This Soul Food Spot in San Leandro Serves Some of the Tastiest Gumbo in the Bay

The Midnight Diners is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and graphic novelist Thien Pham. Follow them each week as they explore the hot pot restaurants, taco carts and 24-hour casino buffets that make up the Bay Area’s after-hours dining scene.

Walking into Nella’s Place, a soul food restaurant on a quiet corner in San Leandro, feels like stepping into the living room of a particularly stylish auntie. The color scheme is all silver and white: bedazzled vases, three-ring chandeliers, curtains and tablecloths. Some of it is brand new with the tags still on, like you’re at a furniture showroom. The speakers play a steady stream of smooth R&B slow jams from the 1970s — deep cuts from the likes of Rose Royce and The Stylistics.

All in all, the place has a quiet, down-home, distinctly grown-up kind of elegance. Oh, and also: There’s a pot of gumbo simmering on the stove, and you swear it smells better than anything you’ve smelled before.

We had driven down to Nella’s — which until recently went by “Sistas Soul Food Kafe” — late on a Friday night expressly because we were in the mood for soul food. The restaurant is open until 10 p.m. and does its last call at 9:30 (we made it just in time) — so it’s pushing up against the border of what might rightfully be categorized as a late-night food spot. Then again, with so many Bay Area soul food spots turning their lights out by 8 o’clock, the ability to get a hold of a plate of smothered turkey wings after 9 felt downright miraculous.

On the night of our visit, there was a steady stream of takeout customers all the way up until closing time. Almost all of them were older Black men, in their 60s or 70s, stopping in by themselves to pick up a late dinner — in my experience, a sure sign that the food was going to be a hit.

It certainly didn’t disappoint. Start with the restaurant’s signature gumbo, which even in its smaller “lunch”-size portion came in an enormous bowl filled to the brim with andouille sausage, chicken slow-simmered long enough that even the bones had nearly disintegrated, and a big, generous pile of crab legs. And the broth! It was dark and smoky, savory and briny like the sea. I don’t want to say it was the best gumbo I’ve ever eaten in the Bay, but it’s hard for me to recall a better version. We licked the bowl clean even though we knew it meant we’d never finish all the other food we’d ordered.

And what a spread it was. There were pork chops smothered in a thick, savory gravy, the meat still tender and juicy after being batter-fried — on the saltier side, but delicious over white rice. (The owner also brought over a sample of her turkey chops — the breast sliced into thick “chops” and prepared the same way — and we liked those even better.) There was a sublimely oozy version of mac and cheese, made with the big, extra-wide elbows and spiked with jalapeños. There was even crisp stir-fried cabbage — a refreshing vegetable addition to an otherwise heavy meal.

Of course we had to try the fried fish too, and the basa was top-tier, light and crisp without a hint of extra grease. It went especially well with Nella’s potato salad, which had been blended until it was smooth and airy-light, almost like whipped potatoes, with that bright, classic Southern flavor profile.

At that point, we didn’t really have room for dessert, but it was hard to resist the charms of the banana pudding cake, which was phenomenal — moist and not too sweet, and studded with soft Nilla Wafers.

We were properly stuffed, then, with a big clamshell container of leftovers under each arm, when we stumbled out into the night, the smell of gumbo and pork gravy on our breaths. We listened to the voices of the old men busting each other’s chops inside the Black barbershop next door and made plans to come back soon — even if it was just for a slice of cake.

Nella’s Place is open Wednesday through Sunday 5 –10 p.m. at 571 Bancroft Ave. in San Leandro. Last call for food orders is at 9:30.