LA Soul
 Akron, Ohio      Date of Visit  12/11/15       http://www.lasoulfood.com 

Having been to Pammie’s a while ago we had decided we would also stop at another local Q and soul food place in Akron. If I had to put money on it, I would say its located in a defunct Long John Silvers with much of the original furniture. The young lady who waited on us seemed genuinely friendly and personable and took great care of us with a smile and a fair bit of laughter.
 

We ordered a combo plate of brisket and chicken and a half slab of ribs. All truly held the essence of smoke, but had not been held all that well. The brisket and ribs were tender and had clearly been juicy at one point, but while the tenderness created by careful cooking remained, having been held both were really dry. The chicken had probably started kinda dry as it had been smoked and smoked too much for me giving it an acrid flavor and leathering up the outer edges.

I do like their sauce, it is a ruddy thick sludge with more heat than sweet but multiple flavors emerge. It just wasn’t going to remoisturize the meat.
 

LA Soul does make some killer sides. We tried the mac and cheese, potato salad and baked beans. We originally ordered the macaroni salad with the tuna in it (?), but it wasn’t ready yet so the beans were the replacement and they were fantastic. Tomatoey brown sugar bacony spice were accentuated with a sharp vinegary note making them incredibly unique and tasty. The mac and cheese and potato salad were both quintessential exemplars of simple and straightforward southern tastiness. Speaking of quintessential, they offer a peach cobbler which we split and then took most home. The two bowls you see in the picture are a single order, ridiculous but delicious. The still crispy edges of the pastry roof enclose sweet fruit and viscous, spiced, peachy goop. Solid Q, great sides and fun folks at LA Soul.
 

Standout Tangy Baked Beans