did she slam the bar top she also aggressively slammed the small bowl on the bar too (pictured below) and had the audacity to rudely ask me “so what happened??” & why I asked for her name, which I responded “I didn’t ask for your name I asked for STEVEN’s name” I’m glad I wrote this review when I first came in because she only got worst while I was here! Steven came back and was apologetic for how she was acting towards me and stated that she was his grandmother, which to me didn’t mean anything. I thank him and continued to eat my breakfast. A customer came in and she said to him “this place will NEVER be how it used to be back in the days” insinuating that the value of the business had diminished and I can COMPLETELY AGREE She is PART OF THAT PROBLEM!!!

Okay now to the food, I ordered a NY steak medium well, with onions, it came well done so I sent it back, it was remade with no issues at all, & it was VERY FLAVORFUL, the grits and eggs were great as well. I never had an issue with the food here...