We eat here on our way to/from NC. Great food, friendly ladies. We stopped in recently right before closing hoping something would be left. The ladies were making boxes to give to those who are hungry and need a meal. They graciously offered us one and only asked for a donation rather than payment. Highlights from our times there * Fried Chicken * Greens * Beans and Peas * Sweet Potato Cobbler Stop in for a meal, stay for the family read more

Shirley's Soul Food Cafe - Soul Food Near Me - Toccoa, Georgia

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Typing this from the parking lot- face full of crumbs.... Debating on going right back in She got it! The champ of this soul food thing. read more

Came in through the back door from the parking lot. The first thing you notice is how rundown and dirty everything looks. I have been wanting to try this place for a long time. I got the salmon patties, that had so much binder I could t taste the salmon, not to mention they were very small. The pinto beans tasted oddly sweet, which was off putting. I also had fried ones, and jalapeno cornbread. Once again, very small portions. This is a place that is one and done for me. read more

The best soul food I have ever eaten. Hands down my favorite place to eat. Amazing delicious food and the secret ingredient is love.

First time there. Warmest welcome imaginable, great home cooking. Since we were first-timers, Shirley sent us a complimentary cobbler desert. It was great. We will return! read more

3.7 Good pork chops. Ok chicken. Not that hot but that's how it is with how they serve you. Supposedly they switch up every day. Home style. I like the drink included. Good blackberry desert. Very Sweet tea, perhaps a little heavy handed with the sugar. Nice service. read more

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Everything tasted so good and it was nice to find a good place to eat in Toccoa. Shirley is super nice!

Ms. Shirley is a national treasure and must be protected at all costs! We went on a Friday - fried chicken, veggies, and banana pudding, all delicious. She serves the leftovers to homeless people, and runs two missions to help the downtrodden people in the area. Read some previous comments about price...if you think this is too expensive, reexamine your priorities! read more

Shirley's Soul Food Cafe - Soul Food Near Me - Toccoa, Georgia

This is the best in good old-fashioned home cooked food in all of Georgia. Shirley feeds the leftovers to the poor and downtrodden. Not single crumb goes to waste. Shirley is a culinary goddess. Next time I'm in Georgia, this will be my first spot to dine. She closes early in the afternoon so make a bee line to the best southern cooking in the state of Georgia. read more

Excellent spot for lunch. Beautiful spirit owner. Very professional. Food served hot and delicious. read more

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A surprise stop during a trip to the falls. The atmosphere definitely makes you feel like you are eating a meal at your grandma's house. Cabbage and potato salad was on point. Excellent! Friend chicken and Mac and cheese were good. Menu changes daily. Drinks include sweet tea or lemonade. Staff was super friendly. I would definitely come back and visit again. read more

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really good food & kind staff. down home feel to the place. fried chicken & mac and cheese were among my favorites. they were also really kid-friendly, letting kids be kids. read more

I love Shirley. Her vegetables have sugar added to all of them if you are concerned about sugar.

Love the home cooking! And the ministry it supports. We eat there anytime we're in the area. Thank you!

Southern family style cooking. A Clean and friendly place. Shirley's commitment to feed the homeless is a reason locals patronize her miniature restaurant. read more

I don't know where to start! The food was awesome! The owner was very, very very friendly as was the staff. We will definitely be back. loved everything that we had. read more

Mama Shirley!! Recommended by Richard R.- we came to see Ms.Shirley after hiking in Tallulah. We were hungry and tired, and ready for some good food fast. Called Ms. Shirley and she prepared our table for 15. She reassured us over the phone that we would be fine and said in her Mama Shirley voice "come on in baby"! We arrived and the staff was ready to serve us. Ms. Shirley comes out of the back to ring up our orders and thank us. She inquired about where we traveled from and made us feel like we were sitting right in her living room at home. They made us forget all about that post hike exhaustion or starvation. The server kept our cups filled and belly full. We only spent $35 for 4 plates, and was happy to tip more based on the experience. A plate comes with an entree, 2 sides, and a drink. I preferred the Arnold Palmer! We ordered quite a bit..fried chicken, catfish, whitening, ribs, Mac n cheese, cabbage, and cornbread. The catfish is "slap somebody" good!! Seasoned perfectly on that flaky fish...and the fried chicken was was my 2nd favorite. The veggies were great-cabbage was a tad sweet which my kids enjoyed! Everything was delicious, it reminded me of the food I grew up on. The overall feel of Shirley's was something you'd just have to experience. We met a lot of local regulars who she knew by name. And Ms. Shirley told us about her homeless ministry that not only employs the homeless at her restaurant, but gives them a place to live and call home. The prayer list on the wall is something I've never seen in a business, and shows me how much we need more people like Ms. Shirley in the world and have to keep supporting them as well. Her restaurant reminds you of that old church fellowship hall. Not fancy at all, but full of love, laughs, and food for the soul! read more

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Great Food. Great People and Great Prices They treat you like Family and make sure You are Happy and Full before you leave. read more

Great food and the nicest people you would ever meet. Charming place and down home cooking makes this one of my favorite places to go when I come back home for a visit. read more

I was first introduced to Ms. Shirley's by a wonderful sweet man who is now in heaven. WC Clary. He knew my love of Collards and other country food my granny cooked for me as a little girl. Shirley has the best Squash Casserole I have ever had. I ususally get her pork chops, collard greens and squash casserole along with a biscuit and a couple slices of her red ripe tomatoes. I have never ever been disappointed by the food. She is one of the most giving and loving business owners and her heart is filled with so much love for the Lord and those around her. The restaurant might not be like most as it is truly a little bit of home cooking and ways to meet the locals. I love you Ms. Shirley thank you for all you do and for that yummy grandma food. read more

Way too pricey for the amount of food. Food was good but too expensive. $13 for a meat and 2 veggies and drink. Not worth the money.

Absolutely great meat and 2 veggies roll and tea for $12. Soul home cooked food. They have livers on Mondays and fish on Fridays. Great place to have lunch. They open at 11:30 and they serve in a line. Awesome desserts too. read more

I'm gonna take a moment to tell you a little about two famous residents of Toccoa Georgia. One you probably know and one you probably don't. --- Joseph James Brown, Jr. was born on May 3rd, 1933 to a 16 year old mother and 22 year old father. It is said that a mix up on his birth certificate reversed his first and middle name which is how we all came to know him as James Brown. Brown was convicted of robbery at age 15 and was sent to a juvenile detention center in Toccoa GA to serve his sentence. While there he formed a gospel quartet with 3 other inmates and after being released joined forces with a man named Bobby Byrd, whom already had a band. James lingered around Toccoa for a number of years and married Velma Warren in 1954 just 2 years after being paroled. James had several children with Velma, who is still a Toccoa resident. The other person I would proudly like to introduce to you is Shirley Combs, owner and operator of Shirley's Sole Food Cafe in downtown Toccoa, GA. Shirley opened her restaurant in June of 2000. On opening day, no one came, probably due to the fact she had not advertised her opening... or more likely because it was just meant to be exactly the beginning she needed. Hours later a homeless man knocked on the rear door looking for something to eat. Shirley not only obliged him, but told him to gather any others in need of food and fed them instead of letting all that food go to waste. Nearly 17 years later, Shirley still invites the less fortunate to come eat at her restaurant after closing time (2pm). Her love for people was apparent to our entire group as she stayed open late one Saturday to accommodate our hiking crew of 12. She sat with us towards the end of our meal and shared a few stories of the town, TV appearance, James Brown, and her homeless shelter ministry that came to be in 2006 and continues to this day solely on donations. --- THE FOOD Our group was starving and we arrived about an hour later than Shirley expected. Since she closes @ 2pm, I called her earlier in the week to ask if she wouldn't mind staying open later than normal so I could bring our group for a meal. The plan was to be there by 1:30 pm, but in actuality we didn't arrive until nearly 3. This is very much a meat and two operation. I had that famous fried chicken, a pork chop, mac n' cheese, green beans, corn bread and sweet tea. I thoroughly enjoyed the fried chicken while others couldn't stop raving about the baked chicken. There were mixed feeling about the mac n' cheese not being "cheesy" enough, but Shirley makes it very similar to my childhood memories of my grandmother mac n' cheese. She uses less seasoning than my Grammy, but I still found it enjoyable. What made the meal even more enjoyable for me was knowing who cooked it and how she puts her profits to use! Now that she is on my radar, I fully intend to go out of my way to eat here and maybe even be of use to her shelter ministry if possible! Fried Chicken - 4.5 stars Baked Chicken - 5 stars Pork Chop - 3.75 stars (a little dry) Green beans - 4 stars Baked potato slices - 4.5 stars Banana Pudding - 4.5 stars Sweet Tea - 3.5 stars (a little too sweet) --- FINAL THOUGHTS Shirley truly is a beacon of good! Good food, good deeds, good influence and a GREAT heart! On top of operating a restaurant and two shelters (one for men and one for women/families), she also has a thrift store and food pantry. A wonderful place to bring used clothing, books, blankets, electronics, furniture and if you feel lead... new socks and underwear. I want you to come here because of the food, but I REALLY want you to come here to support someone making a difference in her community, one person at a time. I was bursting with joy that our group took the time to place a little something each in the donation jar for the ministry. I drove home with a full belly and a smile on my face just having had the opportunity to sit with an angel like Shirley. Much success to you my dear sweet new friend! Shelter support information: https://www.shirleyssolefood.com/shirley-s-shelter 2017/28 read more

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Dirty Nasty I'm Surprised the health department hadn't closed them down Surely Surely your food is now terrible Eating there for years Also the attitude of the employees is horrible read more

Whenever I go hiking, I like to find good restaurants in the area to eat when i'm done. Shirley's Soul Food Cafe more than meets that criteria for me. I'll tell you why! The very best reason was simply the fact that Shirley's staff closes at 2pm on Saturday, but they were more than happy to stay open an extra hour for our large group of more than 10 people. In terms of flavors, I ordered the following meat and 2 sides meal ($9) which comes with a drink of your choice: Fried chicken legs x 2 mac and cheese steamed cabbage banana bread pudding - $2.50 Lemonade The fried chicken tasted similar to home fried chicken. Really good, very crispy, good flavor! As an fyi, you can order two different meats...one fried chicken leg and one baked chicken, or chicken and one pork chop, etc. I didn't know this at the time The steamed cabbage was pretty good, as was the corn bread that came with it. The mac and cheese was simply okay to me and I wouldn't get this side again. The banana pudding was a little too bready for me. When you got some of the pudding (there really wasn't a lot of it) with the breading though, oh it was amazing and I would recommend it. The beverages were interesting, as there was a range of lemonade, sweet tea, water, and half and half tea. Several of us thought the tea or lemonade was too sweet, but others would say the opposite. It really depended on the batch of the drink you got as to how much sugar you got. My lemonade was VERY sweet, but my second cup was okay. Parking here at Shirley's has a very small front lot (maybe 3 cars) but there is rear parking that can hold a few more cars. There's a front and rear entrance to the store, and the dining area is much larger than I thought, with multiple tables, and more than enough room to seat large groups. One added bonus to Shirley (yes, there IS a Shirley), is she does help the homeless, and at the end of the day, all of her food that isn't sold goes to the homeless, which is amazing. If you're a food network fan, Shirley's was also featured on an Alton Brown show a few years back. It's good to have cash with you. On our visit their system was down and they could only take cash. There are several gas stations within a few miles that have an ATM machine though. Located in Downtown Toccoa, just a couple of miles from Toccoa falls, it's well worth a visit (both the falls and the restaurant). It's definitely going on my list of favorites. read more

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After hiking Panther Creek Trail with a bunch hikers, we headed out to Shirley's Soul Food Cafe to fill in our bellies. First of all, Shirley is a sweet heart. She closes her restaurant at 2 pm but kept it open for a big group, just as long as you give her advance notice. The restaurant actually is bigger than it looks from the outside, you do not realize that there are additional seating on the other side. It is cafeteria style. Shirley told us we could get as many meats and/or veggies we wanted. I ordered the baked chicken, green beans, potatoes, and fried okra. I didn't get cornbread or any bread, even though it came with the meal. As yummy as it sounded, I needed to stay away from the starch as much as possible. I opted for water and put lemon in it. Baked chicken was very flavorful. It was a huge piece of chicken breast. I liked the green beans and potatoes because they both complimented each other. To me, the potatoes had more salt than the green beans so both went well with the baked chicken. The fried okra was a little dry but I blame us for being late coming in after 2 pm, it was probably sitting there too long. By the ways, portion sizes are generous. The food is good overall. The ambiance is even better since her staff is attentive and Ms Shirley made sure we were satisfied. Because of Yelp, we knew about a little about her charity work. We asked her to explain it to us. She is so modest, humble, and honest. Putting all her work and faith in the Lord for always being great to her. Such a sweetheart! Whenever you're in the area, stop by. You won't be disappointed. 2017 Review #19 read more

Shirley's Soul Food Cafe - baked chicken, potatoes, green beans, fried okra - Soul Food Near Me - Toccoa, Georgia

Good food.. great service.. fast and efficient... will definitely be back. Good place to eat. Nice place friendly environment...

You cannot beat the food. Top it off with Shirley's welcoming and your day is made. For good old fashioned home cooking, this is a can't miss. read more

Ms. Shirley was sweet as pie and the food was amazing. The staff was also great! The sweet tea was a little too sweet but went well with the lemonade. Will definitely be back when visiting family. Also ask about Ms. Shirley's homemade hot pickles! read more

Omg I love Ms Shirley and her whole staff. They make me feel as one of the family. Her cooking reminds me of my dear grandmother! Love this place and food !! read more

Ms. Shirley and her folks do a great job! The Southern Soul food they prepare is excellent. The fried pork chops and cabbage were some of the best I've had. Her staff was very accommodating and quickly brought more (of the best) sweet tea. When traveling through Toccoa Georgia you can't miss this! read more

Shirley's Sole Food Cafe is a nice place to come eat and know your helping make a difference by eating there. Many people want to know they are helping the environment, the earth, humanity and here you have your chance. Shirley drives a school bus mornings and afternoons. Mid day she opens her place for lunch 11:30-2:00p. Every day EXCEPT Sunday when its closed. Ignore those evening hours you see on a picture here as thats no longer the case. You can get a meat plus two, or a meat plus three. Get a meat plus here at $9.49 plus tax which comes to $10.15. I liked the little peas that look like baby limas but are peas the best. You can also get iced tea or lemonade too, with refill. Thats included in the price. So is a piece of cornbread or plain biscuit. Shirley doesnt use ANY canned food. It will be either fresh or frozen, but never canned. If you see mashed potatos, those will be from real potatos mashed too! The peach cobbler is an add on and its very good! The building is old and hasn't changed much I would expect. There is more seating in a side room to your right of where you make your selection you might not notice. With the profits and other donations Shirley has now a Mens shelter home, and also a women's shelter too! When she closes up at 2:00p she feeds those waiting at the back door, and takes the rest to her shelters. There is a narrow drive on the left side of the building that goes in back with parking for about 8-9 cars. FYI...as a bonus the 2 gas stations right on the corner there, Exxon and Texaco often have the lowest priced gas for MILES AROUND!! Gas up after you eat if thats still the case when you go. Go to Georgia gas prices.com and enter the zip code 30577. Currently they are at $1.95 and $1.96 while prices around and on the main highway might be $2.29. So fill er up and eat at Shirley's! The gas savings will help you buy your lunch! read more

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Great food for a great cause. Buffet style. Miss Shirley is super sweet. Restaurant not fancy but clean.

Had a "Meat and Three" for ~$10.00 The sides alone made for some of the best food I have had in Toccoa so far. * Fried Chicken: 3 * Cabbage Casserole: 5 * Butternut Squash: 5 * ??? Potatoes: 5 read more

Shirley's Soul Food Cafe - Meat and Three...the sides alone made for some of the best food I have had so far in Toccoa. - Soul Food Near Me - Toccoa, Georgia

Not much to look at but service and food was excellent. Home cooking at its finest. Pork chop was like my momma use to cook them. Very friendly staff! read more

Great place to eat folks! Yah just gotta try it for yourself ! Very friendly and laid back atmosphere.

My friend used and Ms Shirley's to cater his eclipse party. He ordered fried & baked chicken, mac n cheese, butter beans, and a squash casserole. Oh my goodness everything was delish but my favorite was the squash casserole. I just wanted to crawl in the pan and swim around in all that goodness. I'll def make the trip from ATL to eat there. My friend is very giving but when he spoke of MS Shirley he spoke with respect for a woman that out gives everyone, he had tears in his eye read more

We were delighted to discover Shirley's soul food while going through Toccoa. Yes, this is a meat and veggie restaurant, but the quality of food far surpasses your typical meat and veggie restaurant. Are taste buds were definitely being tickled cuz we devoured the meal. read more

Great place. Very friendly. Plate lunches. Food is so good. I would recommend. Parking in the back. read more

Shirley's Soul Food Cafe - Baked chicken, fried livers, spicy cabbage and Lima beans - Soul Food Near Me - Toccoa, Georgia

This is my new favorite place. My good buddy, Officer Patrick Mayfiled once told me that the very best fried chicken could be found in Toccoa, and he wasn't lying. My chicken and rice was as good as my Pop's and that speaks volumes. Everything is made with love, you can taste it in each bite. And sweet Ms. Shirley even gave me a hug when I told her what a blessing she is. read more