William T.
Yelp
I came here with a coworker and her mom. It's not IN downtown Elgin, it's downtown adjacent. You have to go through downtown and it's near the corner of the street, not amongst the downtown businesses. Walking in it looks like your typical mom and pop restaurant, which is fine by me, I personally like the minimalist look. As long as the food is good, I don't really care what your décor looks like, but I know others feel different. One gripe off the bat is when I walked in, it had a smell, similar to chitlins, which I am not a fan of (don't come for me black community) however, I didn't see them on the menu so it was a little concerning. They have a flatscreen on the wall behind the front counter and we watched the game that was on, connection could have been better though. The waitresses were super nice, in fact, one of them "convinced" me to change my original order from the catfish to the smothered porkchop. I had fish on my mind when I came in, but hearing the Sunday Specials swayed me. My coworkers mom also changed her original order to the neck bones after hearing the days special. Once the food came, my coworker regretted her decision to stick with her order of the catfish instead of changing like us, and then proceeded to put in an order of neck bones to go after her mom let her try a piece. The smothered pork chops were on point. Nice thick cut, tender, the gravy was very flavorful. The green beans were seasoned like I never had them before and it's going to be hard having them any other way, easily the best green beans I've ever had. The mac and cheese wasn't runny, but it wasn't thick like I like it though, and the white cheese was a pleasant surprise, overall, good dish. My coworker got the 1pc fried catfish with a side of jasmine rice and green beans. She said the fish tasted good, but it was too breaded. She too raved about the green beans and said the jasmine rice was okay. Her mom got the neck bones, yams, greens and cornbread, and she loved every bit. For desert they brought out what I'm assuming is a new dessert to try, which they described as a funnel cake bite, but I didn't catch the name, and they were delicious. When the weather cools off I bet it would be real nice to eat where the chairs and tables are setup outside, and possibly hear some live music on the stage. They've been in business about a year the waitress said, and from what I can tell, if people can get over the aesthetics and just try the food, they'll become a staple in the Elgin area.