Is soul food the new BBQ?

Good Eatin’s catfish, red beans and rice and collard greens

Soul food is having a moment in Des Moines. Two new brick and mortar cafés devoted entirely to this African-American style of southern roots cooking are up and running. Every time we visit, they are busy. That’s probably the closest this most resourceful style of American cooking has ever come to becoming a mainstream option rather than an isolated oddity in Des Moines. 

Previously, soul food cafés came and went quickly here with the singular exception of Pam Patton’s superb Patton’s (2011-2017). Patton’s best weeks coincided with big tourist events in Des Moines, such as the National Junior Olympics, when she might work around the clock for days in a row. Other than those rare occasions, the restaurant only really buzzed for Sunday buffets, and the business became catering only. 

Bubba’s and Tupelo Honey have both done well downtown offering white southern folks’ cooking. But soul food in Des Moines returned to church basements, food trucks, shared kitchens, holidays in the backyard and pop-ups. So, this is a moment for the genre in this soul-challenged city. 

Barbecue was on a similar lonely island, called Flying Mango, before gas-simulated BBQ became acceptable in the late 1990s. Darell Wirth (Smokey D’s), Shad Kirton (Kue’d) and Bruce Gerleman (Jethro’s) took it mainstream with lots of others following. So, let it be with soul food. 

The two new brick and mortar soul food cafés are female owned: Copa Burse of Good Eatin’s is Des Moines raised; Christine Johnson of Joppa Experience is a Chicago transplant. Johnson emphasizes that Joppa offers “Southside (Chicago) style soul food.” What difference does Chicago style make?

Joppa Experience oxtail, cabbage and greens

“We use fresh herbs, never dried. Chicago Italian roast beef sandwiches, Polish sausage and pizza puffs are parts of Chicago soul food you won’t find elsewhere. We can get ox tails now from John Brooks (B&B Meat, Grocery and Deli), but I still go to Chicago for Polish sausage and the right kind of hoagie bun to absorb all the jus in Italian roast beef sandwiches.”

Joppa’s specialty is Johnson’s ox tail stew. It is as tender an example of beef stew as I have ever tasted. It is so labor intensive, and its essential ingredient is so hard to source, that it is only sold on Friday, along with a special soul menu that doubles the size of Joppa’s offerings. Joppa closes both Tuesday and Wednesday to prep the oxtails plus rib tips, jerk, cabbage (both fried and made into sweet coleslaw), sweet potatoes, and greens simmered with bacon and onions. French fries are double fried. Desserts are made by Chellie’s Sugar Shack. 

Good Eatin’s began as a food truck, opened a store in an unlucky venue on East 14th, and moved in January to a larger spot on Douglas that was very lucky for the original Wasabi Chi. Catfish stars here, in a crunchy corn flour batter. Greens are collards cooked with smoked turkey. 

Wing dings (flats) are offered, as well as regular wing orders. Turkey legs (must be preordered), two and twos (two meat, two sides), and red beans and rice are also stars. The red beans really impressed me with smoked turkey, I think. Cole slaw impressed, too, less sweet and made with green cabbage. Two sauces are on all tables, a semi sweet “hot sauce” that reminded me of Asian hot sauces and a “BBQ” sauce that was sweeter than most. 

Both places feature soul food stables like mac and cheese, spaghetti and burgers. Good Eatin’s offers peach and apple cobblers, strawberry and lemon cake. Both places do a large percentage of carryout business. Good Eatin’s amenities stood out with thoughtful plastic half pint servings (with air-tight lids) used for sides. Their beverage service included glasses and ice. 

Jim Duncan is a food writer who has been covering the central Iowa scene for more than five decades.