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Dinner at 239 Soul Food Mae’s Place: Wonderful Home Cooking in Fort Myers

239 Soul Food Mae's Place

239 Soul Food Mae’s Place (239 Soul)239 Soul Food Mae’s Place is a restaurant in Fort Myers serving soul food. It’s very nondescript outside. You might even drive right by and never notice it.

My grandmother always told me, “you should never judge a book by its cover”. Grandma was almost always right. I thought of her when I pulled up to 239 Soul. After eating here, grandma was right again.

The food at 239 Soul is home-cooked soul food to the Nth power by Freida, the proprietor. The restaurant opened in November 2021.

Freida, proprietor of 239 Soul Food Mae’s Place in Fort Myers

Before opening 239 Soul, Freida was cooking at The Farmers Market Restaurant in Fort Myers for many years. This cooking gig and the 40 years of cooking on her own made her into the cook she is today. Mae, her mother, died shortly after 239 Soul was opened. Although Freida told me her mom was not much of a cook, this establishment honors her posthumously in its name.

What is soul food you may ask? Soul Food was much introduced and influenced by slaves brought to Southern North America is the early eighteenth to mid-nineteenth centuries in the U.S. It is a hybrid food genre, combining the cooking of West Africans and Southeast Native Americans with the foods available in the United States. Corn, pork (and most of its parts), cooked greens (collards and kale), rice and sweet potatoes feature prominently in this genre of cooking.

I had not had any soul food cuisine in quite a while and just by chance, happened upon 239 Soul.

My dining companion and I ordered a number of menu items. One can eat in or take out, but everything is served in to-go trays.

Menu, 239 Soul Food Mae’s Place (photo from 239 Soul Food Facebook page)

The first was country-fried steak.

Country fried steak

Country Fried Steak is usually cube steak that is breaded and fried, similar to the German pork dish, Wienerschnitzel. The breading was perfectly seasoned and quite delicious. The country-fried steak was served atop yellow rice and topped with brown gravy. Two sides come with a meal. Candied yams and mac ‘n’ cheese were ordered. The candied yams were excellent, expertly flavored with brown sugar and cinnamon. My dining companion, a mac ‘n’ cheese aficionado, thought this was one of the best mac ‘n’ cheese they have ever had. This was no doubt due to the use of multiple types of cheeses here.

I ordered a Smothered Pork Chop.

Smothered pork chop

Smothered pork chops are pan-fried pork chops that are finished by simmering them in a rich, brown, onion gravy. This was also served with yellow rice. I picked the simmered black-eyed peas and collard greens as sides. Both of these sides were also expertly seasoned and absolutely fantastic. All dinners are served with a small piece of cornbread to mop up any leftover goodness from the sides and/or main dish.

I wanted to try something else out to bring to work with me the following day. I was torn between the meatloaf and the turkey wing. Freida let me sample both, and meatloaf it was.

Meatloaf

Again, a very generous portion of meatloaf was served with yellow rice. The meatloaf was moist, very flavorful and excellent. One of the sides was lima beans and as with some of the other sides was very well spiced. I also tried a medley of stewed okra, tomatoes and corn kernels. I am usually a fresh vegetable snob, but the canned corn with stewed tomatoes and okra really worked. The sweetness of the canned corn kernels melded perfectly with the “tinny” acidity of the canned stewed tomatoes. Both of these sides are highly recommended.

Freida has a promotion she told me about. If you can bring in 10 register receipts from 239 Soul you get a free meal. Everything is on the table here with the exception of fried ribs, oxtail and Chitlins. I have never had the latter but will definitely order them if available next time when up in 239 Soul.

On Sundays they also have an expanded menu, serving desserts such as bread pudding, peach cobbler and chitlins.

The food at 239 Soul is excellent. It is real, home-cooked soul food made by someone who has been cooking this for over 40 years with lots of love. Food like this seems to be getting harder to find, a slowly disappearing slice of Americana.

That’s that for another post on Forks.

239 Soul Food Mae’s Place

3802 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

Fort Myers, FL 33916

(239)362-2342

Open Wednesday-Saturday, 11AM to 7PM, Sunday 12-5PM; Major credit cards accepted (except Amex).

This article originally appeared here and was republished with permission.