LA Soul

This place is legit. Everything is made from scratch, no bottled BBQ sauce… etc brisket is tender and tasty, winged come smoked or fried, catfish nuggets are on point. The real hidden gems are the soul rolls… smokey turkey and cabbage stuffed into a soul food take on a Chinese egg roll (absolutely delicious). I’d suggest a sampler platter if you can’t make up your mind.
The atmosphere is like a real restaurant… not the picnic tabled/​faux juke joint that you’d expect at most establishments selling BBQ. Go in… sit down… enjoy the fried okra and wait staff. Pleasantly surprised with the all around experience.

I decided to try this place last week and let’s just say IVE been back a few times since. OMG the food is excellent. Great service too. The only thing that I might suggest is lowering the price of your buffet. Golden corral and Cathedral buffet are 11.99 with a whole lot of options. Just my suggestion but if it works for you keep doing it!!! See you again soon

This place is right down the road from my restaurant. I tell my customers all the time about how great the smoked brisket and chicken is. They put an amazing amount of care and time into preparation. The staff is friendly and like family. Very warm. I am glad to have an amazing neighbor next to us. Tallmadge Avenue has quietly transformed into a diverse multi cultural restaurant destination. It is a refreshing change to the same old boring corporate franchises at Chapel Hill. LA Soul has contributed greatly to this. Keep up the good work guys. Woo woo!

Tried this place recently and was not disappointed. Got the sampler platter that included ribs, chicken and brisket. Been to many of the best barbq joints in the nation so no it wasn’t the best I ever had but it was high quality and top 10%. You can’t go wrong here if you’re in the mood for barbq.

Not one complaint, but I do have a suggestion. Get the Peach Cobbler. If you have nothing else there get the Peach Cobbler

I read reviews on Unilocal and was really hoping to find a GOOD BBQ joint in the Akron area. Mission accomplished! Good food and friendly staff. I had the brisket sandwich (soft, tender brisket) and the ½ slab of beef ribs. Ribs were hot and cooked perfectly, I really like their BBQ sauce, sweet and tangy. Had a side of mac & cheese and cornbread. Everything was served quick and hot. i will be back SOON :)

I found food heaven. The ambiance was very welcoming, our waitress Raven was so nice and pleasant. They introduced a few extra items that haven’t made their way onto the main menu yet. When we were sat at the table she instantly told them to us. I immediately went for the «chit’lins». The BEST I’ve ever had, hands down! They were melt in your mouth good My fiancé had the rib tips i also ordered the ribs for home. Our sides consisted of mac n cheese collard greens fried green tomatoes and sweet potatoes. Everything was DELICIOUS. Definitely a place i could eat once a week and never grow tired of. I plan on having them cater my upcoming wedding, YESSSSS didn’t you hear me say…“THAT GOOD” I promise you, you will not be disappointed :)

My family and I ate at LA Soul for Father’s Day. We had a reservation, but the restaurant wasn’t crowded. We were seated immediately by our fantastic waitress.
Each family member had a different entrée. Everyone was pleased with the taste and portion size. I ordered the bbq pulled pork with a side of delicious homemade green beans. The food came out quickly, but was not very hot.
My sister-​in-​law got the famous peach cobbler. It looked amazing. I’ll definitely try it next time.

This place is a hidden gem in akron. I had the brisket sandwich and it was so tender and juicy it melted in my mouth. I’ve been back many times and have never been disappointed. Best BBQ hands down.

I returned with my family for a phenomenal Sunday lunch. Best ribs EVER and I come from Texas, so it hurts me to say this. Great wings, yummy pulled pork, good fried shrimp and fried okra (I prefer fried okra with a cornmeal batter like they use on the fried green tomatoes though). Collards, Mac n cheese, and sweet potatoes were delicious as usual.

Well I heard a lot about this place so I finally stopped. The place is super clean and I would’ve been fine dining in but I took my donner to go. I think the food is over hyped. The ribs were just OK and drowned in way too much sauce and the sauce wasn’t that great. I ordered Mac &cheese and greens for my sides. The macaroni was pretty good, but the greens were very bland. The corn muffin that came with my meal was old and stale. I hope this isn’t one of those places that drew people in to establish a customer base and now they don’t care about their food quality. The peach cobbler everyone raved about was just mediocre as well. I believe in second chances and will write an updated review when I have another visit. On a side note the staff is very friendly.

The bbq here is better than anywhere else around the area.
I ordered a combo with brisket and pulled pork.
The pulled pork was only ok. I was impressed with the brisket though. It was later in the evening (around 7PM) and the brisket was still moist and delicious! It had a distinct but not overpowering smokey flavor.
The bbq alone would at least make me come back, but everything that went with it is what really makes this place.
I ordered fried green tomatoes and collard greens as my side. They were both fantastic. The batter on the tomatoes was probably about the best southern batter I have ever had. I will definitely try something else fried in it such as the catfish next time!
The combo also came with a muffin-​sized cornbread. It was great. It was not dried out at all and had a very delicious buttery flavor.
And last but not least, they have a much larger dessert selection than other bbq places I have been to. Based on recommendations on Unilocal I took home their last piece of peach cobbler for the day. It was very good and I highly recommend trying it!
They have many items not listed on the menu as well. They let me try the chitterlings!
Overall I think the place is good and definitely worth trying. I would recommend trying something different than your typical brisket, ribs, pork, etc as I think that is where this place really stands out.

I was pleasantly surprised to find such good bbq and southern cuisine here in North East Ohio. LA Souls menu was great, the brisket and sides were fantastic. As a transplanted Texan, that is hard to find! I would highly recommend you stop by to enjoy.

Best bbq in the area. The brisket was super tender and everything was actually smoked with a good bark. Tried the meat platter with chicken, ribs, brisket and my wife had the chicken and pulled pork. Everything was spot on and we will definitely be back. The staff were also super friendly.
Update– went back again and this time was disappointed. The food just wasn’t as good. Brisket was still great but the pork was super fatty and was mostly wasted. the Okra was burnt and really greasy. Food is pricey so was disappointed we couldn’t eat most of it.

Finally, Akron gets a BBQ joint. If you’ve been to Hot Sauce Williams in Cleveland, then imagine that type of restaurant. Except in Akron… and not pink with a blue roof.
I’ve tried the pulled pork, bbq chicken, ribs, fries, sausage po boy, and peach cobbler.
–The pulled pork sandwich is excellent. They even have a lunch special where you get a pulled pork sandwich, fries, and drink for $ 5. It’s an absolute bargain.
–The bbq chicken was quite disappointing. The chicken is smoked, which results in 1) soggy, flabby skin, and 2) chicken that tastes far toooooo smoky. Now, I liked smoked meats, but smoking poultry and fish is very difficult, because smoke easily over-​powers these meats. And that is certainly the case with the bbq chicken I had here. I really disliked it.
–Ribs were good, but didn’t blow me away. The sauce is sweet and tangy — so if that’s the type of bbq sauce you like, great. If you prefer spicier sauce, then you may not appreciate it as much. The ribs have a really nice smoky flavor. Unfortunately, they’re kind of tough. I think they use spare ribs instead of baby back. Granted, that’s fine, as spare ribs have more meat and more flavor, but they’re not as easy to make them tender… and these ribs are not that tender.
–The sausage po boy is pretty good. There’s a white bun, sausage, cole slaw, fries, and bbq sauce. The sausage itself is fantastic. I think they deep fry it for a little bit (again, like HSW), to get a really nice snap to the skin when you bite into it. The fries are great, as is the bbq sauce. I’m not a huge fan of the cole slaw, unfortunately. Even so, the sausage po boy is by far my favorite food at LA Soul, except for the…
–MOTHERFLIPPIN PEACH COBBLER, which is incredible and giant. It’s like 2 – 3 desserts. I also had some of their sweet potato pie, which is incredible. I dont know if they do their own desserts or if they get them from bakeries around town or what, but their desserts are outta control.
LA Soul has a lot of bbq options and fantastic dessert. The restaurant is clean and the employees are very nice. The prices are very fair. I highly recommend LA Soul, though I maybe don’t recommend the bbq chicken.

Their ribs are smoked rather than grilled, and I honestly think that’s their biggest flaw’ I couldn’t even taste meat all I tasted was smoke and they are stingy with the sauce that’s actually delicious. Their Mac n cheese looked runny but actually was decent and their greens were just right. After paying 18.49 for this rib meal, I don’t think I’ll be back sorry keep your money

We’ve been working our way through the menu. OMG. Everything’s been excellent. Mac n cheese, ribs, fish sandwich, cole slaw, the corn bread, I could go on and on. Would LOVE to see fried chicken on the menu someday — it’ll become Akron’s best in no time! Service is exceptionally friendly and the place is warm and inviting. We’ll be returning again and again.

One thing I’ve always hated about Akron is the lack of good soul food/​bbq restaurants. Well all that has changed with this restaurant. Their food is delicious! I had rib tips with greens and okra. It tasted just like a Southern home cooked meal. I cheated on my diet and had a piece of yellow cake with chocolate icing and it was fantastic! They are a tad pricing for the location but you get what you pay for.

Wow!
I have driven past LA Soul on Tallmadge Ave for months, making a mental note to try it. Why did I wait so long?!
I ordered take out — but the dining room is very nice, and I would be totally comfortable eating it there. On to the food:
Their ribs are perfection! Smoky, sweet and very meaty with a nice spice to them, adding the perfect «bite» to their sauce. Pure heaven! I have never been a big fan of okra, but I thought that I have probably never had it prepared properly. I was correct. Deep fried, it isn’t that different than fried mushrooms, which I do enjoy. My only thought to improve it would be to serve it with a dipping sauce of some kind. Still, very good. The sweet cornbread muffins were a tad more dense than I like, but the flavor was there. But oh my Gawd!!- the peach cobbler is To. Die. For! (But I hope I don’t — I definitely want to go back for more!!)
Service was very friendly and fast, and the restaurant is very clean. Definitely go for the ribs and the cobbler! You must!