Carlos Soul Food

Well, I'm glad to see that Yelp has added the review from phone feature to their latest update. It's easier for me to review while I'm at the location rather than jot down details in my memory then write about them later. So with that said, I'm sitting here at Carlos' Home Cooking waiting for my order to finish cooking and to help make time go by I figure a quick review will do the trick. Location: Carlos' is on Church St. next to St. Mary's cemetery and about a block from the Virginia Zoo and Lafayette Park. It sits at the end of a long building that looks like a warehouse. Aesthetically, it's not gonna give you the warm and fuzzy at all. Parking is on the side and typically there's ample room. Ambiance: This place is more dive than restaurant. The decor isn't anything fancy and there's an old CRT (cathode ray television) that sits on a table. Yeah, that's old school. Service: Umm, so yeah -- I sort of come to Carlos' for the food because the service is hard to rate. I think a big part of that is because Carlos' is sort of like, different. It's not convenient as you have to wait for your order to cook, it's different in the sense that it's a tad bit "rough" around the edges. The staff will work with you but you cannot have your heart set on a particular dish as it may not be available for that day/moment/time. So, I guess you can say that it's hit or miss when it comes to menu item availability.The menu is typical southern cooking, probably why I keep coming back here because the grease is so tasty! However, because I'm getting up in age, these stops are more of a guilty sporadic luxury than a weekly rendezvous. They serve breakfast, lunch and dinner and they also serve up desserts. You'll find items from neck bone dinner combos, chitterlings, pulled BBQ, to my favorite, the fried chicken wing combo. Taste: Greasy! Lol! Nah, just playing...kinda. I see that they served baked items as well but I can go to Boston Market if I want to eat healthy! Lol! I usually get the collard greens, cabbage or Mac and cheese and haven't been disappointed with any of them yet. The collards are good and flavorful and the cabbage is delicious with the right amount of subtle sweetness that I like. Overall, Carlos' is a guilty pleasure that's about 5-8 minutes or so away from my home. It does sit in an urban part of Norfolk so I recommend that you keep your head on a swivel, not saying that you're in danger but because that's what you're supposed to do in any "city". I've never had any problems in the times I've visited and I don't anticipate anyone else experiencing any either. Carlos' prices are reasonable, and the food is too tasty for me to leave it alone.

Not much of a fan. Although the prices are okay but the area is horrendous and right across the street from a graveyard. The ribs were nice and tender but the yams weren't sweet, the greens weren't that seasoned and the roll was cold and hard. The inside isn't much better than the outside and as it looks like it was built 53 years ago and stayed the same. A friend of mine raved about the food but I could go the rest of my life without eating it again.

My wife and I had been driving by here for months, curious about what it was like and whether or not we'd have a local gem or local dud, and looking for the perfect excuse to try them out. Anyway, we decided to do a small picnic and figured that "Carlos' Home Cookin'" would work out great as our personal caterer. Anyway, while it definitely fits the profile of a "hole in the wall," with its dingy interior, Carlos' also met the expection of that cliche by having great food at a reasonable price. We had two "dinners," one "Rib" (which turned out to be boneless rib meat and the other a "Breast and Wing" (aka fried chicken). Each dinner came with a roll and two sides. For our sides, we tried the mashed potatoes, green beans, and the macroni and cheese.So here's the run down on the grub:-Ribs: boneless, extremely tender, and a sweet (and just a little spicy) sauce that was great. A--Breast and Wing: Lightly breaded fried chicken that was perfectly seasoned and meat that was still very moist. The breast was boneless to boot! A+-Green beans: Seasoned and slow cooked (read mushy) with onions. Yet delicious! B+-Mashed potatoes and gravy: Super garlicky and oh so good. A-Mac and cheese: Good, but a little dry and oily. C+-Dinner roll: Just average. C-Plus, we had two sodas, all for $17.90! A great deal and lots of food.Oh, and the sweet couple that were working there (I am assuming it was Carlos and his wife) were just as friendly as could be. We'll definitely be regulars here from now on. A great find!

I called ahead today to play an order for pick up. The last that answered the phone was...not very pleasant. I asked for meatloaf and it wasn't ready (my last visit the yams weren't ready). She sounded like she was irritated with me placing my order. Whatever, I ignored and ordered. I ordered the wing dinner (4 whole wings) with macaroni and cheese and candy yams. I couldn't eat the macaroni because it was all grease (see pictures). It was like that the first time I ate here but I assumed they were just having a bad day. The last time I ordered there were no yams. They had yams today and they were a little hard (I like mine soft). The chicken wasn't seasoned well and was kind of soggy from the grease. I tried it twice just to make sure but they let me down both times so I won't be returning. If the food isn't going to be perfect then you could at least have some customer service skills right? Yeah, I thought so too. Also, the cleanliness......that place needs to be soaked in bleach! Very dirty. Really needs to be wiped down. My only positive thing to say is that Carlos is a very nice man, he just needs a new cook/greeter. I'm going to stick to my other souls food spot in Virginia Beach (Static Restaurant).

So apparently I've learned that you're not supposed to go in here because you might be a little turned off so get the delivery. The tilapia was so good but the delivery process the first time I tried was a little off putting. They kept trying to reswipe me and my coworkers debit cards because it wasn't going through and it took a very long time to get it to work and I didn't understand what the problem was. It would be really nice if they did some sprucing up to the inside.

They had a attitude when I was asking about there menu,and I got very little food for the price I will never go back...

Shame on you Carlos. First off you need to send your management team to a customer service training course. Nothing screamed home cooking. Mac and cheese was just that elbows with some cheese thrown in and microwaved, scorched undercooked cabbage that sugar was dumped into. Undercooked, unseasoned and Unclean Hairy pig feet.... You got me good never again

Nasty, nasty, oh yeah and...NASTY.Rude Lady, dirty grimy stove. Hot and humid.Serving leftovers. Health Dept get them!

I went there and gave them my card to pay and they said it got declined so I paid for the food with my debt card. A couple minutes later I got a notification that the first payment was processed. I told the manager and she took the time out of her day to call her bank and let me talk to them. I appreciated it but I still felt like I was wronged because my card was basically charged twice. The chicken was salty and greasy. The collard greens was amazing. The Mac and cheese was basic. I will probably eat here again but I will pay with cash. I recommend you pay with cash

I called to see if they could cater a work event or even just fax a menu. The woman on the phone was incredibly rude and hung up on me. Apparently they are too busy for our business so I will not be trying their food.