What do you do when you're at life's crossroads, trying to decide where to go next? Cathy Jones couldn't quite decide on whether to open a Christian-based unisex day spa, a daycare, or continue with her current dabbling in real estate. After a few prayers, she cast all those ideas aside and decided to open a restaurant dedicated to her late mother, former Board of Education cook Janie Burnett.

Ms. Burnett's smiling face is the first thing you see when you walk through the doors of Cathy's Ultimate Soul Food Diner, just west of Central on Chicago Avenue. A mural above a set of stairs leading down to the banquet hall features the glowing face of Ms. Burnett, a reminder to patrons they're about to consume her smoked turkey pasta salad, oxtail stew, fried chicken and more.

The red and gray tiled restaurant houses a diverse group of guests, all here to devour $8-$11 lunch and dinner entrees of pork chops smothered in gravy or barbeque rib tips. Each enormous serving comes with hot water corn bread and a choice of two sides, featuring the modified recipes a younger Jones used to present to her mother in cooking competitions. Fried corn, mac and cheese, collard greens and fried green tomatoes are only four of 13 options that make decision-making difficult.

Jones also serves breakfast daily from 7 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., offering omelets for around $7 and pancakes for $4.50 to $6.00.

Centerstage Reviewer: Nola Akiwowo