Dooky Chase Restaurant

The plum-colored walls of the Central City restaurant's large and elegant main dining room are filled with colorful, local African-American art, offset by the mauve and burgundy linens covering the tables.


Chef Leah Chase, nationally renowned for her down-home soul food recipes, serves a mean fried chicken in her family-run restaurant, originally opened by her in-laws as a sandwich shop more than 50 years ago. She also serves an amazing fried shrimp, paneed veal and Creole-style crab bisque, named for her grandmother. Indeed, this is the place to order any Southern favorite; stewed okra, file gumbo and sweet potatoes, for instance, are all prepared in traditional Creole style. Don't expect the usual greasiness that accompanies most Southern food.