Right in the center of the Oak Park neighborhood is Fixins – Soul Kitchen. The menu is just what you’d expect. But we were here to try the chicken. Now that South is gone, we were sorely lacking for a fried chicken place that wasn’t Church’s (which, shockingly, is now more reliable than the local KFC. Which only shows how dire the situation at KFC has become.)
2 piece chicken dinner with 2 sides. cornbread, Mac n cheese and a salad for the top, biscuit, potato salad and fries for the bottom.
First, the chicken is outstanding. Crunchy exterior, well seasoned, juicy interior, and I’m happy to report it is equally as good, maybe even better, cold the next day.
The mac and cheese stands out as one of the better examples of ‘traditional’ mac and cheese. Most places that attempt to do a legit bechamel and do a baked mac usually end up with a broken sauce and/or one that barely tastes of cheese. Neither of these was the case here. A creamy, definitely cheesy sauce without being gloopy, hints of black pepper, and the little baked edge pieces everyone likes. The potato salad was pretty good too, if a little on the sweet side for my taste. And props to the cornbread and biscuit. They come with maple/cayanne butter or grape jelly butter, respectively. There are bunches of other sides available, including collard greens.
They also feature Uncle Nearest whiskey, a brand my partner is a big fan of.
Also, an excellent quality/price ratio. The above meals were $18 each, and we both ended up taking home at least half to have the next day.
https://fixinssoulkitchen.com/
NB- One of the owners of this place is Kevin Johnson, former basketball pro and also former Sacramento mayor. A lot of people do not care for him for a variety of reasons, including allegations of sexual harassment towards (among others) a 16 year old. No charges were ever filed, and there was a settlement. That was enough for some. But it’s also true that he’s an investor in or is landlord to a number of businesses in Sac, and especially in Oak Park, the city’s main Black neighborhood.
I have no opinion on the subject, but I DO notice the people who call this out the loudest on places like Reddit also, let’s say, tend not to be either political or racial cohorts of Mr. Johnson. I only bring it up because I HAVE decided to not patronize places when their owners turn out to be contributing actively to making the world a worse place (imho). As always, we all draw our own lines, and decide when or if they can be crossed.
