Shelley Byrd
Google
I like to support small black owned businesses. I will pull up to a bbq grill on the corner or food truck to support. Yesterday I decided to try Alcenia's. I saw it while working a conference downtown, and when I was looking for fried pork chops to eat, I thought I would try it. I went on the website to check out the menu. WARNING: The prices on the site do not match what you will pay at the restaurant! When I saw fried pork chops, I figured that it came with 2 pork chops, but when I called in my order, I found the dinner came with one. For the price, I would usually get 2 chops at other soul food restaurants, but I guess they charge more since they are downtown. Maybe it should say "pork chop plate" instead of it being plural. So I purchased the pork chop plate with Mac n cheese and yams. I wanted a slice of German chocolate cake, but they didn't have any. So I decided to get something outside my regular and try the bread pudding with the bourbon sauce. When I arrived to pay at the restaurant I wasn't expecting the price hike. I would have gone somewhere else to eat. It said $17.95 for the pork chops on the website, but you see on th receipt it actually says pork chop $19.50. The bread pudding is $5 on the website, but in store, it's $8 plus $0.50 for the bourbon sauce. The container wasn't full for the price. The cashier just said that she doesn't know why they won't update the prices. I did ask about how much an extra pork chop was, and I was told $8.50.
Now to the taste. The yams were good. The Mac n cheese lacked cheese, sauce, and flavor and was kind of dry. The flavor of the pork chop is in the batter, but the batter was falling off when I started to eat it. This is a thick pork chop if you like them thick. The chop itself was not seasoned and kind of dry. The bread pudding bread was a little tough at the top but got more moist and soft towards the bottom. Do not eat the bourbon sauce if you are a former alcoholic, can't drink alcohol while on the job, or if you don't want to have a buzz in the middle of the day. This sauce is a straight shot of bourbon. Someone will smell liquor on your breath after eating it. I'm glad I just did a little sip. For the price, it was not worth it to me. I was looking at the pictures of the catfish, and I like the larger fillets, but how much will it cost and what other sides would I try? I'm not sure if I will give them another try. But I just wanted you all to know you need to call and check prices. Do not go by the website. There is plenty of street parking.