YGFBFKitchen Review

YGFBFKitchen (which aside from being dream scrabble points) is a great little Southern/Cajun spot that has graduated from being a food truck to a brick and mortar restaurant, tucked away in downtown Conway. When I say tucked, it’s a blink and you’ll miss it sort of deal and parking is extremely limited. Right now during COVID, they have just reopened their dining room with limited seating, and otherwise online orders curbside available with a 3 item per order max and anything more than that will need to be a large order request 24 hours in advance. If you order later in the afternoon they may run out of things and they have a rotating menu. This is all a lot of restrictions, I know. But I promise it’s worth it! Ordering online was pretty easy, they’ll give you an ETA and you’ll get an email notification when it’s ready for pickup. 

Why go through all this effort? Honestly, because it’s delicious and quality takes time and you deserve something nice. These are dense packets of highly concentrated love. The Cajun smothered shrimp and grits were cooked well, with generous portions of smoked sausage and fresh grilled shrimp. The cheesy grits were a great consistency, veering neither into runny or stodgy, and was a great base to pair with the rich gravy.

The blackened chicken alfredo was also very well seasoned, with the same chicken and sausage used elsewhere. I would have liked to have more of the Cajun alfredo sauce, but the noodles were still delicious and cooked well, tender and springy.

The chicken and sausage gumbo had a great rich flavor developed by the roux and holy trinity, and you can clearly see the amount of seasoning it’s been hit with. If I had any complaints about the gumbo is that the cornbread was pretty dry and crumbly by the time I got to it and the gumbo wasn’t really soupy enough to save it, but granted it was near the end of the day. It did taste fine though and would probably be better warm in person. 

Final Thoughts

Vibe: Southern and Cajun home cooking

Value: 5/5 - Entrees run between $7-18 dollars, the portion sizes are deceptively packed and I had leftovers to snack on later.

Service: 4/5 - The young man who brought my food out was great! Online payment and pickup was quick and painless. The most frustration I had with the experience was with the website's 3 item limit. I wanted to order more things but the site wouldn't let me do so within one order and they don't take call-in orders.

Comfort: N/A - dining room has just opened back up, hope to visit when COVID risk is down

Food 5/5 - The running theme is that everything is seasoned well and packed full of flavor, hit with those strong paprika, garlic, and peppery flavors that define the genre. It’s definitely a deep comfort food and at a time when I think we could all use a little extra comfort, is a nice emotional pick me up though you’ll likely want to take a nap afterwards. While I stuck with some more traditional fare, there’s a lot of other things I’m really excited to try like their chicken and waffles and the cajun alfredo loaded fries in person to take advantage of the fresh crispiness. Everything I had was delicious and I’m really happy to have such a solid southern/cajun place with so much heart in the center of Conway. YGFBF kitchen is a great addition to Conway’s food scene and I look forward to seeing their menu and reputation grow over time.