Venni Mac's M & M335 E Albertoni
Carson
310-324-5317
Soul Food. I love soul food. Something about it makes my mouth water. I found Venni Mac's while going to a LA Galaxy kickball game. They used to be right across the street from the Home Depot Center but moved closer to the 91 freeway.
I ordered the smothered chicken dinner, $10.99, with mac and cheese, mashed potatoes and gravy, and corn as my three sides. They ask if you want your chicken baked or fried. I wanted the fried chicken. So a few minutes later I get a plateful of fried chicken smothered in brown gravy that smells wonderful. Even with the gravy the chicken was crispy. But inside the chicken was dry. The gravy helped the taste but I wished the chicken was more moist.
The corn was nice and buttery, full of flavor and cooked just right, adente. The mac and cheese is among the best mac and cheese around. Perfectly cooked macaroni and nice gooey pieces of cheese. The mashed potatoes seemed to be from a mix. Not impressive.
Service was bad. I go to the hostee stand and they are settling the bill for a large party. That takes forever, even with two peope there. Then when they are finally done, she looks up and helps a lady who walked right to the stand instead of me who was waiting around for at least five minutes. I finally get seated. But I need to wait for somebody to take my order. When I finally get my order, I need more water and napkins but there's nobody around to get them. The server finally comes around and I get my water and napkins.
I would not go back to Venni Mac's M & M again. The food can be hit and miss, the dry chicken and mashed potatoes from a box. But good mac and cheese and corn. Service is bad. So why should I bother going back?
June 28, 2009
I did go back to Venni Mac's M & M Soul Food and the service was still bad and they had a B rating from the health department!!!!! No, thank yous for coming, just plain order, pay, get your food, and get out. Very bad customer service here.
I ordered the baked chicken dinner with collard greens, mac and cheese and butter corn, $12.01. I got the dark meat chicken with was two legs and thighs. The chicken was very tender, falling off the bone with a nice flavor.
As for the the sides. The corn is cooked just right, in a buttery sauce that makes it so good. The collard greens, which I normally don't order were tender and full of flavor but I don't like the bitterness of collard greens. The mac and cheese was just OK. The macaroni was tender but the taste was a bit off, sour. They may have used a sharp cheddar cheese but sharp cheddar cheese doesn't work well in mac and cheese.
As I mentioned service is still bad. Lots of attitude and very unfriendly. I certainly hope they aren't racist and only give blacks good customer service. But the way they treat black customers and the way they treat other customer is very noticable.
The best place for soul food in the area is R & R Soul Food. Don't bother going to Venni Mac's M & M Soul Food unless you like attitude or racism, to go with your food.
