Alfreda’s Cafeteria

First off… The quality of food is not worth the price. If you are starving and just really craving soul food then yes go there. But I’m not even the best cook in the world and I could make better soul food then this! This is the first time I’ve ever gotten soul food and didn’t eat my whole plate! Try this is it or mamas oven or mickeys soul food!

Never going back here. I saw that the parking lot was packed. I was hungry so I stopped. The family in front of me ordered 4 orders of chitlins. I love some chitlins so I ordered them as well with cabbage, mashed potatoes and green beans. Also, I ordered the peach cobbler and a slice of red velvet cake. The food was nasty. The chitlins were gummy and bland. The sides were not seasoned at all. The desserts were just okay. The food was a –100. The only reason I’m giving this establishment any stars is because the staff behind the counter was beyond awesome. They were friendly and very knowledgable about the food.

I use to drive 30 minutes away in high school to come get a plate for me and my mom. I came here recently and almost BARFED, cold unseasoned food. I dont know what happened.

I’ve been coming here off and on many years when time isn’t an issue. The food is good and people are friendly. My only complaint would be the slow service. I can call in a breakfast order 10 minutes early and still wait 10 to 15 minutes after I get there. They see you sitting there and know you haven’t come through the service line but refuse to acknowledge you. You have to acknowledge them. I would easily give another star if they could pretend the customer comes first.

I really enjoy their breakfast!!! Service is great.

This review is for their breakfast only.
When I’m in a rush and craving some good old fashioned hearty breakfast, I stop through here.
They have a ready-​to-​serve/​go breakfast buffet full of eggs (egg whites upon request), grits, meats, biscuits, etc. I’ve had their regular breakfast and their pancake breakfast and both were amaze-​balls. Their pancakes come super close to my Cracker Barrel pancake obsession so they’re a winner in my book. They also make fresh veggie and meat omelettes too! All their breakfast options range from 7 – 9 bucks. If you have the time, stop by and check them out!

Heard so much about Alfred’s. Once I went I find I have nothing good to say. The pork chops are greasy and salty. The rice tasted burnt, the mashed potatoes taste old and partially like instant. The carrot cake was not good either. Silverware was dirty as were the tables. The wait was ridiculous as well! With all of the clientele that visit why not put money back into the place and upgrade?

I’ll be honest, I’m not that into soul food. I however love catfish, collard greens, cornbread and cabbage. I ordered the catfish, Mac and cheese, and of course the cabbage. The Mac and cheese was great and the cabbage was ok; However, the catfish was not as appetizing. The catfish tasted as if it was made with ready made catfish seasoning. Also I may be a little biased but the catfish that I’m used to have has a grittier cornmeal, so that may have very well played into it being appetizing for me. So all in all, it was not a home run for me.

We were recommended to this place by someone, and were told the food was really good, so I guess we sort of had high expectations when we arrived. I was told they served the best breakfast, old-​fashioned biscuits, and good home cooking style food.
Well, that’s true, if you buy processed cheese, burn your biscuits, and don’t clean your table at home.
The tables were filthy when we came in. I mean, food, greasy feeling, pepper and salt spilled on them and not wiped down. Some of them had plates and dishes on them that hadn’t been picked up yet. Plus, the tables are so close together that fitting my wheelchair down the aisles to get to any tables from the only door that has a ramp was really difficult.
The omelet I ate was good, but it wasn’t spectacular. The biscuit was okay, but it was too done and wasn’t awesome like I was told. The fresh block of butter left out for anyone to take some off of left me a little concerned. The coffee was not good.
The prices are a bit high for the quality of the food.
We had to wait for our omelets because they make those in the back, and they were hot, fresh and good looking omelets, but when they yelled to us over the counter asking if we wanted cheese, in front of the whole restaurant (and there were a lot of people in there), they then brought the omelets with cheese, and it was fake processed cheese, and it was freezing cold, not melted on the omelet at all. And when the women served it over my head, she spilled cheese and sauce all over my shirt and didn’t even apologize. In fact, everyone in there seemed just a little rude.
Now that said, the smothered pork chops that I heard were amazing, I saw them on another diner’s plate, and they did look really good. I also noted a lot of people had ordered the pork chops, so there’s the possibility that these pork chops are a best-​kept secret that I missed.
The thing is, when there are so many places to choose from in Houston to have breakfast or lunch, for the price and the lack of cleanliness of this place, it’s probably better off to try somewhere else. If you’re in a wheelchair, I highly recommend choosing somewhere else.

Lord have mercy on me!!! This place is sooooo good! It’s a small restaurant, not much room to park however, the food is what we really came here for! I ordered turkey legs, rice/​gravy, mac n cheese and mashed potatoes! The meat was super, duper tender! Perfect flavor! Large portions, and reasonably priced!
My husband ordered smothered steaks, cornbread dressing, sweet potatoes, and okra! Steak was tender and finger licking good!
Desert: sweet potato pie, butter pecan flavored cake, lemon cake, and banana pudding.
Sweet potato pie: Above average, it was good however, don’t expect it to taste like your momma or grandmother’s pie. however, it’s still a good pie!
Butter pecan flavored cake: delicious! Creamy icing, moist, and oh soo good!
Lemon cake: not a Frenchys type lemon cake, but it’s good.
Banana puddn: lots of cookies and bananas. I loved it, my husband however I thought it was average.
Overall, the food was good, and we will definitely put this restaurant on our «after church» rotation list! Way to go alfreda!

Gross. This is it less than a mile away is way better. Cornbread tasted like I was eating air. The stuffing was okay. The mac and cheese and cobbler was not good. I couldn’t even finish it. Disappointing.

Not sure what happened to the food but I surely didn’t taste the soul. I kinda knew this from my last visit but wanna to try again. I think this was my last visit. All the best.

This place is amazing!!! I have been eating there at least once a week and sometimes twice a week. So delicious! Portions are huge! Service is always nice ! I have been wanting to come there for breakfast but still haven’t made it. Their breakfast menu is literally screaming for good !!! If you have never been here, you should consider to try it ! Be careful! It will get you addicted !

Alfreda’s used to be a lot better but under new management the food has gone downhill. The ox tail was mostly bone and fat with a bite of meat. The okra had a tough skin and was stringy. This used to be the closest good soul food restaurant to my work but I do not think I will be coming back here again.

I have had better. One this place needs a restaurant makeover everything in this area is being revamped but this place. The ladies serving are nice but slow. When fresh out of the kitchen the oxtails smothered chops and baked chicken are good but the sides leave much to be desired. I must have come on a good day because the peach cobbler was great and they serve Kool aid! Not a place I would frequent on the regular but if I am starving and nothing else is open I’m there

Considering I came here for breakfast, I arrived with an open mind and low expectations and I left unchanged. What can I say, breakfast is breakfast. You gotta really go out of your way to mess up breakfast and I didn’t experience that here.
I was met by a super friendly hostess that prepared my meal with love and it was delicious. It has the appearance of a facility that never rennovated since it’s grand opening in the 80’s but as long as the food is good I will continue to support the black owned businesses.

This place is a hidden gem. Came here on my lunch break and wasnt too busy at all. I had the oxtails over rice with mashed potatoes and okra. Oxtails were perfect. Rice was cooked perfect. Not too soft. Not too hard. Way better than my mom’s. The sides were awesome. Nothing fancy about how they cooked it or present their food but hands down the best i’ve eaten so far. In Houston, its hard to find good oxtails.
Staff was great. Acknowledged me when i walked in, very nice in the line and made sure to greet me as i left. Very personable there.
Definitely going to go back and try the rest of the entrees.

The food is so so good. Everything I have gotten there has been good, one time I went to was just ok but it might have been because they were super busy. The service is not great. They take a while and sometimes not so friendly. I always took it to go so it wasn’t a big deal. The location of course is not ideal, very sketchy. But again, if you can take it to go then no problem.

I enjoy eating at soul food restaurants but don’t get the opportunity to do so as often as I would like. One of the reasons is that there aren’t a lot of them around in the Houston area as opposed to other food type restaurants (Mexican, Italian, Seafood, BBQ, etc.) and the ones that I have been to I haven’t liked that much for various reasons. Well I think I have found one of my favorite soul food restaurants in town and it is here.
While I have only had one visit it was a very good one. Yesterday while in the Museum District I took the short drive over to Alameda to eat there. Going through the cafeteria line I decided to try the smothered steak with rice and gravy along with black eye peas and green beans along with some cornbread. Man was it good… the meat was flavorful and juicy. I really liked the steak gravy on the rice. The beans and peas were very good too. Finally the big piece of cornbread was moist and good. My bill with tax was about $ 11 and it was well worth it.
I will return when I am in the area.

Most soul food grosses me out, frankly. It’s all too heavy and too salty and too greasy… or so I thought. Until I visited Alfreda’s.
Oxtails are still too greasy for my palette, but that smothered turkey is life changing. She gave me a turkey leg AND a wing! Not only was it the moistest turkey I’ve ever eaten in my life, (duh, it’s covered in sauce) but it was falling off the bones. I have never had turkey fall off the bone, bravo to you, ma’am.
For my sides, I had sweet potatoes and macaroni and cheese, the sweet potatoes being the best of the 2. The macaroni was runny as opposed to ooey-​gooey-​cheesy. The cornbread was great for soaking up sauces and not overly sweet. Speaking of overly sweet, the sweet tea is not tea at all: It is sugar water. I love some saweeeeeet tea, but this was just straight sugar. I couldn’t drink it.
I tried a friend’s banana pudding and wasn’t impressed — there were no real chunks of banana and it tasted like a box mixture to me.
The portions are absolutely enormous. My lunch (2 huge pieces of smothered turkey, mac-​n-​cheese, sweet potatoes, 2 cornbread muffins and a drink) was about $ 8 and I took half home with me for dinner.
The interior is a little dingy, but it’s ok, because the ladies call you ‘honey’ and ‘baby’ and serve you things to warm your soul. This is truly food where you can taste the love.