Margaret’s Soul Food & Catering

Margaret’s is the best soul food in the NOVA area. This place was a blessing to find and she is always available and quick to prepare you a meal you won’t forget. She has everything! She is humble, a woman of God and will do anything to make sure you’re happy. God bless this restaurant.

Place is kind of a dive but the food is very delicious. Tried the Jerk chicken with Mac and Cheese. Very small establishment. One woman shop. Owner does the cooking and runs the cash register. She is very customer focused. Most of the food is in limited supply. I will be back.

Is this restaurant closed? Drove all the way from Columbia, MD only to find the door locked when they advertise being open until 6 on a Sunday.

We got here around 5pm on a Saturday, they were out catering and she answered when we could and said they would take care of us when they got back. That they did! The food was very fresh and tasty!
Loved the service and very friendly!
The place was small, but totally worth the drive!

I was in desperate need of a soul food fix. Did a Unilocal search and saw this spot. Decided to check it out. When I arrived, it definitely looked the part. A nondescript, whole in the wall, carryout. PLEASE do not let that color your opinion. One of the best food decisions I have ever made! I would describe the food as Southern Home Cooking. I had the pork chops, mac and cheese, and collards. The food was AWESOME! I will definitely go back and try other items on the menu. So if you are desperately in need of a Soul food fix, this is the spot!

I tried. Of the entire menu they featured all they had ready (mid-​day mind you) was fried chicken and fish.
Disappointed as the reviews spoke favorably. Suggesting I come back doesn’t help me nor help their business.
Annoyed because:
I was hungry
I specifically wanted turkey wings
I went out of my way to come here
Maybe one day if I’m in area I’ll give it another try.

Went there for the first time today, and I’ll be back weekly if I can!
First, it is take out only and worth the trip. Second, the full menu is rarely available so either call ahead or don’t come with your heart set on one particular item. The food is amazing, trust the chef and try it all!
We had the Jerk Chicken, pulled pork, mac, greens, and potato salad. Everything was perfect and the portions are quite large.
I highly recommend the potato salad and greens, the best I have ever had!

Had the best fried chicken at this place tonight! Crust was crispy and not overdone. I’m a huge soul food fan having lived in Louisville and being from Nashville. The collard greens were just perfect with a nice big piece of ham in them — a meal all their own and the mac and cheese is not to be missed! Totally homemade and delicious! Can wait to try the other items!

Been a few times but my favorite is jerk chicken with Mac and cheese with collared greens. So delicious, call first but so worth it.

Great soul food place. Food was delicious. I had the jerk chicken meal. You can’t go wrong here.

Amazing! I got the beef brisket with collared greens and my friend got the jerk chicken with Mac &cheese and baked beans. Of course we tried each others and everything was soooo good!
I’m a bit of a snob when it comes to my collar greens but these were made to perfection! The beans were sweet and the Mac&cheese had a good texture. I would recommend the beef brisket, only cause I preferred that from the choices I tried. Next time I am excited to try the fried chicken and a pie!
Not only was the food great; the staff was lovely. They took care of us with nice amount of portions, I really felt right at home with the business! Give it a chance, I guarantee you will come back for more!

This place is amazing. The food is great. The service is great. The owner told me she will be taking credit/​debit next week. Plus she had a food truck starting this week also. My ribs were tinder tasted so good. The mac n cheese was great. Delicious food. Very affordable. You can call to order in advance. they do catering also.

The staff was great and very friendly. I ordered the fried chicken with beans and potatoes salad. Portions were huge and the food was amazing. Definitely a must try!

I want to start off first by saying my gut instincts told me turn away. I ordered the fish sandwich and jerk chicken dinner. The fish was one fish cut up in three little pieces, on some cheap bread… Just salty and nasty. The jerk chicken was not jerked in fact it was just plain olé bake chicken. The collards had no flavor and guess what they do not make corn bread anymore. If you want some real soul food do not stop at this place, I think they just gave me some leftovers

This was my first time trying out this place and I must agree with everyone else that the customer service was very pleasant, however my meal, not so much. I ordered the fish dinner with potato salad and the collard greens. The fish was pretty good, I would have liked it to have a little more crispy, but it was fresh and hot. The greens were a bit too salty, and the potato salad was more like flavorless mashed potatoes with a hint of mustard. I may give this place one more try, but it will be a while before that happens. I hope that when you go, if you go, that the meal will be delicious

Came here cuz my boyfriend wanted to try the jerk chicken based off reviews he read here on Unilocal.We were confused because what we got was more of a stewed chicken rather than a roast chicken like the usual jerk chickens elsewhere and like the ones we see in the pictures here. Unfortunately since this place is carry out only we didn’t notice til we got home so we couldn’t ask the sweet lady if she gave us the right chicken meal.
Needless to say it was indeed a jerk flavor but the flavor wasn’t too great and my boyfriend did not enjoy it. We also wanted to try the mac n cheese but they were all out so got the potato salad instead which was good. The collard greens were a bit too salty. I give three stars and not two because we did though enjoy very much the fried fish sandwich, the fish quality was good and the batter tasty as well. Not sure if we’ll be back. The lady was very sweet though.

Customer service is great, remember to bring cash (no credit cards accepted).
The food itself is not good. I ended up throwing away the bbq ribs because it was so salty (also they don’t cook it with the sauce, you have to add it separately once it’s good, which ends up making it taste weird).
The mac and cheese was so salty and mushy that I couldn’t tell whether I was eating the cheese or eating the macaroni. I bought my food in the late afternoon, so that might have affected the quality that I got.

Great great spot. The owner is sweet, food is superb, and the mac n cheese was the best I’ve ever had. So glad I found it so I can support small business AND enjoy food with some inspiration.
If you enjoy cookie cutter chains; if 16 minute waits for freshly fried chicken scares you; if minor inconsistencies resulting from real food being hand prepared enrages you; if you get exasperated with lack of seating or working class customers coming in with hand tools (actual complaint, see review from Claire) then this place is not for you. Don’t bother, and more importantly don’t post a dumb review cutting down this sweet woman’s awesome restaurant. Go to PF Chang’s, you’ll be happier there.
For those of you who love character, authentic food made with love, come here. Yes, not everything runs 100% optimally all the time. Your fish order might be done sooner than your chicken order, making the temperature slightly off. Something on the menu might be sold out. Who cares?! It’s literally the owner and a helper running the whole place. The food is not just good, it is inspired. The seasoning, the crunch, the flavors, the owner who remembers you prefer dark meat. These places are becoming fewer and fewer. Seeing some of these lame entitled reviews makes me sad.

My sweetheart took me here. He said it was in Shirlington, which made me think of Guapo’s, and Busboys and Poets, this is NOT that Shirlington. This is a weird little spot in not the most scenic of neighborhoods. I LOVE soul food though and am a huge Oohs and Aahs fan, so I agreed that we should go.
He had been here before and had a great experience, he had fried catfish both times. I tried to be adventurous and ordered jerk chicken. They did not have gritz as they had listed on their website, but i settled for macaroni and cheese and green beans. He ordered double mac, which was ultimately a better choice.
His catfish was ready immediately, but she said she would have to make my jerk chicken fresh, which seemed awesome and fine by us. Unfortunately, she boxed up his meal immediately and it was cold by the time we took it home, there is no space to eat here. The catfish did taste great, but again, just weird timing. Why this review is only for 2 stars is because my chicken was not fully cooked, it was definitely still raw on the inside. I couldn’t let them know in person because at that point we were home and I was out of luck. I didn’t get sick and the first couple of bites were awesome, but the raw chicken was just too bad.
I’d consider going back, but I’d definitely order the fried catfish and would also come a little later into the lunch hour.
On a completely unrelated note, while we were waiting for our food, a man walked in with a handsaw and was eyeing us up. In retrospect, this was helarious, but at the time being I was a little freaked out. He had a handsaw in his hand and just set it down on the counter and sat down without ordering…

Wowee! We visited Margaret’s Soul Food & Catering yesterday afternoon and we absolutely LOVED it! It was a freezing cold day (less than 10 degrees) and there was tons of snow and ice on the roads, due to the recent snowstorm, but we decided to visit anyway to get some delicious soul food (which really hit the spot on a super cold day). My one qualm with the location is the very steep driveway and limited parking, but as a hole in the wall, I suppose that’s normal! We braved the steep incline of the driveway and parked right outside and went in to place our order. The place is TINY! It’s not even a restaurant — more like a carryout (and they also do catering, I hear). But despite appearances, I’m so glad we got carry-​out from here because the food was ambrosial.
We placed our orders with Ms. Margaret herself. She seemed like an absolute sweetheart and was nothing but politeness and kindness. She just exuded this sort of warmth that made you feel right at home. Oh, and fyi — she’s great about picking up her phone. I had previously called to confirm hours when she wasn’t even open and she picked up. She told us the food would be ready in 15 minutes. We were the only customers there and she cooked the food herself. We went and sat in our car and then came back in 15 minutes to get our food. Again, total hole in the wall, and I loved it!
I ordered the fried chicken with a side of mac n cheese and a side of potato salad. Note that they do run out of some of their food by the end of the day. They’re open until 7pm and we visited around 6pm. They were out of coleslaw, which was what I wanted, but they substituted in mac n cheese instead. My boyfriend ordered the brisket sandwich with a side of mac n cheese and a side of collard greens. He initially wanted BBQ beef, but they were completely out for the day. Again, I would recommend visiting early! All that food for under $ 20. They have an $ 8 special for an entrée and two sides. And it’s A LOT of food. Completely worth the price.
Our food was TASTY. I haven’t had fried chicken that good in a LONG time. It was perfectly breaded, perfectly juicy, and extremely fresh. Everything is made fresh for you. The sides were WONDERFUL! Just ambrosial. My boyfriend was equally impressed. Not the healthiest food, but it tasted home cooked and it didn’t leave us feeling gross and oily. It was truly satisfying.
Note — this place is CASH ONLY. I saw that on Unilocal and planned accordingly by visiting an ATM earlier in the day. TOTALLY WORTH IT.
Note that Ms. Margaret is planning to start a food truck business. I am so excited for that! I would love to stop by! I am a huge fan of food trucks, especially when they serve such amazing specialty food.
We would certainly LOVE to visit again! Snow or not, this place really hits the spot and is food that is truly good for your SOUL.