A Sea Of Red

Today at the mall I just noticed that a soul food restaurant is going in where McDonalds used to be. It's called "Charmeins" and their slogan is "fresh homecooked soul food." Has anyone ever heard of the place or eaten there? I'm really curious as to what items might be on the menu.

I give it 6 months.

I'd rather eat poop.

We have a slew of "soul food" joints down here. The only common strain seems to be having fried chicken and collared greens on the menu. Otherwise it seems to be whatever anyone wants the genre to be. I'd call it homestyle comfort foods.

Trying to imagine the whole mall smelling of chitlins.

Potential main dishes, according to Wiki:

Soul food uses a great variety of dishes and ingredients, some unique and some shared with other cuisines.

Country-fried steak, with baked beans and mashed potatoes with white gravyBBQ (a type of meat barbecued, traditional in African American Culture)
Chicken gizzards, batter-fried
Chicken livers, batter-fried
Chitterlings ("chitlins") (the cleaned and prepared intestines of pigs, slow cooked and often eaten with vinegar and hot sauce; sometimes parboiled, then battered and fried)
Country fried steak, also known as "chicken fried steak" (beef deep-fried with a crisp flour or batter coating, usually served with white gravy)
Cracklins (commonly known as pork rinds and sometimes added to cornbread batter)
Fatback (fatty, cured, salted pork; used to season meats and vegetables)
Fried chicken (fried in grease with seasoned flour)
Fried fish (any of several varieties of fish—especially catfish, but also whiting, porgies, bluegills—dredged in seasoned cornmeal and deep fried
Ham hocks (smoked, used to flavor vegetables and legumes)
Hoghead cheese (made primarily from pig snouts, lips, and ears, and frequently referred to as "souse meat" or simply "souse")
Hog maws (hog jowls, sliced and usually cooked with chitterlings)
Neckbones (pork neck bones seasoned and slow cooked)
Oxtail soup (a soup or stew made from beef tails)
Pigs feet (slow cooked like chitterlings, sometimes pickled and, like chitterlings, often eaten with vinegar and hot sauce)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soul_food

Doesn't soul food exist because it was the only food poor folks could afford? Why would anybody want to go out to eat that junk? Honey, now that we can afford to eat ham let's instead pay someone to serve us pig's feet.

We have soul-food place here that has been around for a long time. I've learned various orders such as "listeners" and "sniffers" as well as the standard "walkers" that were referenced above.....

I really dont think I can say what I'm thinking without coming across as a jerk....so I'll just leave it be

I think you've already said too much.

why aren't African Americans complaining about this addition to the mall as being racist (assuming they have a bunch of the stuff on that wikipedia list)? i mean you've got every single stereotypically "black" food on that wikipedia list just about...

It's a type of food. How is that racist?

LUconn wrote:It's a type of food. How is that racist?

i don't think it is, but you know how people like to throw around racism at everything underneath the sun...

What about that guy on Travel Channel, something about Bizarre Foods? The menu Cider posted is tame compared to what he eats...bats, live stuff etc. Last night was some chicken feet...

I'm looking forward to some pictures from the soul food restaraunt. I bet it's good.

Chicken feet are a regular item at some soul food places.

I hope they have a month to month lease;)

McDonald's couldn't even make money there. Soul Food? Boy the mall is desperate - how about a ice cream shop - I would think that would do really well in the mall, as well be a good fit for the movie theater. Don't anyone post that we already have one - a cart doesn't count:)

prototype wrote:I hope they have a month to month lease;)

McDonald's couldn't even make money there. Soul Food? Boy the mall is desperate - how about a ice cream shop - I would think that would do really well in the mall, as well be a good fit for the movie theater. Don't anyone post that we already have one - a cart doesn't count:)

Uhhh....DQ also closed before the fall.

I really don't see any change on the positive for the mall until after the theater gets rolling.

Fumblerooskies wrote:

prototype wrote:I hope they have a month to month lease;)

McDonald's couldn't even make money there. Soul Food? Boy the mall is desperate - how about a ice cream shop - I would think that would do really well in the mall, as well be a good fit for the movie theater. Don't anyone post that we already have one - a cart doesn't count:)

Uhhh....DQ also closed before the fall.

I really don't see any change on the positive for the mall until after the theater gets rolling.

yes, the dipping dots and the hershey's ice cream stand did it in for DQ most likely. i haven't been to the mall in ages (there isn't one single reason to go there anymore since I don't have a friend working at that sports shop), are those two things even still there?

Dippin' Dots...no
The Sundae Grill took over the old Hershey's stand and appears to be doing quite well.

'Sounds like Fumble knows his ice cream, but I wonder if he eats Soul Food?

Cider Jim wrote:'Sounds like Fumble knows his ice cream, but I wonder if he eats Soul Food?

Fumble actually has eaten chitlins before. Not too bad, either.

Deep fried or boiled chitlins?

Cider Jim wrote:'Sounds like Fumble knows his ice cream, but I wonder if he eats Soul Food?

he's a stalker

Cider Jim wrote:Deep fried or boiled chitlins?

Deep fried.