Two for $20: His Place Eatery

The southern fried chicken dinner with bourbon cream corn and mac and cheese on the side at His Place Eatery. (Credit: Alan Petersime / Metromix)

It’s been open just two months, but His Place Eatery already has a religious following.

Jackie Young and son James Jones have been cooking soul food for their neighbors for years.

“We used to have barbecues, and we used to compete like you’ve never seen,” said Jackie. She said she’d often win the crowd’s favor over her son’s cooking — that is, until James went to school for culinary arts.

Either way, there’s no going wrong when two cooks compete to serve you the best food. My friend and I went for lunch on a Friday (the restaurant is open only on weekends). Like the place’s interior, the menu was simple but down-home, offering favorites such as fried chicken, rib tips, fried fish, collard greens, mac and cheese, pork chops and more.

I chose the catfish sandwich served on wheat bread for $5.50, and my friend ordered the Southern fried chicken dinner, which came with two sides for $9.75. We shared mac and cheese and bourbon cream corn, and then had some banana pudding for $3.49.

There’s no false advertising in the menu, which describes it as “the most extraordinary banana pudding you’ve ever tasted.” We almost didn’t even order it, except Jackie stopped by and suggested it. Something about the look in her eyes told us we needed to take her seriously.

Creamy banana-y goodness coated slices of fresh bananas and ’nilla wafers, with wafer crumbs sprinkled generously on top. The last bits of James’ super-fresh pudding — served in a clear plastic disposable bowl — almost started an all-out scooping fight between us.

My two huuuuge, breaded catfish fillets were served on garden-variety store-bought wheat bread. I had no idea how to eat it as a “sandwich,” so I left the bread and ate the flaky, tender fish with a fork. The bread-crumb batter was perfect: not too heavy and slightly crispy. My friend’s two-piece fried chicken meal was crispy and had that “thing” that tastes like Mom made it in her kitchen at home. I found it a little too salty, but it had no hint of the dreaded sliminess that I fear in fried chicken. My friend, however, thought it was perfect and soon nothing was left on her plate but a pile of chicken bones.

When I go back to His Place, I’m ordering a meal of sides and, yes, banana pudding. The macaroni and cheese was just as it should be: creamy and comforting. I’m not a creamed corn person (the idea grosses me out), but the bourbon version transformed standard cafeteria goo into a flavorful, side dish with onions and peppers.

Total, including a $1.25 Coke: $19.99.