Last year I stopped by a soul food restaurant in a small tiny building that used to hold Philly’s Inc building at 1714 E Wassall St. The restaurant was called This Is It: Soul N’ Southern. I really enjoyed my original visit but I’ve also seen my fair share of soul food spots open and close quickly. It’s unfortunate but lacking a diverse menu could play into the early demise.
But This Is It has been offering specials especially on the weekend to attract new customers and entice people with an offering not often found around town. It’s been nearly a year and I wanted to go back to get some more delicious soul food.
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1714 E Wassall St
Wichita, KS 67216
316-413-9151
Open Daily from 11am until owner’s discretion (usually 5-6pm)
Cash/Card Accepted
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This Is It may be a better option for carryout than dining in because there are only a handful of available seats in the building.
The regular menu includes your basic staples commonly found at similar restaurants: chicken wings, fried porkchops, catfish, and burgers. They also rotate different daily specials like oxtails, chitterlings, lasagna, neckbones, meatloaf and more.
I just happened to be by on the weekend and special that day was baked neckbones and oxtail. YES!!!!!!!
The baked oxtail was $12.99 while the baked neckbone was $11.99. Both came with two sides, cornbread, a drink, and dessert. I couldn’t decide between the two so they gave me a sample of each to try.
Both were amazing; meaty, flavorful, and tender. I ended up choosing the baked oxtail for my lunch. It came with beans and greens along with cornbread and some cake. I wasn’t too crazy about the beans but the greens were excellent. I loved the soft and easy to chew texture of them. The star of the show though? Baked Oxtail.
As noted early, they were meaty, flavorful, tender, had some good fat on them that I enjoyed. Just a really wonderful dish that you can’t find in town often. It wasn’t a meal that left me hungry either. They were plenty generous on the amount of oxtail included in my meal. I barely had room for any of the cornbread of dessert.
And the ‘Ghetto Kool Aid” was the ultimate sugar rush that kept up going the rest of the day. Just like the first time I tried it, I think there were sixty cups of sugar for every one Kool Aid packet. So long coffee, HELLLOOOOOOO Ghetto Kool Aid!
As I was eating, the owner looked at me and asked if I came right around the time they opened. She actually remembered me from nearly a year ago on my only visit. She even recalled that I was getting ready to be a father and our discussion from my only visit. Keep in mind we had never met before aside from that one encounter. Her son was working with her that afternoon. It reminded me of the times, my mother would take me to work with her. Even though I hated every second of it then, I appreciate it now.
I assured them, I’d be back for their Sunday special of chitterlings.
Overall it was a great time at This Is It. Between the food, the owner’s remarkable memory, the service and everything under that building’s roof, I very much enjoyed my time there and can’t wait to return.
Here’s their menu:
Happy Dining,
Eddy
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