Food for the Soul

Soul food from Dorothy’s Soul Food Kitchen. facebook.com/DorothysSoulFoodKitchen

Dorothy’s might have a small dining space, but the lunch plates that come out of the kitchen are anything but tiny. Arrive early, owner Deneta Greely suggests, especially on Fridays when chitterlings are on the menu. That polarizing Southern dish attracts a crowd, and Greely is happy to cook it, even if she doesn’t care for it herself.

And if, like Greely, you’re a little squeamish about chitterlings, she’s got you covered with soul-food staples like pork chops or turkey wings smothered in so much deep brown gravy that it practically drips off the plate, with comforting sides like stewed greens, red beans and rice or yams. Wash it all down with iced tea so sweet you won’t need dessert.

What’s kept this diner going with the same menu for almost two decades? “Our food is fresh. We cut all our greens and don’t do anything out of a can,” Greely says. “We also know how to season our food.”

As her customers often say, it’s food that hits them right in the soul.

This article was originally published in the December 2016 issue of 225 Magazine.