Making your way in the world today takes everything you’ve got. Taking a break from all your worries, sure would help a lot. 

Yes that is part of the theme song from Cheers, but somehow that is the feeling I felt when I walked inside of Carla Hall’s Southern Kitchen in downtown Brooklyn. The feeling was so welcoming, I felt like I was Norm and everyone was sitting on their bar stools awaiting my arrival. When you think about it that is southern hospitality, its the kind of hospitality that doesn’t make you feel like a stranger or even a simple patron, but like an awaited guest. The community tables evoke conversations with people you may not have otherwise said hello to, the quaintness of the space encourages you to smile at your neighbors at the next table over, and when living in the world today takes everything you got, its that simplicity that is accompanied with a meal that makes the living part that much easier.

Now the decor in Carla Hall’s southern kitchen told me that the food was gonna be so good that it would make me wanna slap my momma, now anyone who knows about food colloquiums knows that you are speaking about some delicious food to make such a claim, so let me tell you what actually went down.

First up, 6 chicken wings with the “Hoot” sauce, otherwise known as medium spicy sauce. The chicken was fried perfectly, and there are just some fried foods that are pretty in color, and this was pretty in color; it was more than golden, it sort of leaned on the side of being a smidgen darker than blood orange, which is just the way I like it. I also like it when I can hear myself crunch, which is one of the byproducts of getting fried chicken. The taste however, was just good which you know if you have been following me for awhile, that good is the enemy of best. Sadly, it didn’t make me feel warm and fuzzy inside, the “Hoot” sauce did not make an impact at all, and I found myself feeling less like Norm and more like Rebecca Howe. No one particularly cared for Rebecca they only tolerated her and the chicken was definitely a Rebecca Howe.

Second up, mac and cheese; the mac and cheese was cheesy, the mac and cheese was warm not hot, the mac and cheese did not make me wanna slap my momma, it did not even make me wanna roll my eyes at her, or give her the side eye.

Third up, cole slaw, now not all cole slaws are created equal, and I guess the inequality is okay if the end result is that the taste is fabulous. Now there are a few types of cole slaw, first there is the dry slaw, then there is the vinegary slaw, then there is the creamy slaw, my preference is the creamy. Not simply just creamy, but with a backdrop of vinegary. Carla’s coleslaw was creamy, but it was not vinegary, it was mayonnaisey, which translates into non-delectable. 

Last up, corn bread. My tastebuds tell me that corn bread should be sweet, my tastebuds go on to tell me that corn bread should be moist, because my tastebuds are talkative it proceeded in saying that corn bread should almost be cake like. So needless to write my tastebuds were ultra disappointed. This corn bread was bitter, it was a little a moist, but it was not cake like, unfortunately Carla because I love you I would strongly suggest you remove the corn bread from the menu or at the minimum add some sweetness. When people eat corn bread today in this carb conscious society, it needs to be absolutely worth it, the bread needs to make you decide to workout 6 days a week just so you can eat the corn bread on the 7th day.

It pains me to write this blog, because I loved the comfort of the environment, I absolutely adored the waitstaff, the decor made me smile when I looked at it, and I felt complete harmony and rest as I sat there. But at the end of it all its the food that it comes down to, its the food that is the determining factor on whether you will return, its your tastebuds that have the final say, and the final say is, Carla step it up more than a few notches, change up a few of those recipes, and make me not only wanna slap my momma, but bring my momma to your restaurant.