Shut Em Down Authentic Southern Restaurant

A diamond in an otherwise unassuming strip mall. As prep for our annual fried chicken — Daytona 500 fête, we stopped in to give this a place a try. Fried chicken lunch reminded my wife a lot of how her mom made it (very good sign). Sides of cornbread, black-​eyed peas, cabbage and collard greens were fresh and tasty.
Lunch portion was two pieces with cornbread and two sides for $ 5.99– quite a bargain! No room to try cake of the day which was Carrot. Will definitely return when in need of comfort food.

Definitely worth the time! Everything we ordered was so delicious. The Oxtails were seasoned just right and very meaty and served over rice making it just right. The Mac and cheese was delicious and went perfectly with the sweet potatoes. The corn bread was heavenly, sweet like grandma’s. My husband had curry chicken which was tasty as well… The mashed potatoes were homemade and the gravy was so good. Needless to say I am thoroughly impressed and proud to support this business.

This little gem is a bit tricky to find since the sign on the window is tiny and the place is right next door to a wing/​sports bar type of place with lots of neon signage. Find the end of the small shopping center closest to the residential homes and it’s the one next to the end. Whew! But it was worth the search. Went there on a Friday at 12:30, and while it looked like we 3 were going to be ‘involuntary takeout’ because it was quite busy and not very big inside, people were moving along pretty briskly with takeout orders and table turnover. It stayed that way the whole time we were there. You place your order, get your drink and table (thank you for the roll of paper towels on each table!), and wait about 10 – 15 minutes for piping hot, fresh from the fryer southern fried chicken or pork chops or fish (with or without grits) or other wonderful Southern soul offerings like meat loaf, smothered chicken or chops, even ox tails & gravy, all served with 2 excellent sides (we chose between us mashed potatoes & gravy, Mac n Cheese, collards, green beans, black eyed peas, but there is even more to choose from), also good and hot, PLUS a good sized piece of warm cornbread. We were too stuffed to manage dessert, but the menu offered sweet potato pie, cobbler, banana pudding & «chocolate decadence»… Next time!!!
Soft drinks, tea and beer also available. Prices very reasonable. The 4 vs. 5 star rating is really because it’s rather noisy, not in a bad way, but far from an intimate place to have a quiet meal. Nonetheless, if it’s good chow you are after, give it a try. The serving staff were friendly and attentive and kept the tables well bussed. We will definitely be back!

Went in for lunch yesterday. They have really good food. It’s definitely southern hearty food. Huge portions! The staff there was great. Really sweet and great service. The only reason I have 4 starts is because there’s no real sign. If it wasn’t for the fact I go to the auto store in the same lot I would’ve never known of the place. At least put up something above the store front.

Good flavor, horrific customer service. Upon opening they had a lot of business; word of mouth and Facebook reviews on their fried chicken got them customers. When I went in the first time, only a couple of hours after opening, they were out of white meat. I returned a couple of days later. I ordered five dinners, paying extra for white meat. I waited 25 minutes for the orders. Get home only to find all of the orders in dark meat, and in small portions. Called the restaurant only to get the machine four times in a row, unable to leave a message. Tried calling again the next day… same thing. I messaged them on their Facebook page – never acknowledged. We won’t bother returning.

Would tell you how good it was but at 8:35PM they told me trying to get out early. They close at 9:00PM. I did find out the owners are Richard and Kathy Jones. I’ll be in touch to tell them the waitress is turning away patrons. Damn, I really wanted southern food.

Great little place. Probably the best fried chicken I have had. It was made hot & fresh so give it time. Sides were great too.

We went back and the food was really good. The service was great. The ladies at the counter were wonderful. I did not like the Bake beans, so they immediately gave me something else. The cornbread is fantastic.

The food was GREAT, the people were very friendly & they gave us a military discount for our meals! I ate so much, now I need a nap! My husband ordered the Oxtail, which was well seasoned, very tender & full of flavor. I’d gotten the Smothered Pork Chops, which was also very delicious. For our sides, we’d gotten the Mac & Cheese, Candied Yams, Lima Beans & Cabbage Both of our entrees were also served with cornbread & rice. To really push our limits, we’d ordered dessert: Banana Pudding & Homemade Strawberry Cake! It was definitely worth the trip!

I had the fried chicken meal and it was very good! It was seasoned just right! The sides were very good also! The price was very reasonable. I would definitely go back again!

This was delicious! It’s so refreshing to find a soul food joint in Oakleaf. I had the Fried Chicken, Collard Greens, Mashed Potatoes (with homemade gravy). The food was seasoned extremely well. Tasted just like momma’s back home. The prices are reasonable, the service was great, and the atmosphere was great. I highly recommend Shut’em Down for a down home meal.

Yesterday’s dinner was very delightful. The oxtails needed a bit more gravy but the seasoning was good. I wished I had more meat though. The mac n cheese and candied yams were by absolute fave as well as the sweet potato pie!!!
I had been craving an authentic sweet potato pie and this restaurant certainly delivered. I was in sweet potato pie heaven
I definitely recommend this restaurant for its great customer service and delicious food!

I hate writing less than stellar reviews, but the food was just bad. I went twice and can’t bring myself to go again (looks like they me be closed now).
Everything was very bland and quite honestly I can make better at home. The most disappointing was the BBQ chicken. It tastes like store bought, kraft BBQ sauce.
On the flip, the wait staff and owner were super nice and attentive.
I had high hopes; maybe they’ll improve with time.

Good food. Nothing special. But over priced for what you get. $ 9 for two pieces of fried chicken and two sides is steep. The pot roast price is absurd. $ 16 for basically a blue plate special portion. Mashed potatoes and two sides with a normal portion of roast.
Chicken was fried when ordered so have to wait about 10 minutes but was hot and moist.
Probably won’t go back.

The restaurant and people were so friendly, I almost feel guilty to say that our last BBQ ribs and cabbage were not good. The ribs were not tender and the cabbage were over cooked with no seasoning. The Maccaroni and cheese tasted straight from the box.
I’ve tried to support this business, but I can not keep wasting my money like this.

Where do I start? I visited this restaurant on a Wednesday and the wait was ridiculous. The staff is unable to deliver orders timely. I received my food 40 minutes later. The pork chops were super thin and overcooked, the fried chicken was amazing but the service was down right poor. The young lady at the register has a poor attitude, as if she is doing you a favor to allow you to eat at ShutEmDown. As this was my first time at the restaurant, I decided to give them one more chance to win me over on Friday. Well, this place is clearly managed by and an inexperienced leader with a lack of front end service and inventory management. You can not run a business running out of your key items. I wish them them best and hope the lack of running a business don’t get them ShutEmDown.

Great southern style home cooking. Fried chicken is awesome, greens had great flavor and good olé’ sweet potato pie for dessert.
Note– they do not have a large sign outside. They are on the process of getting one, so it is easy to miss. It’s right next to the chiropractor’s office. Small sign located on the door.

I’m a southern girl and love greens. Probably the best greens I have ever had. The fried chicken is a must have! My hubby had the smothered pork chop which was also very good. All of the sides, black eye peas, lima beans, mac and cheese and the greens were all on point. A must try if your not counting calories and want a southern meal.

Their fried chicken is amazing, but that is an understatement! If you’re anything like me, you’re probably thinking to yourself, «how can anyone go wrong with making deep fried chicken», because, all fried chicken is great, right?
WRONG!
I had always believed most fried chicken was created equally, and thus equally tasty– give or take a few less satisfying recipes– until I took one bite into Shut Em Down’s authentically southern fried chicken. Their chicken has such a crisp and distinctive flavor that it put every, and I mean EVERY fried chicken food chain restaurant to shame. I will forever be changed by Shut Em Down’s, in that… I fear will never enjoy any restaurant’s fried chicken, other than theirs ever again! Go try it… tell me if I’m wrong. ;)

Located in the parking lot next to Atlantic storage and the auto parts store. It wasn’t busy when I went in on a Friday night, the cashier was very friendly and patient while we ordered. A few of the things we wanted to order they didn’t have which was disappointing. The food was good and if your in the area give it a try.