9 reasons why you need to visit Jax's Northside

2. You’ll realize what the soul food hype is all about

Inside East 21st Street’s Soul Food Express.

Spreading north and west from the LaVilla area, the Northside has been the epicenter of city’s soul food scene for well over a century. The origins of soul food, including foods such as okra and rice, are common elements of West African cuisine that were introduced to the Americas as a part of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Soul food, as we know of it today, is a combination of West African foods and meats and vegetables that were readily available to African slaves.

Oxtails, collard greens and macaroni & cheese from Austin’s Soul Food on North Main.

Jacksonville’s status as a port during the Reconstruction era, led to a large number of freedmen locating to the area for economic opportunity (bringing their cuisine with them) during the late 19th century. Here, traditional afrocentric dishes such as oxtail, chitterlings, ham hocks, collard and turnip greens can be found in numerous hole-in-the-wall restaurants ranging from Austin’s Soul Food on North Main Street to Soul Food Express on East 21st Street.