Food for the Soul
A new Lafayette soul food takeout stand feeds the appetite and the spirit.
by R. Reese Fuller
June 7, 2006

Heading west on Second Street, just after the railroad tracks, you can’t miss the bright yellow portable building on the right with red trim. Kenneth’s Soul Food owner Elizabeth Robertson named her new business in honor of her deceased nephew, who passed away when he was an infant. Along with her sister Amanda Paddio (Kenneth’s mother) and four other family members, Robertson has been serving savory soul food at her stand seven days a week for the last three months.

Robertson hopes to soon be serving breakfast as well. For now, hamburgers can still be ordered in the morning, and the daily plate lunches, ranging from $5 to $6, are ready by noon. Although the daily specials are subject to change, Tuesday’s currently stuffed turkey, and Thursday is smothered okra, Kenneth’s specialty. And Kenneth’s also has everyday specials — a link of boudin for only a buck, a hot link on a bun for $2, or a hamburger with fries for $2. “We have the best homemade burgers and pies in town,” Robertson says. The little pies (blackberry, lemon, fig, pineapple, coconut, and potato) cost $2.

“So far business has been good,” says Robertson. “We’ve been blessed, and every Sunday is our give-back day. We feed the homeless on that day.” Robertson says Kenneth’s feeds about 100 homeless people every week. “Sundays we’re open from 11 till 1, but we don’t sell any food at that time. We just serve those that are in need."

Robertson says the idea for Sundays as a day for giving was simple enough. “It’s God’s day,” she says. “God is good, you know.”