Monday, June 20, 2011

Betty's isn't heaven, but it's close

For Father's Day this year we(but really me) decided to try Betty's on Sistrunk and 22nd Rd.  I had heard and read about it a few times.  One of the last bastions of soul food left in South Florida.  I don't know if things have really gotten that bad Soul Food wise in South Florida.  I think that the more real the place is the more hidden it becomes.  Whether that's due to location, general vibe of the place, it's patrons or any other reason that the fickle public can come up with for not liking a particular establishment.  So for of us white people sat down in four swivel chairs that are attached to little tables.  Exactly like Mickey D's has or used to have in many of it's establishments.  There is a beat up jukebox, and a counter with five or so soda fountain stools.  There is a nice mix of generally large(heavy) people in the place.  Betty would be the person behind the register that also answers the phone and runs into the kitchen to plate food or do anything else that's necessary.  I would hate to guess how long she's been running this establishment.  The base is quite busy and seems to be a little short staffed.  There is only one waitress for 40-50 people plus the phone and the counter.  She's good though so things go very smoothly.  Don't expect your food in five seconds if you order things other than breakfast.  We ordered chicken wings, side of grits and Pork Souse.  The wings were very good, the grits were excellent and then we get to the Pork Souse.  Now suddenly we turn into Andrew Zimmerman territory.  It's a bowl filled with a reddish broth that smells intensely of pork and something smellier than pork, offal.  There is a little bit of corn, but other than that it's offal and strange parts in a bowl.  I ate all the broth which tasted better than it smelled.  I ate about half of what was in the bowl and brought the parts I didn't like home for the dog.  We then ordered whole fried catfish, a vegetable plate, Eggs with a ton of bacon and hash browns, smothered pork chops, corn bread and biscuits.  The catfish is a 15 out of ten. There aren't even a lot of bones left when I'm done it.  One of the best things I've eaten in the last year.  The lima beans are also in the category.  Need to know what they do to them because they are addictive.  The candied yams are truly candied so don't eat them if you don't want to go into diabetic shock shortly thereafter.  The stewed cabbage and collard are greens are so aggressively seasoned that my mouth was numb by the time we got home.  It's too much salt for me but once in a while it's really good.  The fried okra wasn't my thing.  They don't use cornmeal and they weren't crispy enough for me, but they weren't bad.  Just not my style.  The green beans are excellent and not as heavily salted as some of the other veggies.  I got a side salad which hit the spot with french dressing.  Excellent portion for a side item.  The smothered pork chop was very good, but standard compared to the fish.  Breakfast was also excellent.  My son commented that it's nice to get hash browns somewhere other than Waffle House.  We also got an excellent slice of sweet potato pie and banana pudding with nilla wafers to go.  The pudding portion was huge and incredibly good.  Haven't had a chance to try the sweet potato pie yet.  I won't order that much food again and will be more careful about what I get due to the salt overload, but I'm already dying to go back.  This place has Soul to spare and great food.  I also really need to try the peach cobbler.  I'm kicking myself for not getting one to go.  It wasn't the cheapest place I've ever been but was a good value in my opinion.

2 comments:

  1. C'mon, Ted, you're killing me. Souse? Souse? What about the friggin' barbecue? (Wry grin)

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  2. Didn't have a chance to try the bbq yet, but planning on it for the next visit. Just drop by for breakfast and have some bbq with your breakfast. It appears that they serve the whole menu all day.
    Again some things are better than others and your blood pressure will rise due the dead sea like quantities of salt in some of their food. Let me know what you think after you visit. It's maybe 3 minutes from 95 and Broward, take 27th to Sistrunk and head east until 22nd Rd.

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