Henderson’s Soul Food

The secret to soul food, according to Aliceson Henderson, is love.

The aromas coming from the kitchen of her family-run Cypress restaurant, Henderson’s Soul Food— oxtails simmering in gravy and peach cobbler fresh from the oven—draw customers in as soon as they walk in the door, Aliceson said.

“I want everyone who comes in here to feel like they’re in their own kitchen,” she said. “I want to treat them like family.”

Born and raised in Chicago, Aliceson first arrived on the west Harris County restaurant scene with her husband, Patrick, when they opened Mother’s Southern Cafe on Fry Road just north of I-10. The couple had to shut the eatery down after building codes changed, and they could not afford to bring it up to code, she said.

After working several years for IKON, the contractual print shop for Katy ISD, and as a supervisor at Health Help, Aliceson said she and her husband were ready to try the restaurant business again, opening Henderson’s Soul Food in Cypress last summer.

Helping the duo achieve its dream is restaurant manager and son Khalaan as well as daughter Lazaysha, two of the couple’s seven children.

Raised by her grandparents, Aliceson said she was about 10 years old when her grandmother started calling home from work, teaching her over the telephone how to make dinner.

“She’d say, ‘Take out that chicken and put together these spices,’” Aliceson said.