Papa's Soul Food Kitchen BBQ

I have never eaten anything here that I didn't love. I usually get the jerk chicken sandwich, hot link plate, or the friend catfish. They're probably not the healthiest things, but oh so delicious. My friends from the South love the place, so it seems pretty authentic Southern (but not Cajun).

The place can get busy and they don't have a whole lot of seating; also, their hours are weird. I'd call ahead and ask when their slow-times are.

Maybe I am spoiled from having a spouse raised in Alabama, so there's been some time spent in the South, and I've had Southern hushpuppies (I think Papa's are bought frozen) and BBQ -- not just grilled meat with sauce slathered on -- and really good fried catfish, caught by Uncles and fried by my mother-in-law; and potato salad that will make you change your political party affiliation. The only thing that seemed to fit the bill was the red kool-aid, which was super red and syrupy sweet.

Oh well, we made a special trip to Eugene for Papa's, based on a co-workers recommendation. I guess I should have been wary when the young man manning the desk at the hotel (he was from Atlanta) gave a lukewarm recommendation -- after which we discussed Oregon "BBQ" -- does anyone know a good one?

We found Papa’s, that was the easy part. The atmosphere was relaxed, the young staff fantastic, but the food was mediocre. Price was good and we left with our hunger satisfied but not our palates.

If you've never had soul food, go, the music is good and the portions are generous. But if you want flavor, zing or something special, pass.

We had BBQ chicken (dry with sauce), fried catfish (too small chunks so mostly batter) and jerk chicken (dry with a different sauce). The sides were red beans and rice(boxed?), baked beans (flavorless), mac & cheese (bland and gooey), potato salad (not homemade) and french fries (hard to mess up). We also had fried okra (adequate, for okra) and hushpuppies (discussed above) to start.

Suffice to say, we won't recommend. A shame too.

Ohhhh the food is soooooo Good! The menue is a hoot. Stop in and take a look for yourself!