- Thread starter windeguy
- Start date
Cabarete Soul - located where "The Chinese Restaurant" used to be
I rarely see anyone in there. They have one small sign that says "Cabarete Soul" that you can only see when walking westward on the same side of the street. How many people even know what soul food is? There is no sign out front showing what they have to offer and prices. Here's from their FB page. That seems very pricey to me:
Come join us for: Corn on the Cob, Bbq Ribs, Bbq Chicken, Pull Pork Sliders, Baked Beans, cornbread and Old country Sweet Iced Tea. All for the amazing price of 1000 or 1300 DOP.
Come join us for: Corn on the Cob, Bbq Ribs, Bbq Chicken, Pull Pork Sliders, Baked Beans, cornbread and Old country Sweet Iced Tea. All for the amazing price of 1000 or 1300 DOP.
The Mac'n'Cheese and ribs make it all worthwhile....even the eventual heart attack! 😁
Rumor is Cabarete Soul is throwing in the towel and closing the doors for good. It's not surprising. They had a very poor business and marketing plan. It didn't even have a name on it for quite a while after it opened, and "Cabarete Soul" is pretty vague. Outside of the south, I doubt many people really know what soul food is(?). They never even had a chalk board outside advertising some daily specials and prices. I almost never saw anyone inside when I passed by.
The original Chinese proprietors are supposedly going to open up another restaurant in the Callejon in the near future.
The original Chinese proprietors are supposedly going to open up another restaurant in the Callejon in the near future.
So yes, what a typical restaurant fail. The owner is Dominican who lived in the States. Sent a friend by there a week ago. He was talking with the help: a cook and a waitress on their cell phones - no customers. Friend asked about the cheese used in the Mac and cheese balls or something to that effect. The cook responds: "my boss says cheese is cheese". I said to my friend, whomever can say that doesn't belong in the restaurant business. I finished by saying the place probably won't last a month.
On another note the "cook" was telling my friend the real reason the Chinese place closed was atrocities in public health, especially the kitchen part. I'm just relaying a conversation here. Not surprised either way.
Anything is possible. I do know that every summer in August they would close the restaurant for a month and would go back to China to visit family. A fairly reliable source told me that the husband, who basically ran things, became ill(someone else posted this here, also) and only recently had an operation and is back on his feet again.
Speaking of public health reasons, I heard that's why the USA Barbeque place across from the police station was closed down(unsanitary restrooms). You could close more than half the Sosua beach shacks for that reason! Lol. That was yet another poor business plan. Who wanted to sit and bake in the sun while you're eating?
I never saw one person eating there. I wish I had a nickel for every gringo that opened up a food business thinking they knew what they were doing. There are so many places, mostly all mediocre food. No one works on quality, consistency or a customer experience. You have to keep a frozen inventory here or you would go broke in a month. Here, eat this! If you don't like it, then leave. The preparation techniques are ancient, the menu items are from the nineties. The most consistent thing owners do is cut corners, the staff are poorly trained. The NC is a big fail food-wise.
highly accurate.! This is exactly why I spend less time on the north coast. Obtaining good food and service was getting difficult. A good dining experience for me is a culmination of food, service and ambiance. I don't eat at food trucks and places that allow cats to roam the dining area.
