Revive
In a city where the restaurant industry thrives on diversity, it always amazes me that there so few soul food restaurants. Coming from Harlem and living in North Carolina, my body is accustomed to all things comfort and soulful i.e. soul food. After receiving a Palm Sunday afternoon invite to visit a spot on Florida Avenue boasting good soul food, I made my trek across town to see if it was worth another trip to this side of town. More than worth it, Revive has me thinking I need to change my route home to grab dinner.
As many of you know I’ve traveled far and wide for food e.g. Rome for pasta, China for noodles and LA for Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles. I thought chicken and waffles did not exist (*think Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles here…) on this part of the East Coast. Round of applause to Revive for not only implementing the southern California classic but innovating it with RED VELVET. Maybe I’m a novice to this but I do know Red Velvet waffles are not around these parts and by these parts I mean DC.
Small, casual with most of the restaurant space used for the kitchen, Revive is ideal for carry out or delivery. The menu offers the usual suspects of a soul food menu with reasonable price points (*$5-$10). My only issue was the parking along this Florida Avenue/North Capitol intersection which could deter even the soul food lover in me from visiting. To my relief, Revive offers curbside service (*every restaurant should be doing this by now…).
After hearing me rant about the Red Velvet waffles, you would think this was the best part of my meal. Ironically, the pivotal point in my meal was when I bit into Revive’s fried chicken. Juicy, tender, crispy without all the greasy spillage describes the 5-10 minutes of bliss I experienced. I tried my hand at retrieving the recipe, of course, but to no avail. Revive is not giving up the goods. They are, however, giving up the goods for you to taste and if you know one thing about dining in DC: get to it before everyone else.
Category: Announcements, Food.Fun.Stuff., restaurant reviews, Washington D.C.