Friday we were in search of some authentic soul food. Henry’s Soul Cafe has been on my DC Dining Bucket List so we headed there. But in poking around there are a few more I want to try. These include Ooh’s & Aah’s, Hitching Post, the recently opened Mama Reacer’s, Eatonville Restaurant, and Saints Paradise Cafeteria (any restaurant in the basement of a church has to be worth trying once, no?)
Henry’s Soul Cafe is in U Street-Cardozo and if you aren’t watching closely you’ll mistake it for a convenience store instead of the mecca for soul food that it is. Perhaps best know for its “world famous” sweet potato pies, I don’t know that I would go as far as to say it is the best sweet potato pie I’ve ever had, but certainly Henry’s doesn’t disappoint and provides you exactly the unassuming attitude you’d want from a place that has been dishing up soul food for years. Not quick – nor seemingly happy about answering questions, the staff at Henry’s were short with me and ready to dish up whatever I ordered before moving onto other things they obviously needed (or wanted) to do. Suggesting they showed a degree of attitude toward customers wouldn’t be a stretch. But it is exactly the type of place where regular visits would prompt a smile, a laugh, a salutation by name, and perhaps even a hug (something I think I could work towards).
Henry’s is more of a take-out than a restaurant or even a cafe as the name suggests. There are a few token chairs inside and a few plastic ones outside – with the impression they are provided more for waiting for your food to come up than to be used while you eat. We arrived around 2PM on Friday afternoon and the kitchen was staging large aluminum containers on the counters – catering orders waiting to be picked-up. I moved a few to ebb out just enough room for two people to eat and received an ear full for my clear “impropriety.”
But the food was great and the attitude only helped secure the ambiance you would want and expect from a place like Henry’s. The chicken and waffle was a perfect combination – the waffle, the chicken, and syrup coming together perfectly. I ordered fried chicken – which was also available barbecued, or “smothered.” The cornbread was fresh and the sides were rich. Henry’s also serves up its own Mumbo Sauce – a uniquely DC condiment. Definitely a place I’ll return to again soon. Hopefully next time I earn a hug…
