Profile

Miss Ruthie, the owner of this eponymous restaurant on a dreary stretch of DeKalb Avenue, is proud of her food. You might even overhear her bragging to customers that her restaurant was rated "the second-best restaurant in the world." By whom, it's not clear, but halfway into your piles of impeccable, syrupy candied yams and sharp mac and cheese, you won't argue the point. The doyenne herself toils in the tiny kitchen, stirring giant pots of collard greens spiked with bits of smoked turkey and frying chicken to order. The chicken (skip the breast for the thigh-and-leg option) comes out minimally greasy and as crisp as your soul-food-loving heart desires. Yet since there's no heat lamp for your chicken to languish under, you'll have to wait for it, either on the always-long takeout line that jams the front of the tiny, utterly shabby place or at one of half a dozen crammed, sticky-topped tables. In case you can't hang around, order the meatloaf, which is ready much more quickly. Perfectly dense and topped with a zippy tomato sauce, it just might be the second-best in the world. — JJ Goode

Meatloaf, $10.95; fried chicken, $10.25-$10.95; fried catfish, $12.95; candied yams, $3.25