This is as close to home cooking as there is. It's well-worth a try. Their menu is enormous and most of it is really good. Customers are spoiled for options. Their baked goods appear to be made from scratch by someone. The offerings are not consistent. The catfish is exceptional, for instance, but the short ribs and meatloaf were bland and likely purchased from a cafeteria purveyor which they merely reheat. The collards and cabbage are wonderful but once or twice, too heavily handed with salt. Given the cost of food lately, their prices have risen accordingly. What used to be a relatively reasonably priced, nutritious and satisfying meal may have become only an occasional, rather than regular treat. read more

THE GOOD ---------------- + Food served here is solid. ++++ Lunch Special BBQ Chicken with Caggage & Potatoes + Jerk Chicken with Fried Plantains & Mac & Cheese were all tasty. Lots of good flavors on all of it. ++++ Lunch Specials have good variety to choose from + 2 sides - fried chicken, jerk chicken, baked chicken, BBQ chicken, etc. ++++ Lunch Specials are $10 (as of January 2026), but some items are $1ish more. + Noticed that the dinner special portions are definitely A LOT larger, but they are also pricier. + Plenty of seating inside. + Private parking lot in the back of the restaurant. THE NOT SO GOOD ---------------------------- - Nada. MIXED THOUGHTS --------------------------- = Nada. RANDOM OBSERVATIONS -------------------------------------- = Dined from 12-12:30 on a Friday afternoon and it was empty inside when we arrived, however, it did get a little busier after we began eating. read more

See all

Came here on a Wednesday afternoon. My friend suggested this spot and it was perfect since I was in the mood for fried chicken. Once you enter, you place your order and pay at the register. Someone will call your order when it is ready. I ended up getting chicken wing lunch special ($10) which comes with three wings and two sides. For my sides I got the collard greens and Mac & cheese. The portion for the sides is really big and for $10, it's a really good meal deal. The wings were solid, crispy and juicy. Overall, solid meal. I will be back to try the jerk chicken lunch special. I wouldn't say go out your way to get the wings but if you're around the area especially during lunch hours and want soul food, this is the place. * Free parking in back * Metered street parking * Good lunch special deal * a lot of dessert options read more

See all

- Spacious fast-food spot with plenty of seating that extends deep into the restaurant - We parked on the street out front, but noticed signage at the entrance indicating free parking is available in the rear - Restaurant was empty when we arrived for lunch around 12 p.m. on a Friday; the lunch crowd began to trickle in as we were eating - Loud hip-hop music playing in the background - Employee behind the counter was attentive and patient, walking us through the menu and pricing and taking the time to point out all available food options - Lunch special portions are on the smaller side; pricing differs from the advertised $10 on the menu, with certain items carrying an upcharge - Food was decent but served barely warm: Jerk Chicken ($1.50 upcharge) had a subtle kick, though I would've preferred more heat; the BBQ Chicken (leg and thigh) was coated in a mild sauce, but the meat underneath the skin was bland; sides were hit or miss--sweet plantains were moist and tender with a slight char, cabbage was nicely seasoned, mac and cheese was very basic, and the roasted potatoes were overly salty - Overall a decent spot for a quick bite with good service and some solid sides, but small portions, pricing clarity, and food temperature leave room for improvement read more

See all

The negative reviewers are not lying! Even worse than the unreliable, inconsistent, way over-salted food is the hateful, racial-profiling ownership that made very clear they had no desire to serve us when they saw our ethnicity. "We don't want your business," was actually shouted at us before we exited. We were also defrauded after placing a phone order for two meals at the pricing listed online, having the price verified by the person taking our order ("Hassan"), and even calling back a second time to let "Hassan" know we were running a bit late due to traffic, but still coming. However, upon our arrival, our food order was missing or possibly never even prepared! Instead of offering to make the situation right, the woman identifying herself as the female owner proceeded to literally shout at and talk down to us, believing she had the right to treat customers with flagrant disrespect, as if they were dirt. An atmosphere like Paula's is simply not a safe space, underscoring the need for a higher quality, much more welcoming Southern/Soul Food restaurant in North Jersey. read more

Ordered the fish dinner and red velvet cake to go. The fish was a bit salty however when you balance all three out it worked, but if you wanted to eat them separately, the fish seem to be a little too salty. The mac & cheese was very good and creamy. Overall, a good dish. That red velvet was OK nothing really stood out to make it any different from anything else overall a good experience I would like to come back to try another dish read more

Paula's Soul Food Cafe - Red Velvet Cake - Soul Food Near Me - Hackensack, New Jersey

See all

I ordered for Father's Day. Looking forward to Beans and Rice... Less than 8 total beans in the order and it was refrigerator cold. Not good quality, to me, and I don't think anyone order BEans and rice and expect such few beans. read more

Paula's Soul Food Cafe - Beans and rice - Soul Food Near Me - Hackensack, New Jersey

See all

When I'm in the area, Paula's is the main option when I'm craving Soul Food. The food is relatively good. I grew up in the Newark area, so I've had better Soul Food in my time. I love getting the Wings Dinner but, I didn't enjoy that the wings were drenched in sauce, but the sides were delicious!! Nonetheless, Paula's remain as my go to Soul Food spot when in the Hackensack area. I might try something new next time. read more

Paula's Soul Food Cafe - Sweet Chili Wings with Mac and Cheese and String Beans - Soul Food Near Me - Hackensack, New Jersey

Honestly awful. Their chicken was dry to the point of being almost inedible, and their mac and cheese was extremely bland and collard greens more salt than vegetables. I have given them multiple chances and they are consistently inconsistent and is overall a poor value. read more

If you're craving authentic, mouth-watering soul food with a warm, inviting atmosphere, look no further than Paula's Soulfood Café in Hackensack, NJ. Today's lunch was nothing short of delightful, and I'm excited to share my experience with you all! For the main event, I indulged in Jerked Chicken with Rasta Pasta and Sautéed Cabbage. The jerk chicken was bursting with flavor - perfectly seasoned, juicy, and tender. Paired with the creamy, spiced-up Rasta pasta and tender sautéed cabbage, it was a comforting, soul-satisfying meal. But that wasn't all! I also had their Fried Whiting with Chips. The fish was crispy on the outside, flaky and moist on the inside - a classic, done to perfection. And let's not forget about dessert! Paula's famous Banana Pudding is an absolute must-try. It's decadently creamy, with just the right amount of sweetness - you'll be thinking about it long after you've finished. The service at Paula's is just as remarkable as the food. The staff is incredibly friendly and genuinely cares about providing a great experience. You can feel the love and passion that goes into every dish. It's clear that this isn't just a café - it's a community hub where great food and positive vibes meet. Whether you choose to dine in or take out, you can't go wrong here. Located at 331 Main St, Hackensack, NJ, Paula's Soulfood Café is the perfect place to satisfy your hunger and enjoy some of the best soul food around. Contact Information: Paula's Soulfood Café331 Main St, Hackensack, NJ 07601Phone: 201-880-6888Website: paulasoulfood.com If you're in the area, don't miss the opportunity to try this local gem. Trust me, you'll leave with a full belly and a happy heart! #FoodieFinds #SoulFood #HackensackEats #PaulasSoulFoodCafe #NewJerseyEats #ComfortFood #BananaPudding #SoulFoodLovers #LocalEats #SupportSmallBusiness #DeliciousDining #HackensackNJ read more

See all

Food was delicious came all the from East Orange NJ. we found Paula's via Google for soul food restaurant in the area. This was a excellent choice, we will be back, i promise you. read more

My first time here and I'm IMPRESSED the fried chicken was hands down top 2 of all time Mac and Cheese again one of the best I've ever had and I eat out a lot Short ribs were beyond tender the collards were good!!! The Carrot cake was delicious but I can't stand buttercream icing I would rather have cream cheese icing but I just scraped it off and it was superb... Not to mention the handsome gentlemen behind the counter overall a great experience I will definitely recommend this place the Smothered Chicken was the best I've eve read more

I had ordered here a while ago and it was ok but decided to try again. Ordered two fish dinners catfish and whiting was not greeted or acknowledged by staff upon walking in. Both entrees were very salty so were the greens. The whiting was tough fried way too hard it came with about 4 pieces. Catfish was better tasting came with 3 pieces but still too salty. The mac n cheese was good much less salt saved my meal. Disappointed read more

I have had the fried chicken on many occasions. This is good food and will not disappoint if you have that soul food craving. I like their cakes. I'm not sure who makes them but they are good. read more

Paul's Soul Food is one of my favorite local spots in Hackensack. This time I got the brisket platter with mac & cheese and collard greens. The brisket was sweeter than I expected -- not the dry BBQ style -- but still delicious and incredibly tender. The sides were on point, and the cornbread is always a winner. On my first visit, I tried the fried shrimp and fried chicken platter, which was equally amazing. I try to stop by at least once a month to work my way through the menu. Great vibe, friendly service, and definitely a spot worth supporting! read more

Paula's Soul Food Cafe - Soul Food Near Me - Hackensack, New Jersey

2nd time eating here 1st time was okay apparently there is no consistency with the food. This experience led me to fried okra where the batter literally fell off to a pile of flakey grease. The chicken was dry and dark like fried in old grease and sitting for a while. After running out of potato salad and waiting over 5 minutes I settled for baked macaroni as I am walking out the lady appeared with the container. I told her I settled for macaroni so I agreed with her offer to exchange. Good customer service would have had me not exchange out of my already packed bag after the wait but to offer as a compliment. Don't waste your money . How dare you rip people off like this. read more

Food was packaged nicely to keep everything warm. Yams & Catfish were delicious, however the Mac n cheese was a bit dry and bland. I took off an additional star because I ordered a peach cobbler and it was cold and smushed into a plastic container. The crust was mushy and the first bite felt like I was eating baby food instead of dessert. I doubt I would order from this place again. read more

Discovered this place a few years ago and absolutely LOVED it, but each time it just gets worse and worse, then add the rude staff to the mix. Food is often cold, often majorly salty (and I like salt) or just doesn't taste like anything at all. But today really upset me. Ordered macaroni salad and THANK GOD caught flakes of what appeared to be fish or seafood in it. Absolutely NO WHERE is in indicated it's a seafood/fish macaroni salad. With a severe seafood allergy it could have put my friend into anaphylactic shock had we not caught it. I called the restaurant and finally got an answer after 10+ calls and the girl who answered was rude as hell. I asked if it contained seafood or fish, and she said "well ya! It's macaroni salad!" I told her of all the places I've eaten I've never had anybody put fish or seafood in their macaroni salad. I went on to explain to her about the seafood allergy and how serious that is to customers with it not being labeled, and she began talking over me that I've never had it "the Paula's way!" and wouldn't even listen to a word I said about the bigger issue in customer safety. Each order I have placed with this restaurant has gotten worse and worse, but this has put the nail in the coffin that I am done. If an establishment doesn't care about its customers or the serious concerns over their health, it's definitely not a place to be dining at . There are plenty of other restaurants out there to support. read more

Paula's Soul Food Cafe - Macaroni Salad that apparently contains fish with no warning - Soul Food Near Me - Hackensack, New Jersey

I mistakenly stated that this business was closed. WRONG. Nice place. Nice place. Spacious and nice atmosphere. read more

I haven't been in awhile decided to go and get the Catfish sandwich. Normally they give you 2 pieces of fish price $10.86. Today Thursday I got 1 piece of Catfish for the same price. Won't be going back. If I worked close I would have went back. read more

Ive had food here before And was served by young brudda who was blessed energy. This time i had a rude lady not wanting to accommodate this simplest request. Attitude stinks and even though i was starving and travelled from philly i refused to eat here after the energy i received. I advise Paula to get more staff.. older senior lady with attitude needs to find new job cos hospitality is not her thing. Avoid this spot if you see a moany mean face woman behind counter... read more

If you're looking for delicious soul food, Paula's Soul Food Cafe is for you! This was our first visit and we were very impressed. The servings are generous, the food is delicious, and the staff was friendly. We were immediately greeted by Omar when we entered and he helped us feel right at home. We were offered cups for our can of soda and checked on to make sure everything was to our liking. read more

The one star reviews on here of Paula's make me sad :( I have never had a negative customer service experience at Paula's. We regularly get delivery from Paula's through Grubhub and they are pretty reliable as far as quality and taste. We love that we always get a cornbread piece with each dinner. They have gotten my order wrong maybe once or twice in the past couple years but honestly everything I've had here is so good it wasn't a big deal to me since I love all soul food. The one time I went in person I remember the cook being super friendly and nice, the lady at the register wasn't as friendly but she was not rude. Overall, I love supporting this local business and I love eating their food! read more

Last 4 times we've bought food including this evening the mac and cheese, pulled chicken, and short ribs is very very salty. No need to add alot of salt to food. Disappointed. read more

Whoa whoa! Did we order from another place by mistake or what? Coz most of the reviews here seem to speak highly of the food but unfortunately, my coworkers and I ordered for delivery and we did not share the same experience with these reviews at all. We ordered the Jerk Chicken and I'd have to agree with Porsha's review that the chicken I ordered tasted like baked chicken with some seasoning. We expected saucy, savory jerk chicken not a mediocre one - we were so disappointed. My order was ALL chicken wings too :( I had to switch some pieces with my husband's order. Edit: his order was a little better. Although not a lot considering the meal was $15, he had all chicken meat and those got some flavor. He chose mac and cheese which was probably a smart move since my side of rice looked sad. I didnt enjoy those. We got cornbread for the sides and they were so dry and tasteless. Ugh i feel bad writing such reviews but it had to be said. Im sorry. Lastly, I thought the banana pudding was gonna save this meal but sadly, it did not either. The pudding was so sweet. It's almost as if it was "instant pudding". This was one of the saddest take outs i've had. I hope this is just a one time thing and an isolated event but it doesnt seem like so. Hoping for better days for this establishment however, i dont think we will ever be ordering takeouts here again. read more

Paula's Soul Food Cafe - Cornbread - dry and tasteless unfortunately - Soul Food Near Me - Hackensack, New Jersey

See all

It's my fiancé and I first visit and certainly not the last! Paula's was great, the smothered chicken with Mac n. cheese and yams hit the spot. my Fiancé had the jerk wings. This is a def must try restaurant!! the service and atmosphere where fantastic! read more

I have been consistently ordering from Paula's for the past 8-12 mos and the food is not as delicious and has quite frankly become smaller in portions. Not sure if that has to do with profit margins but it's definitely smaller portions . read more

The service was HORRIBLE!! The female owner has a terrible ATTITUDE! I will never eat in this establishment even if someone paid me to, as the old cliche goes.. "you never know to whom your talking to treat everyone with respect". DONT eat here! read more

Paula is not very customer service forward, and she should be, because her fried whiting fish was like fish Jerky. I paid too much for the fried fish only to find when I got it home that is dry and inedible. Paula's macaroni salad was okay, but she really needs to get rid of the poor attitude. read more

My 2nd time at Paula's and it was ok but know it can be better. many reviews going back years on how dry the corn bread is and it's still dry. the restaurant is not taking their reviews seriously. the string beans were so overcooked that they smashed up when you pinched them. the whiting is now cut in 1/2 lengthwise so if you get 4 in an order, it's only 2 full pieces. need more help when they open. only one person taking orders at cash register and this day there were more than 20 people in line. this is not the only time I experienced this and unacceptable. up your game Paula. read more

Not the southern soul food taste that I thought I would be experiencing..... Maybe I purchased on an off day. Money is tight. Only buy food from places you've been too... at this point. I do believe this might have been an isolated incident. read more

While visiting in the area I was looking for some yummy soulfood and this came highly recommended from a friend. They are open during Covid you just have to have a mask but we did enter the store to place our order. I went on a Wednesday for lunch and it wasn't very busy and we were served quickly. I got a whiting dinner with collards and candy yams and our other order was fried chicken mac & cheese in college. Everything was very good and I will definitely be back. read more

See all

I host an annual Black History Month event and I cater fried chicken, yams and mac n cheese from Paula's faithfully! The event was a success and the staff called to reassure me I ordered enough food, that was sweet and goes a long way! The food was delicious and everyone raved about it! We will be back! Thank you Paula's staff and Happy Black History Month! read more

Paula's Soul Food Cafe - Soul Food Near Me - Hackensack, New Jersey

See all

Collar greens is not something I would order again However Mac and cheese is legit the brisket is roast beef pretty sure of it so that was alright for roast beef but not really if expecting brisket read more

I try to support this business and always regret doing so. I can no longer deal with the rude person at the front counter. I thought by ordering via UberEats I wouldn't catch an attitude from her but I was wrong. No matter how pleasant I am I get met with the complete opposite. read more

Awesome black-owned soul food restaurant on Main Street in Hackensack. Food is consistently good/tasty. If you are looking for authentic soul food in the area this is it! I had the beef ribs (so good)- very tender, Mac and cheese, again good, collard greens and black-eyed peas and rice. Collard greens were tasty and tender. Everything was good and the serving was plentiful for me to share my dinner with my daughter. Customer service was great. The cashier wasn't sure about something, so the manager, maybe owner, came over and assisted and she was really nice and spoke pleasantly when I told her how my kids love the red velvet cake. Definitely worth a stop. I will return for sure! read more

Service at register was excellent, very helpful and sharp. We had catfish, whiting, tilapia, chicken wings and waffles with mac and collard greens. All seafood was perfect, not over seasoned and was excellent! Mac excellent, green were nice and soft and full of flavor. I would have given them 5 stars, but how do u serve fries like that. I have a feeling they refried them. Very flavorless and dark. Cakes were good. My favorites were in this order, lemon cake, pudding, carrot cake, and then chocolate. read more

See all

I was in search of black-eyed peas to eat for New Year's Day. With the couple years that we've all had, I figure it can't hurt to try it this year. While I was there, I ordered the short ribs with stuffing and candied yams as my side dishes.I also took a side of black-eyed peas for tomorrow. Pricing was very reasonable and the proprietor was very nice. There were a couple other dishes that I definitely want to try, like the fried shrimp, okra, collard greens and the mac & cheese. I was able to park close to the store in a metered spot. The short ribs were very tender and the stuffing was delicious. My favorite side was the candied yams. I have gotten candied yams at other places and usually disappointed. The yams here were delicious and not stringy. I'm definitely coming back. read more

Went on a Tuesday night and was in the area. Stopped in and was not a sorry I did. Very good food. The service was okay. People coming and going. Orders not taken in the right order. When I ordered my dinner it came with 2 sides. The lady charged me for an extra side. I'm not sure what she was thinking. I didn't realize it until I already paid and picked up my order. read more

Paula's Soul Food Cafe - Salmon - Soul Food Near Me - Hackensack, New Jersey

Hey look, you know? How about a spotless low-key place whose food is EXCELLENT! Go girl, go! Tastykake's got nothing on you! You flow! Like candy from a lolly pop, like ice cream on a hot day. The food is fantastic. I got a set of dishes for Thanksgiving. I thought,... A little expensive? Once we arranged the buffet and got to eating, the sound of silent pleasure, lip smacking delight, the Mumm, mm mm, mum? Every moputhful. I under paid, Paula over delivered. She deserved every bit of the 20% tip then more. I am tempted to keep Paula my secret. Maybe I get there on a Saturday and they'll be no more short rib. The short rib was ridiculously delicious. I mean gratefully delicious. I mean wonderfully delicious. I am now a superhero to my family and friends. Thank you Paula's! read more