San Diego Metropolitan Magazine

Bessie Johnson, the owner/chef of Magnolia’s, samples her fried catfish. (photo/alandeckerphoto.com)

I’m a fool for Southern cuisine so I was tickled pink when I discovered Magnolia’s Authentic Dining in Market Creek Plaza in Southeast San Diego.

Fans of Southern cooking may remember Magnolia’s chef and co-owner, Bessie Johnson. Johnson, who began cooking at age 12 at her mother’s restaurant in Starks, L.A., has run two restaurants over the past two decades in San Diego. Both were named Bessie’s Garret, one in Encanto and the other in La Jolla.

The 4,000-square-foot Magnolia’s features a main dining room decorated in bold Mardi Gras purple, gold and green, the Bayou Room (a private dining room for small groups and special events), and an outdoor back patio for dining and musical events.

The expansive menu includes just about every traditional Southern dish that one could want, including smothered pork chops, liver and onions, an assortment of po-boys and deep-fried catfish with all the fixin’s. I had so much trouble choosing that I ordered a little bit of everything and wound up taking about half of it home.

The “Jump Starts” appetizer section of the menu offers fried chicken wings, fried catfish fingers, deep-fried oysters (with a killer homemade remoulade), BBQ shrimp (U-peel, they-peel) and crab cakes. The appetizers run between $7 and $13, and if you think you’ll have more than one, a good option is the “Bayou Sampler” ($22), which includes the oysters, chicken tenders, crab cakes and catfish fingers.

If you have your annual physical scheduled anytime in the following two weeks, choose another restaurant. This stick-to-your-ribs-and-stick-to your-arteries fare will make your cardiologist cringe. But don’t worry — it’s nothing a little time on the treadmill won’t cure.

The entrées are served with cornbread stuffing and your choice of one “lagniappe.” Lagniappe is heard a lot in New Orleans and means “a little something extra.” At Magnolia’s, you can choose from many lagniappes and it is not an easy decision. Creamy macaroni and cheese, smoky collard greens, dirty rice, fried okra and candied yams are only half of the lineup.

If you’re still not sure this is the cuisine for you, a great way to “stick your toes in the water” is to head to Magnolia’s for lunch when five to six of the entrées are offered (each with one of those tasty lagniappes) for only $6. I recommend ordering several of the lunch special entrees and two or three of the sides and making it a feast.

I also recommend that you sample the “Crawfish Étouffée” ($15). It’s a rich, spicy brown stew made with crawfish tail meat, onions, celery and a gaggle of Cajun spices served over a bed of sticky steamed rice.

As hard as it may be, try to save room for a piece of Bessie’s sweet potato pie, peach cobbler or bread pudding (all $5.50). They are worth the calorie intake and a perfect way to “laissez les bon temps rouler,” to “let the good times roll,” as they say in New Orleans.