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Dining: Maxine's Soul Kitchen

Maxine seasons her modest kitchen with soul

By Dale Rice
American-Statesman Restaurant Critic
Web posted: Oct. 19, 2005


Nothing too fancy on the outside, left, but the home-cooked fare inside Maxine's Soul Kitchen — including the smothered chicken with sweet peas and smothered potatoes, below — is rich in flavor.


Photos by Ricardo B. Brazziell/AA-S Maxine and LaVern Carlock's restaurant has just five tables and a specials menu that changes daily.

At Maxine's Soul Kitchen, it's tough — maybe impossible — to get owners Maxine and LaVern Carlock to praise their work.

Ask if something's good, and you're likely to get a nod at best. Press the issue, and the response will be something such as Maxine's recent reaction: "I don't know; I made it."

Well, I know, and I have no hesitation in saying that Maxine's Soul Kitchen fills the plate with home-style, Southern cooking brimming with flavor.

This must be one of the smallest, most unassuming restaurants in Austin. Five tables crowd into the single dining room, where an erasable white board proclaims the day's lunch specials — usually four main items and several vegetables

For the smothered pork steak ($7.50), the Carlocks delivered a tender piece of meat covered with tasty brown gravy. Crisp, well-seasoned skin covered the baked chicken ($7.50), while the meat underneath was nicely moist. The beef tips ($7.50) were fall-apart morsels in a rich, dark gravy over rice.

The sides reflected traditional Southern cooking: plenty of bacon or bacon grease to add flavor to the well-cooked vegetables, such as cabbage, black-eyed peas and collard greens. The cabbage, with a good dose of vinegar in the cooking, was my favorite.

The lunches include two generously proportioned sides, a lemony sweetened iced tea and dinner rolls or cornbread. That's a bargain in my book.

To finish on a sweet note, the Carlocks offer an enticing peach cobbler and sweet potato pie ($1.50 for either).

Although they might not say so, both are delicious, two more good reasons for eating at Maxine's.

Maxine's Soul Kitchen.
2931 E. 12th St., 220-3650.
Rating: Forks up. Price: Cheap.

drice@statesman.com; 445-3859