I once ate at more than 10 soul food restaurants in three weeks for a story. It was one of the happiest three week periods of my life, if not the healthiest. I usually consider the cuisine a wistfully desired indulgence, as Cookie Monster now calls his favorite repast, “a sometime food.”
But when it’s time, it’s time. And for those blessed occasions, there is Johnny Ray’s Sultry Soul Food. Hidden in a Sterling office park, Johnny Ray’s is currently offering only takeout and delivery. That means that I was overwhelmed by tempting aromas as I drove home.
Those enticing odors reached a climax as I opened the takeout containers, but I was also impressed at the sheer bulk of food stuffed into the styrofoam. The Colossal Pork Chop? Actually two of them. And the salty, crispy behemoths are as flavorful as they are oversize. Chicken wings are on the large side, too and there are eight of them, enough to almost overflow their container. Despite a 25-minute drive home, they crunched admirably with each bite, despite the juices flowing from the meat.
Though the mac and cheese is a sharp humdinger of a specimen, my favorite side, particularly on Meaty Monday, was tender, sweet-and-salty cabbage freckled with kielbasa. Yes, soul food is a “sometime” treat, but thanks to the portions at Johnny Ray’s, it’s one that I’m bound to repeat with a queen’s ransom of appealing leftovers. // 101 Executive Dr., Sterling
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