The Place
This week I am reviewing Soul Secrets. I discovered this spot after a Google search of brunch places in OTR. According to their website, they offer brunch every Saturday. The brunch menu is small. One lesson I have learned is that sometimes the smaller the menu the higher quality the menu items. Their website is very polished and well organized with great food photography of menu items. When you enter the website to Soul Secrets you are greeted by a pop-up window of "Friendly Reminders" such as guidelines on gratuity, reservations, service fees etc. and a reminder that they stop seating an hour before close. I made plans to visit that morning with one of my best friends. No reservation needed this morning, seating for parties of 2-4 is first come first served so we made plans to get there at 11. Side note, parties of 5-10 require a reservation for their back room via Yelp, no phone reservations, and 20% gratuity added. This info came from "Friendly Reminders" btw. I must admit, it felt a bit like you were being welcomed by a list of rules.
Location & Parking
Soul Secrets is located on the corner of Vine and East 15th Street. It is right across the street from my OTR favorite Sacred Beast. This was a typical busy Saturday downtown and I was again succumbed to convenience and parked in the pay lot next to the restaurant. We had plans to walk around OTR afterwards, I ended up paying $8.50 for three hours. There is also meter parking, garage parking, and an additional further south on Vine.
Atmosphere
Souls Secrets is in a classic OTR style old brick building and has a pristine windowed storefront with a beautiful sign hanging above the door. The inside of the restaurant is clean, sleek, and has great style. The ceiling has a lovely black and white mural which runs off onto the back wall. Custom portraits, and light fixtures line the wall of the dining room above the luxe booth seating. Seating options include booth/table seating, table seating, and bar. I also enjoyed the throw back late 90's R&B they had playing throughout the restaurant. We were the first customers there and seated right by the front window, which was nice. Once seated, they provided us with menus. The first thing I noticed was the lack or absence of brunch. I asked our server if they had a brunch menu and his reply included something along the lines of whoever was in the kitchen cooking this particular day decided they were not going to make brunch, interesting. I went ahead and ordered the Strawberry
Mimosa, while I glanced at the menu in hopes of finding a brunch-style item. Lucky for me an instant classic stood out, Chicken & Waffles. Our server was friendly, but forgetful. When he brought out my mimosa, which was delicious, he forgot to bring out my friends iced tea and later forgot to bring out her main course. Another event that was a little off putting is that a group of people walked in and I guess there was more than four. Before they could get a hello out of their mouths, they were met with a debriefing of the "Friendly Reminders" regarding groups of five or more. This was funny because besides us and another couple, the restaurant was empty. What was even funnier is the group of people didn't even know each other they just happened to walk in at once. Two of the people wanted carry out (I kept my fingers crossed they actually met the criteria for carry-out; see Soul Secrets "Friendly Reminders" for carry-out guidelines) and the other three or four wanted to be seated for lunch.
Order-Up
Chicken & Waffles
My friend and I both placed an order for the Chicken & Waffles. I ordered the white meat and she ordered the dark meat. I must say the food here is amazing! You can tell the fried chicken was soaked in buttermilk because it was super juicy and flavorful. The chicken had a deliciously crispy seasoned skin. The waffle was nice and fluffy and each bite of chicken complimented each bite of waffle. The food is served on a metal tray with paper so when you cut into your food you began to cut into the paper. Would be better served on a platter.
Collard Greens & French Fries
For side dishes I ordered the French Fries and my friend ordered the Collard Greens. Fries were great crispy and were seasoned with ground salt and pepper. The greens were tender with a great authentic southern flavor. Both complimented the meal very well.
Overall Experience
There were definitely some negatives that effected the overall experience: forgetfulness of the server, no brunch menu when brunch is advertised on their website, and greeting customers with rules for apparently no reason. Positives included the décor, cocktail, and the awesome cuisine. Also they are very generous with the portions, which was a great value. You can expect to spend between 20 to 30 dollars here.
Rating ⭐⭐⭐
Soul Secrets receives a full star for Atmosphere, Brunch Cocktail, Plate. They do not get a star for service because we had to remind the server to bring out my friends beverage and then her main course, came there specifically because they advertised brunch and there was none, and having to listen to customers get lectured about the "Friendly Reminders" when they walked in the door. The food was so phenomenal that I would give this place a second chance but would not have my heart set on seeing a brunch menu.
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