A Soul Food Standout is Moving to Downtown Phoenix

A new option for barbecue and other great eats.

February 23, 2018

Rhema Soul Cuisine's new Phoenix digs Chris Malloy

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Lovers of soul food and barbecue who spend time downtown are about to get a great new option for both. Rhema Soul Cuisine, the popular Queen Creek restaurant that serves soul food with a twist, is moving to the corner of 12th and Jefferson streets.

Owners Via and Ron Childs will close the Queen Creek location on March 5. They are hoping to open to serve food in their new digs by the first week of April.

"The menu is going to be the same, but we're going to add a couple of vegan dishes," Via says. "We're also going to have a beer-wine license, so that's a new element for us."

The space (which is located across the street from the New Times building and has served as home to some of the best soul food in the Valley — although it's been years since it was occupied) is currently under construction. "It's going to be a similar design, with vibrant colors," Via says. The owners, who hail from the Bronx, are planning to include some NYC memorabilia.

At the new spot, there will be live music and DJs some nights. There will be parking in the back and a patio in the front. Rhema will begin with a soft opening in April.

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Chris Malloy, former food editor and food critic at Phoenix New Times, has written for various local and national outlets. He has scrubbed pots in a restaurant kitchen, earned graduate credit for a class about cheese, harvested garlic in Le Marche, and rolled pastas like cappellacci stuffed with chicken liver. He writes stories on the food world's margins.

Contact: Chris Malloy

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