Mr. Bs Southern Kitchen has been at 3401 N Nebraska Avenue since 2015, though it hasn’t always been smooth sailing. Owned by the sister and brother team of Ninkia Green and Calvin Jefferson, the pair have faced challenges both in the kitchen and the front of the house. In 2020 they were losing between $2,000 and $3,000 per week. The sibling relationship was strained, and the business had few repeat customers due to the pandemic, slow service, and mediocre food. Enter Robert Irvine from the Food Networks Restaurant Impossible in 2021 (season 19, episode 3, available on streaming services). The show did $10,000 worth of rehab on the building, and Irvine addressed the struggles between Ninkia and Calvin getting in the way of co-managing the business. Over two days, the restaurant and the owners were transformed into a profitable enterprise honoring the history of family and community here.

The name comes from the idea that some dishes are honey inspired. Pieces of the kitsch on the walls include honey bees. Their slogan is Bee Liscious Food. As the southern kitchen in the name implies, the menu has a strong southern influence, a soul food soul, all with a modern take. Appetizers like fried okra and fried green tomatoes are followed by entrees like shrimp and grits, beef short rib, and what I selected, a smothered pork chop.

It's a nice thick chop delightfully browned and covered in creamy mushroom gravy, served on a mound of dirty rice and butter beans. The chop is moist and tender, that flavorful dirty rice has just enough after-kick heat to notice, and those butter beans give a soft/crunchy texture. Add in a glass of sweet tea and a cornbread muffin, and it just doesn’t get more satisfying to my southern bones than this.

Prices are moderate, service is fast and friendly, and the atmosphere is bright, cheerful, and modern. There’s plenty of parking in the rear. Mr. B’s Southern Cuisine offers catering and most online delivery services and is open for lunch and dinner during the week and adds breakfast on the weekends. Watch out for their food truck around town, too! Needing some southern food love? This is the place, beelieve me.

Front counter of Mr. B's is bright and inviting

The interior had a modern and and hometown feel

MR. B's Southern Kitchen

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