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Soothing comfort food that brings back warm memories of family dinners generally include soul food which includes foods such as fresh, golden, crunchy fried chicken, fried crispy fish and steaming macaroni and cheese that will make your mouth water for more.

            The restaurant Soul Spice has a menu consisting of the self-proclaimed best soul food in Des Moines. Their menu includes meals that will make you beg for more including beef or turkey burgers, fried potatoes and onions, meat loaf, ribs, chicken and waffles and the list goes on. Located at 910 E. Hull Avenue and open Mondays-Saturdays 11 a.m.-11 p.m. and Sundays 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Brian Spicer, the owner of Soul Spice is originally from Chicago. His inspiration to open a restaurant came from his passion for cooking. In April of 2018 when Drake Relays were happening, Brian sold food all by himself outside his house and made over $2,000 in one weekend. The quality of the food that he made had people coming back for more. After that weekend, Spicer realized, “I need to open a restaurant.” 

A short five months later, in August, he opened up Soul Spice. When I visited Soul Spice, I noticed that it was housed in a small building that looked well put together on the inside. Brian was the only person working and we had the whole place to ourselves. The restaurant gave off a fun and exciting vibe that made me want to come back again. After glancing the menu for a couple seconds, the macaroni and cheese immediately caught my eye. Spicer assured me that he has the “best mac n cheese” that I would ever try. And with all honesty, it was the best macaroni and cheese I ever had. The cheese was melted on top to perfection and it had the perfect brown color on top with the curly rotini noodles. I also got the chicken strips with fries that satisfied my hunger. The chicken was fresh and cooked to perfection, it was crunchy and crisp. Spicer puts a lot of work into any meal he makes for his customers, and it shows. After having the chicken strips and fries, I couldn’t stop thinking about the macaroni and cheese, I had to take some to go. I personally did not expect to enjoy the restaurant as much as I did. I know I will for sure have to bring some of my friends back.

 The most fascinating fact about Spicer, is that he has been vegan for 2 years, but that did not stop him from opening a restaurant based off meat. Spicer also has vegan options as well, including vegan meatballs with pasta, which he explained was “his absolute favorite dish.” Spicer is extremely outgoing and has such a love for what he does. Even if you want someone to chat with, he is a person who could talk for hours and serve you outstanding food as well.

 Being a college student, it’s not ideal to spend money on fast food, but Soul Spice’s prices are college kid friendly. The chicken strips I ordered were only $5.99, the macaroni and cheese was $2.99 for a small size, and $4.99 for a large. It was well worth the couple dollars and a million times better than an average happy meal you could get for the same price at Mcdonalds.