"Listen. I have a confession.I travel to eat!Point, blank and the period.When I finally got off my plane in Miami, all I wanted was some catfish and grits. With a little help from Google, I found this place.The pictures don't lie, folks!It was a nice little drive from South Beach, but oh so worth it!First, I call. The young lady manning the phones and front was very helpful and kind. She informed me that her restaurant did not have dine-in options, but their other one did. I decided to go here because I really didn't want to sit anywhere and eat. I just wanted to get my food , go back to my hotel to eat and then sleep, because I was exhausted..She also offered that they were open that day, but closed on Thanksgiving and the Friday following.Very good to know.When I arrived, I found the restaurant in the corner of a shopping center next door to a barbershop.Now, it is small, but it's not a hole in the wall. I would not define it as that. It is a takeout restaurant, totally.What I loved about the place was how they brought in so much black historic memorabilia that made you feel like you were taking a walk down memory lane. The young lady who I spoke with on the phone took my order and offered to call me when my order was ready. I had been sitting on a plane for 5 hours so I was in no rush to sit down. I needed to stand. I waited for my order. It took about 30-40 minutes, which told me that my food was made to order. That made me feel good.I ordered catfish and grits. Since I knew I'd want food later that evening when I got to my hotel, I ordered another meal, as well. I also ordered chicken wings, greens and macaroni and cheese. It is worth noting that the wings are not full wings. They are wingettes. It is also worth noting that the wings come on a bed of rice, which was a pleasant surprise, because I was not expecting that.I prefer to eat my food hot, so as soon as I got into my car I dug in right away. Everything was delicious. My test for determining if something is really good is eating it when it's cold. Later that night when I was in my hotel room I pulled both styrofoam plates out to try everything and it was all just as delicious as it was hot. To me that's the true test. If your fried chicken is just as good cold as it is hot, then you got some good fried chicken.I am a macaroni and cheese connoisseur. No, seriously, I am! I have never tasted macaroni and cheese quite like this. I think they put goat cheese in it. Effed me up. Delicious!The fried chicken was good, but I could tell that they blanch their wings, which means they partially cook them at the top of the day, so when someone orders them, they don't have to cook as long. I usually hate blanched wings, but theirs weren't chewy like most.The collard greens, which are prepared without pork, were also delicious. Now it's worth noting that I never eat greens without hot sauce. Never, ever.When I asked the young lady if they had hot sauce and she told me they didn't, I copped an immediate attitude. I was prepared to knock them down a star when I penned my review. Just for that.My thought:How on God's green earth are you going to be a New-Orleans derived business, and NOT offer folks hot sauce? That makes NO sense!But the spirit said, just try it first. So glad I was obedient. How about this? It didn't even need hot sauce! That's how good their food is, people.The catfish looked like a billboard model. I have never seen OR tasted perfectly fried catfish like this before. The grits were perfectly buttered with the right amount of texture. I cannot stand when you eat grits and they are not the slightest bit gritty! When they are like that, they've been overcooked, something very common in our community. Anywho, not the case here. Also, if grits are just as good cold as they are hot, they're good and their grits are FIRE!!Just go ahead. Do yourself a favor and drive on over there to get you a plate or two or three.You'll thank me later."
