Felix's BBQ With Soul

I ordered beef ribs which I felt wasn't "falling off the bone" so in other words the meat wasn't cooked long enough for it to be as tender. Although it was good. The place needs a renovation with all its old large wooden tables. This much needed renovation would make a more comfortable ambiance.

While traveling out of town my husband wanted some BBQ, so we browsed on Yelp and found this place. They had Jazzy Tuesday that night and a guy was playing sax. Our little girls were happily dancing to the tune while waiting for our table. It was very busy for a Tuesday night during spring break, but we got seated within 20 mins.

We ordered half BBQ chicken, Louisiana Hot link and briskets. For sides we got collard green, sweet potato fries, Mac n cheese and baked beans. We tried their gumbo as well. My 6 year old got kids mini burger (which was actually huge). We were impressed with the food.The BBQ chicken was so flavorful, you can tell it was marinated for 24 hours like they say. My hot link was good, but it was more on the sweet side. The brisket was so tender although just too salty. We got home and made fried rice with the leftover brisket. The gumbo was the highlight of the meal. I also ordered their special Jazzy Tuesday night drink that resembled mai tai and it was good.
Our waitress was so sweet; I really wish I asked for her name. Service was great even though they were busy that night.
We would definitely visit this place when we're back in town!

We came here for a birthday dinner - 5 adults, 1 toddler and 1 baby. We were accommodated with the seating arrangement very quickly. The employees we interacted with were all friendly.

I ordered the Alabama Fried Chicken plate with sides of Red Beans & Rice and Braised Cabbage. I found the sides very delicious. The chicken was properly fried, not underdone or overdone and moist inside. The coating they use was just okay for me - nothing memorable to where I would order it again. It was "good" just not great.

I tried my son's Rib-Tips and they were just "okay" to me. I know if / when we return here I won't be ordering those. The other 3 adults enjoyed their selections, as did the wee one (toddler) who had an order of Catfish Nuggets and Fries from kid's menu.

A few of us ordered cocktails, myself having an Old Fashion. The cocktail I had was very tasty and the others ordered more than one so I am presuming they enjoyed theirs as well.

We actually had two birthdays we were celebrating, albeit the birthday boy got to choose the restaurant (birthday girl got to choose earlier in the week). The staff brought each of them a dessert with a candle on top. That was very nice and considerate of them to do that - two thumbs up.

They have quite a menu, so it may be hard for me to decide what to select next time. I may try their Brisket, as that is a time consuming process to do at home. However, nobody reading this cares about that - LOL.

Omgoodness!! The service here was absolutely amazing! We were greeted by smiling faces that were eager to assist! Ali was our server and she was wonderful.
I'm not really big on BBQ but my husband raved over the ribs tips; greens; baked beans; sausage sandwich; sweet tea, and the corn muffins! I really enjoyed the fried catfish(2); yams; mac&cheese, and muffins. We enjoyed the greens so much we got some to go along with red velvet cake!
The restaurant has a country home and family like atmosphere. It is in an ideal location- very close to the hotel we are staying at.
I highly recommend Felix!! Give them a try- you won't be disappointed!! We're looking forward to visiting the Lake Elsinore location!

Boy was I craving this BBQ all week! I couldn't wait to try this spot out. I read all the great reviews on Yelp. And was craving some good soul food.

But it really didn't deliver. My partner who grew up on soul food from the south, and he wasn't impressed either. I was disappointed overall. There were some good and bad things here.

I'll start with the good. Those bread rolls they brought to the table with butter. Sooooooo tasty! Buttery and had a nice corn bread like flavor. Delicious. I loved those. 10/10
The fried okra was also good. I've never had this before, but my partner has. He said this was very good. 10/10 for the fried okra. The candied yams were a wonderful treat. Very sweet and yummy. I loved those. 10/10 for the yams. The pulled pork was good as well. 8/10 for pulled pork.

Now for the bad. The Mac and cheese tasted like mush. No flavor. Overcooked noodles. It was a a pile of mush. Not good at all. We both didn't eat our macaroni and cheese. 2/10 for the Mac. The mashed potatoes had chunks of potato skin in it. Gross. It was clumpy. Mashed potatoes 2/10. Sweet potato fries had zero flavor or seasoning. They just fried sweet potato and put it on a plate. Didn't even have salt. 2/10 for sweet potatoes. The gumbo was really grainy. And the meat and seafood was over powered in this dish. Gumbo 1/0.

It was really hit or miss depending on the item. We ordered just about everything on the menu to try. And half of it was just not good. The other half was decent. I'm really sad this place wasn't better. Waste of a $100 for me. Just not worth it at all.

Walked in for dinner last night. Stood in the entryway for 5-6 minutes before someone greeted us. We then were seated.
We each had a Cadillac margarita, the wife had the cat fish nuggets I had the brisket platter. We each had the yams as a side we also ordered the fried okra. All the food was delicious. The cat fish was fresh and nicely breaded and the brisket was to die for. Melted in my mouth.
Only downside was the wait to be acknowledged upon entering. Maybe hire a hostess

So it started off a little sour because they were busy, and we weren't acknowledged for a while.
After 10 minutes, we were seated, and our night was fantastic.

Our server was fantastic. She kept checking on us.

We started off with two cadillac margaritas. She even checked what alcohol we wanted. We chose Grand marnier.

There are lots of seats available and tonight every table was filled. Different tables and seating configurations are available.

For starters, we had the fried okra.
They also brought corn muffins, which were freshly baked.
Friend okra came with sauce, and it was good. The okra was hot and crispy it was delicious!!! Also, it was a VERY large portion!!!

For my hubby, he ordered the brisket platter with candied yams and beans with bacon.
For me, I ordered a single order of catfish nuggets with candied yams and steamed vegetables.

I'm so happy to report that this meal tonight is one of the best I've ever had.

My catfish nuggets were crispy, and the catfish in it was soft and succulent.
This was super delicious.
The steamed vegetables were all made fresh. I have not eaten cauliflowers for a while. I finished them all!!!
This is a testament to how fresh their steamed vegetables were. The vegetables still had crunch.

I loved it!!

I wish we could have dessert. But we were too fulfilled from dinner. We still had lots of food to bring home.

We will be back!!! I still want to try their gumbo!

It's raining again.  I seem to visit when it rains.  This time I'm here to try the Sunday brunch.  

Baby back ribs were tender and had a delicious black pepper based dry rub with hints of brown sugar.  St. Louis pork ribs had a delicious dry rub and was tender. 

Fried chicken wings had a unique Alabama style batter.  Loved the crunchy texture.  Fried catfish had a delicious cornmeal batter and tender juicy catfish.BBQ chicken was very juicy and had a delicious hickory smoked flavor. 

7 Up cake had a hint of 7 UP flavor.  Nice crunchy outer crust and soft, moist insides.  Reminds me of homemade...

Sunday brunch is a great way to sample a bunch of Felix's best dishes.  When busy everything is hot and fresh just look when they cook to order.  When it's not busy some of the meats can dry out from too much time in the warming trays.  This is my fav place in town for fried catfish and they keep it fresh by only putting out a small amount at a time.  I also picked up an apple pie on the way out.  Crust had a hint of butter and had a nice mild flavor which didn't distract from the apple filling.  Top crust was also nice and crunchy.  Apple filling had delicious apple flavor with a bit of sweetness.  This is one of my favorite spots to get apple pie as there is a nice balance of flavor between the crust and apple filling.  Store bought pies tend to rely too much on sugar to give them flavor.

On another visit I tried the beef back ribs and fried catfish.  Very good quality beef ribs with a good amount of meat on the bone.  Beef was tender and not dry.  Light hickory flavor from 8 hours of smoking.  I loved the sweet Alabama style sauce basted onto the ribs.  This is one of my favorite spots to eat beef ribs.  

Loved the crispy cornmeal batter with delicate catfish beneath.

Snickerdoodle cookie was crunchy on the outside with a soft center.  Delicious sugar cookie and cinnamon sugar flavor.

Oatmeal cookie was soft with a sweet oatmeal flavor.

 I remember when the little mall opened in 2008 and Felix's Bbq was one of the first tenants.  Felix's was one of my favorite spots to eat bbq, fried chicken, and fried catfish.  I don't see Felix that often as he has 2 other branches now but his staff has continued the tradition of providing excellent hospitality.  Hope Felix opens a branch closer to home so I can visit more often.

Came to Oceanside, and my Reverend took us here for some Soul food. I was excited because even though I'm not too familiar with soul food I KNOW ITS GOOD. He really came here for Key Lime Cake, and when they didn't have it, let me tell you we drove to three seperate locations for it!!! He is serious about that key lime cake LOL I did try it and it is very delicious! Moist and flavorful.

Anyways, back to our dinner here, I ordered the rib tips, Mac and cheese, and red beans with rice and I was MORE than satisfied it was delicious! My daughter got the chicken and waffles (I know she only ordered this because she doesn't like "barbecue" and only wanted the waffles, However, this isn't just bbq it's soul food). So when she tried the chicken she was in loveeee (mind you she does not like fried chicken. We tried the chocolate cookies (not soft, they are crispy) they were good but not special.

I just think it's impossible to hate soul food done right. The corn bread was amazing, and the service was friendly. It was slow but it was a Saturday evening and a full house. The place is nice nothing too crazy, and clean.

Our waitress D was super sweet, very personable, fun and kind. Like having one your friends serve you at their home. Felix felt and taste so good (it's been awhile for catfish nuggets, Mac and Cheese, okra and cornbread ). My husband, son and I, Great music, greet food and great people Ms. D says. Thank you Felix Oceanside and Ms. D