Papa What You Cooking

Downtown Reno · Southern · $ · 50 S. Virginia St. (The Basement) · (775) 258-6862 · papawhatyoucookingnv.com

Sometimes customers cry when they eat here. Not because anything is wrong. Because something is exactly right — a bite of oxtail or a spoonful of shrimp and grits that reaches back across years and miles, landing somewhere deep and familiar. Heritage and family drive the menu and Chef-owner William Lyons cooks from memory.

He does it better than almost anyone in Reno

Located in The Basement of Reno's historic downtown post office building, Papa is tucked away and easy to miss if you don't know to look. Worth finding. It is the only Southern soul food restaurant in the region, which makes it something more than a restaurant — a touchstone for anyone who grew up with this food, and a revelation for those who didn't. The shrimp and grits are essential. The red beans and rice. Cornbread. The mac and cheese, a perfectly dressed roast beef Po' Boy. The fried bologna sandwich — yes, really, and don't skip it. And then there are the oxtails: slow-cooked, deeply rendered, so popular that what began as a one-day-a-week special is now on the menu daily. He sells over 140 pounds a week and still can't keep up with demand.

No fryers. No frozen product. William calls it the healthier side of soul food, and he means it. Save room for dessert too — pecan pie, caramel cake by the slice. This baker's son never forgot where he came from.