The Good Rabbi's Blog

Don't get me wrong, I'm definitely a foodie, and I like to think of myself as a gourmet. I feel just as comfortable at Citronelle as I do at Five Guys. At the end of the day, however, these two restaurants are selling two different things. Five Guys sells their burgers and fries, while Citronelle doesn't necessarily sell their food, but rather the experience of going to a high-end restaurant. As such, the chances of someone going to Citronelle multiple times a week is nowhere near as likely as the chances of someone going to Five Guys more than once a week.

With this in mind, tonight the girlfriend and I were looking for a good place to get some food that would make us feel a little more comfortable after spending a good amount of time at Home Depot looking at colour schemes for various rooms. Since we live in a neighbourhood with a lot of soul, we figured some good soul food would be in order. We decided that tonight was the night to hit up Bubba's Muscogee Restaurant, a local soul food place. The menu certainly wasn't anything that lept off the page to me, and in fact, the restaurant was pretty much focused on a central buffet, but what they did, they did right.

The staff was extremely friendly, and I got the impression that they were all part of the same family, which means that everyone seemed vested in how the food turned out, and what we thought of the place. The customers that were there all seemed to be regulars, and the food was just good. The buffet had a little bit of everything: mustard chicken, fried chicken, collard greens, chitterlings, yams, macaroni & cheese, salmon, fried fish, a salad bar, and a dessert bar which featured several different types of cakes.

The environment was reminiscient of a church picnic (yes, your Rabbi has been to many of them in his lifetime), with everyone being friendly and just enjoying the food. It was a simple menu, at affordable prices, with a large attention to the quality of the food. In fact, the only non-positive comments that I have are that the breading on the fried chicken could have been crispier, and that the salmon & brisket were sitting out on the buffet for too long (and without utensils), so they didn't look all that appetizing. Other than that, they get it right for soul food. I've always been amazed that a city with as large of a black population as Washington has, there is a real dearth of good soul food places in town. This restaurant is one of the area's best kept secrets - the menu is limited, but what they do they do well. Comfort food is just not used enough as a restaurant concept these days.

Here's the summary information:

• Restaurant Name: Bubba's Muscogee Restaurant
  
• Restaurant Address: 1544 Rhode Island Avenue NE (Rhode Island & 15th NE)
  
• Nearest Metro Stop: Rhode Island Ave on the red line
  
• Price Scale: About $15 (the buffet is $14.99 on Sundays and $11.99 the rest of the week)
  
• Rating: