Felix’s BBQ With Soul

CLOSED! As of March 14, 2016, this location is now closed. The sign on the door states the lease has not been renewed. They do invite people to visit another location in Oceanside, at 3613 Ocean Ranch Blvd. The phone number is
760−439−7072. The letter on the door also states any reward cards that you have will be transferred and honored at the new location.

My wife and I decided to do breakfast this morning, and I heard about the great chicken and waffles here. So we got in before 9:00, and we both ordered the chicken & waffles. The waffles were large and cooked just crisp enough, and the chicken was terrific, with perfect seasoning. It was like home made breakfast, with coffee and orange juice. Way better than Roscoe’s, and much closer to home. Thank you Felix’s!

First, let me say the atmosphere was good… cute spot. But when it comes to the customer service it was very poor! The guy cleaning up the tables however was nice he spoke and made conversation. The waitress was was not good at all, she took forever to come take our order, then when another party sat down she took theirs first! When it did come down to us all ordering the person in my party who ordered last got her food first which was weird I ordered first and ordered a salad, yams and fried green tomatoes and was the last to get my meal. (Yams cold by the way)
The food came out cold (the gumbo) as if it sat on low all day wasn’t hot at all. 2 of my friends sent theirs back but they forgot to bring it back so we had to remind them. My friends also ordered peach cobbler how does that come out cold the peaches were cold as if they scooped them out of a container from the fridge… We sent that back and again they forgot to bring it back!
The waitress didn’t ask if we were ok, if we needed anything we seen her a total of 3 times and we sat for at least for at least 2 hours… She sucked!
The meat was good but they have to work on those sides. The mac and cheese taste weird, the greens taste too sweet, the yams not sweet enough! The fried green tomatoes I give those 5 stars those were good! The gumbo was good too just needed to be hot coming to the table. The chitlin’s were good but had no flavor at all no seasoning but u could tell they were cleaned well and not over cooked!
Would I go back? Maybe but I’m not in a rush!

My first experience with Felix BBQ the customer service was so awful I refuse to give them my service. The hostess was so rude. No one acknowledges or greeted me at all. After 7minutes I left very disgusted with their customer service. That was a year or two ago.
So 02÷26÷16 I decided to give them another shot because I was craving collard greens. This time the hostess greeted me as I walked in the door. Then I asked her for a TO-​GO Menu and a water cup. (It was very hot outside) And she replies «This time I will but normally we don’t give out water cups».
Now ANY restaurant I go to especially on HOT days give a curtesy water glass as you dine in or order TO-​GO. That rubbed me the wrong way especially since I’m spending money at this restaurant. But IT GETS WORST!
I go sit at bar and wait for 10minutes with no greeting from passing waiters (behind the bar) or even the bartender. I started to walk out as I did before But i drove all that way to this soul food place & I wasn’t leaving empty handed
Overall the food is overrated !! && the customer service is so bad. The waiters are rude. I refuse to eat here again and wouldn’t suggest that ANYONE does.

A close friend suggested that we venture to Felix for some good down home southern soul food. I was a bit skeptical since my background is Creole and I have yet to have any «amazing» soul food in SD. We opted to sit in the bar and were quickly greeted by the bartender asking us if we wanted drinks, also quickly served with friendly banter and smiles. We moved to a larger table at the bar, our waiter was also amazing… of course I forgot his name #fail, but I remembered I loved his hair cut and although he was wearing «uniform-​shish» colors he was impeccably dressed… red tie and all, EXTREMELY attentive which I loved, kept checking on us, and passing over fresh corn bread! YUM! We ordered the chicken and waffles, legs and thighs…(I am not a wing lover by any means), ribs with mac and cheese, and a side of yams… I am still dreaming of the first bites that I took of each item… we shared of course. The prices were very reasonable, the check was half of what I thought it would be after drinkings and making changes to our order. Felix… you would knock my grammy’s socks off with your food! *salivating*!!! Don’t be surprised if you see me here most Sundays for brunch and bottomless mimosas!

Many missteps for us. After being quickly seated (made reservation), waited 5 min. and waiter appeared, asking if we’d like to order drinks. We asked for water and then waited almost 10 min. (in a small rest.) for the water. In the meantime, other newly-​seated tables got their drinks quickly and were brought a bread basket with cornbread muffins, but not us. Finally flagged another waitress down and she brought us two delicious corn muffins. Still waiting, he finally reappeared and took our order but misunderstood what we had requested … we ended up with one dinner, not two. The 2^nd one was quickly (re)ordered when receiving the first (and only) plate and we had to wait 12 – 15 min. for it to appear. In the meantime, my brisket arrived (requested it to be «VERY MOIST») and it WAS moist — well 50% of it was — but cooler than room-​temperature. Not nice to eat almost-​cold meat. The moist pieces tasted good — the hard end-​pieces I got were dry and almost brittle. When I mentioned to a waitress that came by about the cool/​cold meat, she offered to «warm it up» (instead of offering to bring a fresh plate with properly-​heated meat) — which I knew meant it would then be totally over-​cooked and dry. She said, «No, they just grill it» to heat it up — EXACTLY what I knew she meant and confirmed to me they’d take that cold meat on my plate, stick it on the grill and it’d end up over-​cooked. I declined — nothing worse than overcooked brisket. Why they don’t keep the meat in a steamer, like good deli’s do, I don’t know. The accompanying mashed potatoes were clearly made with 2% milk, certainly some form of low-​fat milk — so it makes them thin-​tasting and weak. Why on earth would a restaurant DO that? This isn’t a health-​food store. The mac and cheese was «okay» but they use very large, thick, ribbed pasta tubes and it tasted «pasty» — just not *my* favorite.
The fried chicken, when it arrived, was VERY salty — and they clearly use small chickens as the pieces were of a 3 – 3.5# chicken in size. VERY little meat on the thigh, for instance.
The final (little) disappointment was when asking for a take-​home box, he brought two boxes with 2 small plastic containers for the leftover sides (that was nice!) but without the tops. He just wasn’t on the ball … and neither was the food, overall.

We came in for the barbecue but got hooked by the sides — try the candied yam and sweet potato fries, it compliments the meat (ribs, tri-​tips, and briskets) perfectly. The cornbread kept coming and were just perfect.
We were there on Friday and they had a live band indoors and a DJ in the back patio. Our server Deedee was spot on her quick service and made sure our bottomless drinks did not run dry.
Prices were reasonable and parking was easy.

First time here. Food and service were excellent. They even had live music. Perfect for Sunday. «Easy like Sunday morning». Good for the soul.
I had the fried chicken lunch and my date had the catfish. Both very good! Squeeze a little lemon on the catfish when you order. Yum!

ONE WORD: AMAZING!
We walked in and were immediately greeted by the hostess and a couple of servers. We got sat right away and got our drinks shortly after that. The staff is very friendly and never lets your table go without their AMAZING, WARM, FRESH cornbread with butter. I ordered the Shrimp & Catfish combo with Mac & Cheese and Red beans with rice. Seriously some of the best food I’ve ever had! The Mac & Cheese melts in your mouth and the breading on my shrimp and catfish were perfectly seasoned. The best part — their homemade hot sauce!!! I wanted to take three bottles home with me. It’s a perfect blend of sweet with just a tad of heat. It compliments the food so well without overpowering it.
All in all, service and food was top of the line! I will definitely be back with every one of my friends!
Prices were a little up there but it was definitely worth it + they serve pretty big portions (even for the single/​small items)!

Well I was in San Diego for work and a couple of my friends brought me here. At first I thought the place was nice and staff were friendly. Once we were seated it took forever for someone to take our drink orders and it wasn’t even our server who took that. And then it took another 10 – 15 minutes for someone to take our actual order, which again was not our server.
The food arrives.
One of my friends ordered the fried chicken, collards, and mashed potatoes. but I remember that the fried chicken was cooked in old grease and looked old. He was given potato salad instead of mashed potatoes. Towards the end of our meal one waitress walks over and says «eww why’d they give you that?» And proceeds to tell us she’ll bring out fresh chicken. It arrived at the very end of the meal.
My other friend ordered fish, cabbage, and one other side. Well what she ordered wasn’t cabbage. The waitress insisted that it was. It wasn’t. Nothing else happened with her order.
I ordered pulled chicken, collards, and mac n cheese. I ended up getting pork and not chicken. The waitress insisted that is was chicken. She took it to the back and came back to apologize and told me that it was indeed pork after asking the chef. The mac n cheese was too greasy to eat. The collards were good though.
I would’ve given one star but I gave two because they helped accommodate my friend’s wheelchair, and they had a gentleman playing the guitar which I really enjoyed!

I found Felix’s on Unilocal and being from the South, I had to try their food on New Year’s Day. In the South, it is a tradition to have black eyed peas for good luck and greens for money in the New Year. When I walked in Felix’s I had flash backs to being in New Orleans. Nice mural over the kitchen, busy waiters and waitresses running around, and the delicious smells coming from the kichen.
I ordered the fried green tomatoe’s for an appetizer. They took quite awhile to arrive but they were delicious. The pulled pork was tasty with a smoky BBQ flavor. My wife ordered the fried catfish and shrimp platter. The catfish was perfect and the jumbo shrimp were awesome. I plan on coming back here Sunday for brunch and live music.

I’ve had better Soul food. I ordered the Claras beef brisket plate. And it consisted of beef brisket shaved into thin slices, and 2 sides choices, which I chose candied yams and Mac and cheese. The beef brisket was a kind of dry and contained lots of fat pieces. I did not like the mac and cheese at all. The cheese wasn’t baked well and the cheese was very gritty. like they put parmesan cheese it in or something. The candied yams were about the only thing I would come back for. Maybe I’ll give it another go with a different dish.

Came in on a Sunday afternoon and just missed the All You Can Eat Buffet :(. Opted for the lunch special for $ 11 which was more food than expected (got the ribs). Had a 10% coupon
From Unilocal but he informed me that it was only valid from on Mondays but
Still honored it which is always good when balling on a budget.

why hello Cedric? what… there’s muscles on the menu. Well I think I will order that with a side of dimples.
I love soul food and finding new places that serve it is grand. And the fact it a hop-​skip-​jump away from my work… even better.
I came here with my co-​workers who visit the place often and the said «go for the catfish!» I had my hesitations because I’m not a big catfish fan and very picky on how my fish is fried.
They have a great lunch menu that includes two sides (if you change the sides you will be charged a little extra, but its worth it.) OR you can just go for one of their signature menu items. Just reading it all, it was so hard to choose!!!
I ended up with the lunch special of rib tips with a side of greens and yams. Oh LAWD! This was a dinner plate when it came out. Oh, I forgot to add their cornbread that they provide in the beginning. So soft, so moist and tasty. Who needs butter? not this cornbread… but who still but it on… dis girl.
The rib meat was soft and tender and nicely spiced. The right amount of meat and fat on the ribs. They also give a good portion of them too. The yams were not to sweet or syrupy but they were a bit on the soft and mushy side for me. I could’ve just made them mashed yams. The greens… oh those greens were great. Soft, savory and the right amount of salt.
I did try my coworkers catfish… DAYMN! I am getting that next time. Perfectly crispy on the outside and soft, flaky and oh so good in the inside.
To our surprise, we got a peach cobbler on the house! The minute that cobbler landed on our table, we all stopped, pushed our food aside and dug right in. We needed room for dessert! Vanilla bean ice cream on top of a beautifully crusted pie and the soft, buttery texture of those peachies… give me another spoon so I can double fist this mother… uh. this delicious pie.

I have passed this restaurant many times and it always seems very busy with people coming and going. Today my husband took the family here for dinner to celebrate my birthday. We were greeted and seated promptly from a friendly hostess. The restaurant was clean and there were several customers dinning.
Tyler or waitress was prompt helpful and very pleasant. She took our drink orders and a few seconds later returned to take our meal order. I ordered the Catfish and Fried Shrimp Combo with Coleslaw and Steamed Vegetables unfortunately I didn’t get a picture because I began eating immediately and forgot to take pictures. My husband ordered the same but with Hush Puppies and Fries as his sides. My stepson ordered the Gumbo with a side of Yams and my stepdaughter ordered a Chicken Salad. From the look of the empty dinner plates I would say we enjoyed our meals.
The Catfish was flaky inside and crunchy on the outside. The steamed vegetables were tasty but needed a bit more seasoning. The fried shrimp were delicious. Seasoned perfectly, crunchy and large not like some restaurant that service smaller fried shrimp. Up to this point I would rate this restaurant a strong 4 star.
Shortly after we had begun to eat out meals someone (I learned later he was the band leader) opened the exit door near our table and began loading band equipment into the restaurant. This was very disturbing. It was noisy and awkward having to adjust out seating to make room for him. Apparently, they have a live band playing on Saturday evenings. This unfortunately spoiled a dinner that was going very well. It seems to me either the band should have already been set up before hand or that they do not seat customers near their performance space.

The food… absolutely, 5 stars.
My bf and I are both born and raised in the south (GA & AL) so we know, and are picky about our southern food. This is LEGIT. Authentic, real fried goodness.
–Fried green tomatoes… wow. the batter is super authentic, the tomatoes were big and fresh and fried just perfectly. I didn’t love the sauce on the side of the dish, but it doesn’t need it. And if you want to be really southern, ask for a side of ranch and dip away.
–fried catfish… one of my favorite foods and this was delicious. A giant, thick filet fried in the right amount of delicious batter.
I got fried okra and black Eyed Peas as my sides. …the fried okra is, besides my moms, the best I’ve ever had. It was perfect. The black Eyed Peas, are good too.
My bf got fried chicken, I’m not a huge fan of that but he said it was really good. The only thing was it came out less than room temp, I would have said something, but he doesn’t like to…
He recommends it and really enjoyed it. The mac and chz is really good but a tad oily. The mashed potatoes are alright… and the beans and rice are amazing. I’d get those again, I kept eating them off his plate.
Get the sweet potato cheesecake! — – amazing — –
We got two to go and enjoyed every bite on our couch.
The sweet tea is authentic, tastes just like it does in the south. I was really impressed!
I felt like this meal was right out of GA.
Now…what is 1 –2 stars… that place needs to remodel and fix a lot. The booths have giant rips in them that actually hurt my hand when I tried to slide in the booth. It’s really gross. And the floors/​tables are dirty.
The prices are way to high for the atmosphere. I don’t want a 60 $ check sitting on ripped booths looking at dirty floors ya know? If they fixed that they’d have one of the best restaurants in S.D.
The service was great too, we had two people I think the bartender first and then a waitress, both very nice, accommodating and came to our table at all the right times.
Well definitely eat here again but I’d sit at a table and to avoid the old ripped booths.
Come here with a big appetite and some $ to spend!

Taking a star away because we waited FOREVER to get seated and have our order taken. BUT. MARQUISHA’s amazing customer service made it up for sure!!!
We got chicken and waffles, Clara’s bbq beef, and 4 sides which was Yams, Greens, beans, and Mac n cheese…
Let me tell you… Amazing food! My brisket was SO TENDER! Amazingly soft and yummy!!! I fell in love at first bite. The chicken was yummy as well! Seasoned and fried perfectly. The waffles were super fluffy! My daughter loved the waffles and chicken! She ate a whole wing by her self and half a waffle!
I love all of the side orders I got. The greens are amazing and I love how the beans and rice is well seasoned! And the YAMS. So yummy you can taste all the flavors.
MARQUISHA was our server and she’s just super sweet and amazing. A genuine person indeed! You go girl!
Will I come back… YES! Hopefully next time I don’t have to wait over 20 – 30 min (:

This is by far the closest thing to Memphis cooking that I have seen outside of Tennessee! This place absolutely rocks! When I lived in Tennessee a few years ago, I had the opportunity to try some soul food for the very first time. After moving back to CA, I was never able to find a place that carried fried catfish or fried okra. This place has them both and more! I can overlook the fact that they were out of ribs that night. The fried catfish and the large portions more than made up for it! The customer service was great also. The manager made sure to greet people on the way in and on the way out. The music was also a nice touch. And on game day, they have a bar with TVs to keep you entertained.
My wife and I can’t wait to go back to hopefully try the ribs. Keep up the great work! Thanks for the southern hospitality when my wife and I were there.

I have been working less than a block from Felix’s for the past two years and just last weekend went there for the first time! We went on a Thursday for happy hour with a crowd of about 12 coworkers and sat in the large booths in the bar area. I was both amazed and surprised by how nice the atmosphere was and how warm and friendly the service was! In an area that is filled with fast food joints and discount grocery stores, it is nice to have a comfortable, nicely decorated restaurant and bar.
In the bar area, I like how the booths were «mobile» so we could move them to fit a large crowd. Beer, wine and well alcohol were the $ 5 happy hour specials. I wanted red wine, and the bartender was great. He brought out a few different varieties so I could pick my favorite. They also had a small, discounted happy hour menu food menu. I was on a heath kick at the time of the happy hour, so I wasn’t able to taste all the food. The menu has a large variety of southern soul food, much of it fried. The did bring out warm cornbread biscuits for free which were very good. I also had a bite of the fried macaroni ball. The coworkers and I lingered through the evening, and some of us stayed late. The bartender was really attentive, stopping by to see if we needed anything, and even topping off my wine periodically.
Even though I wasn’t able to try all the food, I really enjoyed my visit to Felix’s.

Felix is always nice. They have a fancy atmosphere which always catches me off guard when i think of the typical BBQ establishment. Their chicken and waffles are amazing and their corn bread is delicious. The waiters are alright not always on top of the people who are waiting to be seated but the food makes up for that. Their pulled pork is great and their mac and cheese is literally the only mac and cheese i like.
Be sure to check this place out if you’ve tried Phil’s, and like me you weren’t impressed.