Steve's Soul Food Downtown - Detroit

Stoped in for a late dinner with family and most of the food was put away due to being so close to closing. What they had left was very tasty and some good selections to choose from. I had the Cornish hen, the dressing, collard greens, and blackeye peas. Everything was seasoned just right and was very satisfied. The workers were friendly and accommodated us being so close to closing. My wife had the fried chicken and she stated it was very good and well seasoned. The overall condition of the place was clean and had enough room to accommodate our large party. Steve's has breakfast as well and I will have to circle back to see how the breakfast fares.

I am leaving 5 Stars because I have been away for years and now back I was disappointed to see it is temporarily closed. I hope it opens soon. Their greens were excellent as was all the food. I am gong back years to when I went there regularly when Mayor Young was a frequent customer. When I was there last years ago it was a solid 5 stars

There is typically plenty of street parking, but it can get a little packed during lunch rushes. My friends and I came in around 1pm on Sunday. The line wasn't too bad, but around 2pm it got packed. People were most likely coming after church. There is no menu or prices at the beginning of the line. They serve the food like a cafeteria. The price for a dinner, one entree and two sides, is $13. We ordered the fried catfish, short rib, fried chicken wings, and bbq pig feet. Everything was really good! I especially like the fried catfish with hot sauce and the bbq pig feet. The pigs feet was extremely tender and melted in my mouth! Overall, good soul food, good portions, and a good price. The line gets a long because there is only one register and that same person also gets desserts so there's a bottle neck.

Once again, I find myself glad I didn 't check out the reviews before I visited Steve 's because based on some of them I would have probably not visited. But I am glad I did! I was in the D with my lil bro finishing up some business and we both decided we were hungry. Not surprising huh? LOL As I haven 't really been back to Detroit in a number of years, I let my brother chose the venue as he is there frequently. When he suggested Steve 's, I had a brief flash back to the nightmare that was Southern Fires (see my review), but decided I may as well check it out. First impressions it 's tucked between Jefferson the Detroit river, not far from downtown, in a small warehouse district. It 's in a old nondescript brick building with a lone neon sign. Bonus, there 's a decent sized free parking lot right across from the entrance. Entering the building, it definitely has an old school, weathered elegance about it. Like in the past it was a high society spot. Upon entering we saw the counter. You basically grab a tray, then go down the line choosing your meat, sides, dessert, and drinks then pay. It 's a simple straightforward process, but one that is easy to bottleneck if you have either too few people manning it or too many. Luckily we had just missed the lunch crowd so the line was empty and we sailed through. For me and my brother, with waters and no desserts, the total was just over $35 which I thought was a tad high, but he says is typical for a spot near downtown. The Service was fairly prompt and friendly. I did have to ask a couple of questions a couple of times, but I put that on the server being distracted by a co worker asking my brother what sides he wanted. The acoustics of the counter area leave a bit to be desired for audible clarity if more than one person is talking. But then, the building wasn 't designed for that purpose. The Dining Room was large and spacious, and clean. High tables, regular tables, and large booths were the choices. There was a large TV playing family shows at a volume that wasn 't intrusive. There is a stocked bar, but I don 't know when it is available as no one was tending it and it looked shut down while we were there. The Food! the food was fantastic! Maybe we were lucky and caught everything fresh but everything we had was hot, and tasty! I had the rib tips, dressing, and mac cheese. My brother had the meatloaf, with the same sides. They also add a corn bread muffin which was delicious. Very much home style cooking flavor. Overview Overall it was an enjoyable experience and I will return next time I am in Detroit. From reading other reviews, I would probably recommend avoiding the lunch rush as our experience was nothing like those reviews. Or maybe they just got their act together?

If you go all the way back to the beginning of Steve's soul Food across the street from his fathers grand river meat center sanitation has always been the problem