ATE DAY8 of Soulfood

In honor of Black History Month, this week’s column is about soul food and other delicious offerings from several Black-owned businesses we are proud of here in North Texas.

1.) Soulfood Sundays are so popular at Smoke-A-Holics BBQ (1417 Evans Av, Fort Worth, 817-386-5658) that it’s walk-in only. On other days, you can order online, but on these special Sundays, you’ll need to go in person for the brisket, ribs, sausage, smoked oxtails or meatloaf, smothered chicken, turkey and dressing, pork chops, and all those sides 11am-2pm. For future event dates for this or Turkey Leg Tuesdays, follow Facebook.com/Smoke1TX.

2.) Black Coffee (1417 Vaughn Blvd, Fort Worth, 817-782-9867) and Carpenter’s Cafe & Catering (1116 Pennsylvania Av, Fort Worth, 682-499-8630) often partner on community events, and they will again in March when it’s time for the annual Watch Women Werk celebration. Read more about that in our inaugural Women’s Issue Wed, Mar 6. Meanwhile, if you need to be caffeinated or fed, you know what to do!

3.) Club Ritzy (1201 Oakland Blvd, Fort Worth, 817-888-3360), “the new upscale home for grown folks’ entertainment,” is hosting a ladies’ night with party band the Distinguished Gentlemen 8pm-2am Fri. As of press time, I’m still not sure what the individual cover charge is, but you can reserve tables online starting at $50. You are encouraged to wear sophisticated black and yellow attire for this special event. Have dinner while you’re there. The kitchen serves appetizers and wings, plus catfish, chicken tenders, pork chops, and shrimp. For all the dining choices, go to ClubRitzy.com/Food-menu.

4.) For a sit-down soul food experience, visit Drew’s Place (5701 Curzon Av, 817-242-4454) 11am-3pm Tue-Sat. Since it opened in 1987, Drew’s has been a favorite with our audience and, therefore, the readers’ choice winner for best soul food more than once.

5.) The home-style favorites at Rosako’s Soul Food & BBQ (2816 Brown Tr, Bedford, 817-785-3393) caught our eye during Best Of 2016, and this best soul food winner is still going strong. After enjoying the black-eyed pea salad, fried green tomatoes, and mac ’n’ cheese, be sure and leave room for some house-made banana pudding, sometimes whipped up with chessmen cookies instead of vanilla wafers.

6.) Madea’s Down Home Cooking (1019 W Enon Av, Ste D, Everman, 817-551-9295) won our readers’ choice for best soul food recently, and for good reason. The cornbread is deep-fried, and it gets better and better from there. Along with specialties like oxtail, you can also order amazing chicken-fried steak. While you can dine in if you like, the food is ordered cafeteria style and brought to you in to-go containers. Either way, dig in!

7.) Having survived post-pandemic supply-chain issues and some severe storm damage, MaMa E’s (818 E Rosedale St, Fort Worth, 817-877-3322) is still serving some of the best soul food around plus that famous “red drink.” Ribs, links, turkey legs, and chopped or sliced beef are served with red beans and other traditional sides. For dessert, enjoy fresh-baked cakes, cobblers, and sweet potato pies.

8.) Speaking of soul food, the 1997 film of the same name is available to stream on Hulu right now. Widely acclaimed for presenting a more positive image of Blacks than was typically seen in movies at the time, Soul Food brought soulful Southern cooking into view for everyone else. The soundtrack is heavy on Babyface, who also makes a cameo, and may have you feeling nostalgic for ’90s R&B. The food served at the Sunday supper makes me wish that Smell-O-Vision was real and also inspires me to check out the businesses listed above.