I moved to Chesapeake from NYC in February 2023. My husband and I have been tirelessly looking for a descent Soul food restaurant. Unfortunately, I found NOTHING UNTIL TODAY! I ordered chicken wings, Mac & cheese with yams and cornbread for him and white rice with gravy, collard greens, and whiting fish for me with a side of potato salad. I didnt get too excited from all times I wasted money on so called Soulfood. You know when you do the happy dance it's GOOD! Everything I ordered was on point! The yams were sweet and smelled AMAZING the greens were seasoned perfectly, rice was ok, whiting was whitening, the mac was macking, chicken crispy, and corn bread was THE BOMB. After almost 2 years I finally found my go to soulfood restaurant. The prices are affordable and the portions are GENEROUS. Im not getting paid for this review, but im sure there are alot,of people who like to spend hard working money on REAL FOOD. This is it! You will not regret it. Let's support black owned businesses. Especially if they can throw down in the kitchen! HELLO GOOD MORNING! Im done im getting back to my foodPEACE!
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Veronica B
54 contributions
Liked
• 9/1/25
• DoorDash order
As you can see, I order from JEMS quite a bit and they have a really good wing recipe that never fails! However, I finally got to try their ribs today which had a really good sauce but I paid $8 for 2 ribs.....not too happy about that! The sides are good, pork chop/fish also really good so I'm a fan 9 times out of 10 but today turned me off.
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Latee D
Local Expert • 148 contributions
Liked
• 4/19/25
• DoorDash order
The two dinners were very well seasoned! The Smothered Pork Chops were tender and very tasty. The Mac and cheese and yams were good. The Liver & Onions Dinner cooked very nicely tender and plentiful! The mashed potatoes and green beans were good as well. The Collard & Cabbage Mix worst part of the meal sadly the cabbage was so mushy and bland the collards were just ok I had to add seasoning. I would try this place again I just wouldn't get the cabbage.
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Sam S
Local Expert • 89 contributions
Loved
• 12/22/24
• DoorDash order
Eveything, and I mean EVERYTHING was delicious. The Beef Meat Loaf Dinner came with two very generous slices of flavorful meatloaf, and the mac and cheese and collards sides were perfectly cooked. The White Rice side with the gravy was exactly what I was craving, and the cornbread was good.
The lemon Cake was reasonably priced for a tasty, light and fluffy slice with flawlessly smooth buttercream frosting. I will definitely be ordering from this place again!
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Karen M
Local Expert • 29 contributions
Didn't like
• 5/22/25
• DoorDash order
This was my first time ordering from Jem's Take a Plate. The good news is my husband liked the Beef Meat Loaf Dinner he says it was a generous amount and tasted good, and that he got his money's worth. I tasted his meat loaf, to me it was bland. The cornbread was the best thing on the plate. I was influenced by the raving reviews, and ordered the Fried Chicken (2 Pieces) for myself, with collards, and a side of Macaroni & Cheese. The Fried Chicken (2 Pieces) was dry and tasted as though it was cooked in old grease; not pleasant. About the rest of the food, let's just say that I was greatly disappointed, and would be hard pressed to say I would order from here anytime soon.
