Betty's Soul Food (Breakfast)

Having been in Broward County for only a few months, I've found there to be a lot of differences from Dade County in the gastronomic landscape.  One thing I've noticed that is perhaps lacking in Dade, but in full abundance in Broward, is the presence of places serving good - if not phenomenal - American breakfasts.  John and I wanted to go out for a good last breakfast of 2011.  Our first choice was Old Fort Lauderdale Breakfast House, which serves a fantastic American breakfast with top-notch products and is almost as good as the breakfast served at Roxbury Tavern in Sauk City, Wisconsin.  Of course, it being South Florida, quality usually goes hand-in-hand with a heftier price tag and heftier hype, which is why the only time we've successfully had breakfast at the O-B House was on a Monday at around 7:30 AM.  The combination of this restaurant having a small seating capacity, making everything to order, and having a substantial local following makes it difficult to to get a table on most weekends without waiting a minimum of 20 minutes outside in the South Florida sun.  This particular Saturday morning, we had the added obstacle of the street being blocked off for the Downtown Fort Lauderdale New Year's Eve celebrations, which was the deciding factor for us to change our breakfast plans.

The first thing that came to John's brilliant mind was Betty's, a soul food restaurant located on Sistrunk, which is the main thoroughfare of Fort Lauderdale's historically African-American (or Black, if you prefer) neighborhood.  John had seen it from the Tri Rail for over a year now, I've read about it in the Sun Sentinel, a coworker always raves about it, and a new friend at a party couldn't speak more highly of it.  Besides having a reputation for incredible soul food standards, the place is a culinary landmark for a community that arguably knows a lot about great food.  A drive along the newly-renovated Sistrunk (which is quaint and full of character) just past I-95 will lead you to Betty's Soul Food just on your right.  The facade looks like something straight out of the Deep South, which before the throngs of Latin American immigrants and Anglo snowbirds, was what a lot of South Florida looked like.  I loved it at first sight!

The inside of the restaurant is not big, but definitely not claustrophobic.  There is a counter, like any good diner should have, as well as an array of booths and tables.  The owners are very much Afrocentric and take Black pride very seriously, as witnessed in posters of Martin Luther King Jr, President Barack Obama, and a portrait of The Last Supper with important Black ideological figures (Marcus Garvey, Haile Selassie, Elijah Mohammed, Bob Marley, Frederick Douglas, Malcolm X, and others), which is where we chose to sit under.  The dining room was alive with patrons enjoying breakfast and a good mix of funk classics, Motown hits, and R&B singles.  I started with a cup of regular black coffee, and John had a glass of sweet tea, which had the requisite intense sweetness and almost syrup-like consistency.  If you've never had experience with soul food, this is definitely not a calorie-conscious cuisine, but definitely a flavor-conscious cuisine, and intense sweetness in drinks and desserts is very characteristic.  That being said, the uninitiated might feel as if they might go into diabetic shock while sipping on Betty's sweet tea, but the soul food connoisseur will have a satisfied smile knowing that he/she has got the good stuff.

As for our breakfasts, John ordered the chicken and waffle, and I had the salmon croquettes.  John's breakfast, which came out to just under $8, consisted of a freshly-made, thick and very fluffy round waffle served with two medium-sized pieces of dark meat fried chicken.  I don't get too crazy about waffles, unless they're  Liege waffles, but these were good and offered everything that you'd want from a waffle.  The fried chicken was moist and had an addictive well-seasoned and crunchy crust, although one piece was no more than a glorified chicken wing and didn't offer too much meat.  Regardless, the seasoning and crust more than made up for it in my view.  I'm guessing that if you would like a meatier piece, you can ask for a breast or a drumstick or whatever piece you prefer.  

My salmon croquettes (just under $9), which came highly recommended by my coworker, were fantastically crispy on the outside, just moist enough on the inside, and had an irresistible savoriness to them that was only improved by a few dashes from the huge bottle of Crystal hot sauce present at every table.  My over easy eggs were perfectly fried with golden brown crispiness around the edges and runny yolks that melted onto the plate with the lightest touch of my fork.  While many people find grits to be too plain (and perhaps gloppy) to decipher the good from the bad, Betty's grits are noticeably superior to most that I've tried.  The star of the breakfast spread, however, were the homemade biscuits, which were so buttery and flavorful that they required nothing at all.  The copious amount of butter in them, while keeping them moist on the inside, can turn them quickly soggy on the bottoms if not eaten quickly enough, but the flavor is so good that it would be foolish to nitpick at such a small detail.  

A full (and filling) breakfast for two came out to $20 and came complete with the heady feeling that well-made soul food can give you.  Upon perusing the menu, we found several lunch and dinner options that would definitely draw us back to Betty's, such as fried chicken, ribs (they have their own rib truck parked out front), oxtails, pig's feet, ham hocks, fried fish, souse, and many other classics.  Of course, all the dishes come served with typical sides such as collard greens, macaroni and cheese, okra, and others. Daily specials include neck bones, hog maws, and chitterlings.  And this doesn't include all the different specials tacked onto the walls.  Betty's Soul Food DEFINITELY warrants another visit...and maybe another after that....and then another, and another, and another.  If the quality and service stay the same, this might make my list of regular spots and give one more reason to be happy to live in Broward County.

Betty's Soul Food

601 Northwest 22nd Road, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33311-7756

(954) 583-9121 ‎