Here’s turkey-and-dressing a new way & a restaurant where it’s Thanksgiving all year
This is the time of year when everyone comes to Rosako’s Soul Food & BBQ for a “Thanksgiving 365” waffle.
Some of us go too late.
“Sold out of 365!” the cashier said as restaurateur and pitmaster Rosako Bailey packed up an order of rib tips and greens and a midafternoon line formed in his little soul-food takeout shop, 2816 Brown Trail.
If anything says Thanksgiving year-round, it’s Bailey’s smoked turkey served on a cornbread-dressing waffle (with sides, $12.99), a smart takeoff on chicken-and-waffles.
Rosako’s is a clever year-round soul food restaurant and caterer known for fish and shrimp specials, smoked pork and turkey, wings and house-baked pound cakes.
But right now, Rosako’s is all about turkey dinners.
This year, they’re smaller.
“Most years, everybody would be getting huge orders,” he said, stopping to talk on a busy afternoon.
But this year, he said, “people want dinner for two people, or three,” Bailey said. “It’s still the family dinner. But it’s smaller.”
That’s in keeping with federal, state and county recommendations to limit Thanksgiving dinner to small, brief gatherings of no more than six people indoors or 10 outdoors for no more than two hours.
(I call it an “SOS” — keep dinner small, outdoors and short. If you must dine indoors, open windows and doors for the best possible air circulation.)
“Everybody’s calling,” Bailey said. “But they say, ‘It’s for one person,’ or ‘It’s for two.’ So I’m trying to do individual orders, too.”
Rosako’s is taking orders through Nov. 23. His big smoked turkey dinner with sides for the family is $139 (extra sides $13.99) with extra smoked turkeys or hams for $79.99-$89.99 and pound cakes such as lemon-mascarpone or sweet potato for $45.
The regular menu includes pork, turkey and teriyaki turkey sandwiches ($7.99-$8.99), along with daily specials such as jerk-spice turkey legs (Wednesdays), smothered pork chops (Thursdays) and oxtails (Fridays).
Watch the Facebook page for specials at facebook.com/RosakoSoulFoodBBQ.
Rosako’s is open from lunch until sold out daily except Monday but occasionally closes for private parties or caterings; 817-785-3393.
This story was originally published November 16, 2020 at 5:45 AM.
