Larkin’s

Larkins is a good little place. The waitress with the bacon awareness tattoo is a fire cracker. I will visit again

Words for other potential «gourmet soul food» restauranters to heed should they consider moving into the former Larkins location —
Larkins was doomed from the beginning. Bad attitude straight out of the gate! signs on tables stating that they do soul food the way they want to & they don’t care what anyone thinks & not to bother asking for any changes etc…
Most importantly the food was Sub-​par overall compared to the full variety of Soul food/​creole/​southern styles from my experiences sampling those styles all accross the country.
fair enough they tried to do a different version of southern/​soul food & anyone deserves props for the attempt but if it ain’t delicious it does not matter how much food art cred the chef has.
Also Priced way over the top for the servings given as well as the quality of the food.
frankly i was wondering when i’d see the closed sign.
for some straight up simple, delicious (but less than healthy) PROPER soul food near eagle rock, Yia Yia’s just opened up in the old M & M spot on washington near altadena /​pasadena.

First the Food:
That damn MacnCheese, that damn MacnCheese– Fragrant out of the oven to the table, crusty on top and you are immediately awakened. Under the crust is a lusciously bechameled interior, the aroma just excites you as you dig in, take a bite and you’ll agree its deeeelectable. Take a another bite, I dare you and you cannot not stop. The Mac n Cheese here delights ma soul. I order the the plain MacnCheese here, dont complicate this dish by adding chiles and other things they’ll sell you here, just get the plain vanilla Mac n Cheese. Got it? Good! Now on to the next.
Our server recommended the spicy burger and meatloaf. The meatloaf was deliciously dense, the kind one typically would get in the South, a flavorful cut, this time, lean and covered with a very tasty BBQ sauce. This was no diner cut of meatloaf. This meatloaf was bold, meaty just as a meatloaf should be. The burger (never had a spicy burger) was a mixture of beef and spicy sausage. It came with a crusty chewy bread that made me adore this burger even more. Spicy in places, chunky like a good burger, no fillers, amazing! I love this burger, had to order another to go to share with a foodie friend.
For dessert order their specialty: German Chocolate Bread Pudding. When the dessert came, it looked like a fudge brownie for a minute, albeit light brown with specks of chocolate. I dug into it and thought ok, yeah it was OK. Then I tried the crumbly topping. It had perfectly browned coconut flakes caramel sugar and mixed with the bread pudding my palate into overdrive. There were WOWful flavors of toasted coconut, pecans, caramel sugar, pralines, butter, rich butter that made this dessert a great closing to the meal. This dish most definitely brought me back to one of my fave food meccas: New Orleans. I was thankful, truly thankful. My palate, now awake from the meal wanted some more but I had to quit.
Environs:
I have a thing for converted old homes into restaurants. For a minute you think you may be at someone’s house. Then you immediately notice old doors converted into table tops, peacock feathers in random vases, the quirky yet hospitable personalities of the staff, I am endeared to this resto on my first visit and still am after 5 visits. It’s cool and funky with good food and close to me so all in the world is good.
Word: As with most good southern kitchens, food at Larkin’s does not come lightning speed from stove to table. I get it. It’s not about rushin’ to get food to you. It’s about the chef sharing the passion to Southern cooking and proudly to its diners. Having gone through the Florida panhandle, Georgia and Louisiana on work and food escapades, I get Southern cooking. lt’s about cooking slow and soulful. It’s about letting time pass and having conversation, gossip and other things to do, then the food comes. You put your iPhone away and thinking you’d get back and answer an email. But you don’t. Your hands are covered with sauce meat juices, cheese and everything else that was on your plate. I like this place, it’s endearing, worth visiting over and over.. It’s not cheap, but the food tastes f*&$*luscious and yummytummy meter 9++++ good. Done.
Tip: This place is not cheap, more mid-​range. Come here for the spicy burger, meatloaf and Mac N Cheese.
Visits: 5

We’re new to the neighborhood and were hopeful despite the negative reviews. Sorry to say, Larkin’s is a very spotty proposition. We were there on a Friday evening and the place was about half full. Very pleasant, welcoming staff, cool down-​market vibe: fingers crossed… The friendly server was very helpful in sorting through the menu. We ordered the Fried Chicken with 2 sides: Portobello Fries and a Mac/​Cheese with Bacon and Collared Greens. We also ordered a Jambalaya. And some red wine. And we waited.
And waited.
And waited…
After 40 minutes, we finally flagged down the server, who was nice, but didn’t seem to register that it had been so long. Upon checking in the kitchen, he returned to inform us sheepishly that they were out of Fried Chicken. We decided to just forget about replacing it (who knows how long we’d be waiting???) and settled for keeping the sides (adding a Collared Greens) Then the server checked in with the kitchen, and returned saying that the order was «first up,» (seriously?), and offered us a complimentary glass of wine (we declined). About ten minutes later, the food showed up.
It was good, not great. We’re not cajun/​soul food experts, and even though we were so pleased to just even be eating at that point, a scoop of rice in the center of a bowl of Jambalaya was somehow pretty bare-​bones to us. The Collared Greens, as others have shared, was strangely sweet and bordered on unappetizing (soy + molasses?). The mac & cheese was fine — nothing special. The Portobello Fries were very good.
So in the end, the food was not worth the wait. Larkins wants to be something more than it is, and we’d love to support them in getting there, but it doesn’t look like we’re going back anytime soon.

I hate leaving low stars but the only tasty thing we tried was the corn bread. I think it would of looked weird if I ordered two orders of corn bread and milk for myself lol. A friend raved about this place, Soul food this, soul food that, its delicious! um… not so much.
½ the people on my dads side are from Louisiana, so I know Cajun and soul food
When you first park you see this little southern style house turned into a restaurant. Looks promising. I love the idea of doors turned into table tops. The different old chairs add a nice touch.
*Parking sux, theres only space for 3 cars in the front and 3 in the back, one being a handicap spot.
*Service is GREAT, very friendly people
*Online they have the blue cheese wedge salad, at the restaurant the waiter looked at me like I was crazy, and it wasn’t on the menu.
* I love the corn bread it was AMAzing! YUmminess in my tummy
*Now they rave about the mac and cheese, they have a bunch of different sizes. The smallest size is good for two people. When it first came outta the kitchen it looked amazing! We ordered spinach and jalapeño in our Mac. We got 2 pieces of spinach and enough jalapenos. Everything looked good until I put it in my mouth, I was expecting some rich delicious cheesy flavor, but was disappointed again.
*The Jambalaya is not worth the $ 15
It’s suppose to be a Mix of rice, sausage, chicken, and shrimp simmered in a spicy broth.
What we got was a plate full of slightly warmed broth with maybe 4 pieces of sliced sausage, 3 shrimps, a lot of slices celery and peppers, I can’t remember eating chicken at all. WITH a cup of white rice in the middle. EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTED
*The Spicy greens were ok but not amazing. $ 5 worth the try
*The Fried Okra was something different but I wouldn’t order it again $ 5
Maybe this place has good bbq or sandwiches and we just ordered wrong.
Maybe next time?
I would just go back to try the portobello fries.

Southern soul food cookin’ in this family-​owned/​style restaurant!
I like their food (check out pics posted with this review!), yet I feel like some of their dishes were a tad bland, not as flavorful or kickin’ as I’d hope they would be. Typically, I’d imagine that Southern food was characterized as such. But the owner is super sweet & friendly!
Their macaroni & cheese was good. Maybe I got overwhelmed by the amount of other dishes we ordered lol, so I didn’t really think it was that amazing. But they allow you to mix and match the ingredients you want inside the mac, so I’ll definitely give this place a shot again! Last time, I got it with collard greens plus chicken. I just needed more of that extra cheese! lol.
Didn’t get to try the sweet potato pie since I came for brunch & the ingredients weren’t ready =_​(
Will come back here though!

I’ve only been here once and was pleasantly surprised by how good it was. It’s a small place that looks like it could’ve been a house at some point. The waitress was chatty and really nice, and made some recommendations. We went with the beef brisket — I’ve never had meat that melted in my mouth so smoothly. It was SO good! Their mac and cheese was also pretty awesome. So melty. so delicious.
They give you a lot of food, so starve yourself just a little bit when you go. Splitting a dish might be a wise move for those who can’t binge quite as much as others, especially since the food is heavyyyy.
Parking sucks because the spaces are so tiny but the side streets have space.
I would highly recommend this place if you’re partial to eating til you food coma (like me). I’m looking forward to trying more items from the menu but it’s hard to pass up the beef brisket.

It’s an old craftsman house that was converted into restaurant. Parking sucks, but the fried chicken is good. By good, I mean excellent. Let me say that It’s a more sophisticated type of fried chicken. It’s the pinky in the air while you are gnawing on a drum stick type of fried chicken. Not greasy, yet flavorful and crunchy. Mac n cheese and the portobello fries are perfect side options. Larkin’s satisfies my soul food cravings and I don’t feel bad eating it afterwards.
Solid soul food place in the heart of Eagle Rock.

Larkins is an extremely charming restaurant housed in a former house. It has the rustic look of a country home, complete with the experience of walking up wooden stairs to a patio and walking into what looks and feels like someone’s living room.
Service started off badly. Our designated waitress never made it to visit us and spotting that, the hostess or other waitress took over and did a great job. Two of us opted for their fried chicken and I ordered the gumbo. She did a hard upsell for mac n cheese, which turned out to be good but average and a little grainy.
My gumbo had a well-​developed dark roux flavor and a creeping heat but the stew was not entirely to my liking. The chicken had stewed so long that its meat broke down into shreds. The pieces of andouille seemed few and far between. The menu advertised that it would have okra but I saw none. Instead, there were two shrimps, which should have only appeared on the jambalaya. Confusing. The dish ate, instead, like a vegetable stew since the celery chunks were one of the few textural items still visible. Also off-​putting was the fact that there were so many bones in the gumbo. Not only were their chicken bones and bone fragments, but I kept pulling on long, thin fish bones as well. This was all odd in a dish that was supposed to have no seafood.
The fried chicken plates were a little better but I think the chicken was average. The chicken could have been more flavorful and crispy. The collard greens were unbearably sweet and not at all spicy. Creamed corn and mashed potatoes were good but not memorable.
Sometime in the middle of our meal, corn bread muffins were produced hot from the oven. Were they supposed to be the bread course or part of our meal, we don’t know but they did make a nice nibbler with our entrée

I’ve been to Larkin’s twice now and each time was a great experience. Servers are friendly and food is great! Real, authentic soul food at its finest. The building seems to be some sort of converted house. Cozy and cute.
BBQ pork ribs — fall off the bone tender and meaty. The bbq sauce was good, but not the best I’ve had
Mac n cheese — excellent! creamy, cheesy and gooey… huge portion
Portobello fries — almost as good as the ones at Bottega Louie. The spicy dip it came with was
Fried okra — this was just okay. Batter could’ve been seasoned a bit more
Mashed potatoes — this was solid. Buttery and creamy. Mmm…
Cornbread — Yummy! Wish the piece was bigger though
Overall, definitely a must try! I look forward to trying other things on the menu in the future.

I’ve wanted to like Larkins. Truly I have. The location, the interior and the menu conspire to make one believe the place will be amazing.
But the reality is that the menu has never impressed. The wait staff is earnest but strangely off kilter. Something is just off about the joint.
The food: Too salty. Too sugary. Too dry. Too cooked. Too much of all that and not enough simple soul food deliciousness.
If I walked in there a relatively healthy man… I walked out with a sick stomach, dangerously high blood pressure and on the verge of a diabetic seizure. Seriously – nobody in the South eats THAT much sugar and salt –yes there is alot of salt and sugar in the cuisine – but this place takes it to a whole ‘notha level… and it dont work. It just serves to make you angry that the cook or chef has so miserably messed up a really good thing.
The man I sleep next to everynight is black and loves his mamma’s soul food… so, y’know…I kinda know my collard greens and pidgeon peas and dirty rice. So yea. Ease up on the salt and sugar. Just a little bit. Like this much.
I gotta go. I have a headache and I need to brush my teeth for the next two hours.
Oh…and cut the onions in the grits a little smaller. I get the onions are a great addition to the whole grits thing – but smaller. Its just better.

Ate in between shifts and got the same service as if it was busy.
This renovated CA bungalow makes you feel like you could be sitting off road in the deep south, not nestled on Colorado Blvd. in Eagle Rock. Being from the South, they got the mac-​n-​cheese spot on and the sweet tea brought back memories of hot summer days. When passing through Eagle Rock, this is a nice lunch or dinner stop when craving the dirty south.

The trick is to walk into this place without the expectations of a normal restaurant! Set up like your Grandma’s house, this cosy little eating establishment doesnt try to be anything its not. And dont arrive in a rush. This is the kind of place that gives you the chance to wind down and relax. Take 2 or 3 hours for lunch. Sit and chat with friends.
The wait staff are really friendly and the food is messy and delicious. Enjoy a glass of wine out of a jam jar (yep, they’re not going for classy) or a cold beer… and If you’re lucky they’ll be some of the locals playing guitar and taking requests.

*3.5 stars*
We came for a birthday dinner, and accommodated the party well. Most menu items looked great, but we were convinced by our server to try the special burger of the night, after describing its contents. We also ordered a side of mac and cheese and portobello fries.
As our burger arrived, we weren’t sure what to do with it, as it was about the size of a baby’s head. I unfortunately cannot remember what was in it, although I do remember that there were numerous parts of pig and cow in the patty, including brisket, and topped with bacon and onion rings. It was INSANE! I can definitely see how it may be overwhelming for some, but for those that enjoying eating tightly-​packed animals topped with more animals, it’s a must! If it makes you feel any better, it comes with a side salad (that’s topped with onion rings as well).
As for the mac and cheese, it was a bit more bland than I would have expected it to, although had a nice creaminess to it. The portobello fries are a must, as they’re probably some of the best ones I’ve had, especially because of their spiciness.
Speaking of spiciness, if you are like me, in which that you’re unable to have a meal without your mouth slightly burning, you can request they whip up some hot sauce for you. Although not as spicy as I would have liked it to be, it’s really tasty and complements the food nicely.
In addition to our artery-​clogging meal, I have to note that our server was awesome, attentive, and engaging. Not only her, but the entire serving staff was very friendly and helpful. Not something you come across often.
So why not five stars??? When I asked about their beer selection, they only had Stella and Blue Moon Winter ale… AND THAT’S IT! I don’t understand how you can only have these two beers at a joint like this. Even worse, was that they ran out of the Blue Moon, which I don’t even like much. This made me sad… And despite having an ATM there (with a fee), the place is cash only.
My hopes is that they step up their game with their beer selection, as I’d definitely like to return. Especially for their live music they plan to have soon.
Go eat a baby-​head-​sized burger.

I’m actually very disappointed in this place. I was hoping for so much better but they burnt our food and still served it to us. It wasn’t horribly burnt but the fried chicken was burnt enough that the meat was dry =T The catfish was still edible but not by much.
For a Sunday afternoon, the sure were slow with everything, and not only that but they ran out of sweet tea??? You have regular tea but not sweet tea… really? So, they offered to replace our sweet tea with lemonade instead but also charged us the $ 1 more it costs to get lemonade. Sad times =(
Anyways, some things about this place:
1. The lemonade only has 1 free refill, even for costing $ 3, or was it 4?
2. The sweet tea tastes like it’s been sweetened with sugar cane. Mind you, not cane sugar but actual sugar cane… if that makes sense to you.
3. The savory grits needed more cheese melty goodness mixed into it. It really didn’t hit the spot. I did like the fact that it was really hearty though.
4. Mac & cheese was okay in flavor but very mushy.
5. My oh my, portabello fries. Mmmmmmm I think this was my fave part of my meal.
6. The cornbread was very corny but very dry. The should definitely think about serving that with butter and honey =d
7. AND SKIP THE POTATO SALAD!!! I don’t know what was going on that day but it was soooo sour. Gross.
So, since I was only impressed with the portabello fries, that doesn’t warrant a repeat visit. Sorry, I wanted to love you =T

My boyfriend and I were well on our way to becoming regulars at Larkin’s. Everything we ate there for months was amazing, delicious and well prepared.
Two weeks ago, we ordered the fried catfish with spicy sauteed greens and red beans and rice. The rice wasn’t cooked all the way through. The catfish was gamey and inedible– like they fried it while it was still frozen. The waiter offered us a box for our unfinished plates. We explained that we weren’t going to eat the rest and why. He took the plates away and brought out the bill; unaltered.
We couldn’t believe they’d ignore our honest complaints; especially having eaten the catfish numerous times before. We were disappointed with the quality of lack of good customer service.

I’m so full right now, I can barely swallow my own spit. I’m not even joking.
When my friends first picked a soul food joint, I was kinda bummed, because soul food and vegetarians don’t usually mix. They had a fried grilled cheese sandwich and some portobello mushroom dishes, but I’m not much for mushrooms, so I’d resigned myself to have a salad and garlic mashed potatoes.
But no!!! Veronica, the charming and sweet lady I would like to adopt as an aunt, found out I was veggie and said they were making a vegan pot pie, should I want one. Um… HELL YES I DID. While waiting for dinner, we decided to split some mac n cheese as an appetizer. Between four of us, it went in no time: baked in its own little pot, it was melty and gooey, with crispy cheese to scrape on the inside of the pot, and just wonderful. We were tempted to order another, but with our dinners on the way, we held off.
Good thing. The vegan pot pie was great: vegan chicken chunks, an array of veggies, not too much broccoli or cauliflower, thick crust. I found it a little salty, but that didn’t stop me from trying to eat every last tiny bit. It also came with a fantastic sliced grilled tomato, which Veronica said had come from the restaurant’s own garden.
My friends got a variety of stuff, including the special, chicken tacos. Everyone really liked what they ate (catfish, fried chicken, brisket) and dug the side dishes, with special adoration for the garlic corn.
Was it unnecessary for five people to order four desserts (aka every kind available)? At the time I said no, but now my stomach says yes. Or perhaps I’m pretending it’s not simply berating my brain for not knowing when to stop. It’s just that the desserts were so GOOD, I couldn’t. Huge helping of sweet potato pie with whipped cream? YUM. Blueberry-​blackberry cobbler? Piping hot YUM, although oddly salty. Banana bread pudding gets a shrug from me, but only because I’m not a big fan of banana; I didn’t DISlike it. But the chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwich? OH HOLY YUM. I was so in love, one friend commented on my facial expression. Imagine: two homemade, crispy-​ish chocolate chip cookies, studded with dark chocolate chunks, with melting vanilla ice cream spreading out between them, and soaking the bottom, more chocolaty, cookie. It’s enormous and big enough to share, although I’m not sure the friend meant to share as much as we snagged.
This is absolutely not somewhere to stop if you’re on your way elsewhere; part of the reason I enjoyed dinner so much was that unlike most restaurants, the time it took to cook the food encouraged us to sit, relax, and have good conversation. We were there for a couple hours. I haven’t had that leisurely of a meal in forever, and it was actually really nice, but make sure to plan for that.
Can’t wait to go back. Snuggles to Susanica T. for choosing Larkin’s.

Yes — Service is not quick and it is cash only.
I still award them ⁴⁄₅.
New to Eagle Rock, I’ve driven past Larkin’s quite a few times before actually seeing the name and looking them up. It looked cute, and I really wanted to find out about it. The day I saw the name, threw it into Unilocal and saw that it was SOUL FOOD, it was on. We were there three hours later to eat. I saw all of the negative reviews, but the pictures of the food looked too good, so we went.
The space here is lovely. As mentioned, it is a converted old house. The tables are old doors with glass tops. In the front room, there is a very high ceiling.
We were seated promptly and given our menus. we looked over the whole thing and our excitement built. When the server came by, we were ready to order everything, drinks and all. I’d say from sitting to ordering about 10 – 15 minutes had gone by, but our server was the only one working. So, we were forgiving. If you are looking to be treated like the only person in the place, sorry, you’re just not going to get it here.
As it turned out, there was also only one cook in the back. So considering this busy little restaurant was being run only by two people — not bad, I’d say. Our food probably took a little over 20 minutes to come out. Our evening was spent with good conversation, so the wait times weren’t too noticeable… (i only kept track because of the harsh reviews they were getting!)
The food came out and was great! Back in San Francisco, we used to eat at Farmer Browns (before they went down the tube!) and thought that no place could compare to FarmerBrown at their best…
It is quite possible that Larkin’s surpassed parts of them! Their greens and mac and cheese are absolutely perfect. The catfish was moist. The red beans and rice were ok — after adding some of the hot sauce on the table they were awesome.
My boyfriend went with the BBQ Brisket which he loved, his complaint was the sauce was just a little too sweet for his taste, but it was still great.
Great food prepared fresh is what we were looking for when we came here, and we got it.
The things that bummed me out was I asked for a sweet tea, and they were out. Then I asked for a lemonade, and they were out. So I got a regular iced tea. Same thing with the beer, they only had Red Stripe left. Anyhow, it’s not like it should be a surprise to them that they will be busy! Make that sweet tea!!! :)
I look forward to returning again for dinner, and for brunch.
*Honestly, if you want to be in and out, this is not the place for you. If you want an evening of great conversation with the people you are with, and great food, without rushing, this is a perfect fit. :D

My sister came into town and said «I want soul food brunch!» I was like «Ummm, RANDOM, where on earth will I find that!?» Did a Unilocal search, and lo and behold, there was one across the street from our old elementary school. Crazy-​cray!
Ok so I posted pics of what we all ate. I had deep fried grilled cheese, my sis got shrimp and grits, and my friends got Maggie’s Mess with and without gravy. All were divine, I ate parts of everyone’s. The biscuit that comes with the egg dishes was probably THE best biscuit I’ve ever had. Water and iced tea are served in jars, service is great. It’s kind of a small place, and we were fine as a party of 4 on a Sunday at around noon. But a party of 6 came in when we first got our food and didn’t look too pleased waiting.
Can’t wait to come back for dinner and try the gumbo and other typical southern fare. Yummm!

What mom and pop neighborhood would be complete without a soul food restaurant? I am so glad there is a soul food option because sometimes a gal needs some home cookin and when I go to Larkin’s I feel like my mom is back there in the kitchen.
I find «soul» in many things at Larkins:
The restaurant in an old house. So immediately it puts you in a homey state of mind. Then you are seated at one of their eclectic tables aka the table tops are made out of old doors. Each table usually has a nice big flower on it. Nothing says «hello» to the soul like friendly flower.
The homemade lemonade and sweet tea in old jam jars also speaks down home to me and the corn bread bites. They bring the corn bread bites out before the meal and they are so good that it made me actually ask for more but unfortunately, they just make so many. The fried chicken is pretty tasty and so is the wedge salad. The mac and cheese is so very good too. But the ultimate soul food item is their berry cobbler. Make sure to order it in advance. It’s so good my hubby drools over it.
One word of advise: take some cash with you. They don’t take credit cards.