The Cooking Pot 5622 East Independence Boulevard, Charlotte, NC 28212

"This place was not inviting. The lady in the front was so rude. There was no menu they said when we ask for one. I believe she made up the prices on the spot. She charged me $22 for okra soup and told the young lady right in front of my face that she gave me too much soup, which was not the case at all. The food lack flavor and the beef was super hard, needed to cook longer. The food was over all trash and the portions are very small. We will NOT go back.....please ask for a menu!"

"Talk about terrible customer service. The lady came to serve me and was chewing while making my plate and instead of apologizing tried to justify and argue with me. Customer is always right. Then gave me attitude when asking about prices. I just come to the conclusion that they do not take well to black Americans to well. Food is very mediocre. The worst African restaurant in town. I should've went to Royal cuisine on East way. The chicken was so hard and dry I'm convinced they are using old chicken. Now I know why I never see people in there."

"This is what you get for $30, a spoonful of egusi with fufu & side of jollof rice that tasted burnt. I walked into the restaurant and asked for a menu, was told they dont have menus and then she proceeded to ask me what i want. First red flag. You would think with charging this amount of money for these tiny portions you would at least receive good service or something that would make you feel like what you just paid for was worth it but that wasnt the case. I rarely ever write reviews but this was not a good experience overall. And from the looks of the responses of these other reviews on here, this business doesnt seem to take accountability or know how to provide customer service. The pictures are before anything was eaten. On the left is how the food came & was presented to me. On the right, i scraped some egusi to the side so you can see the depth & actual amount that was given."

"I really want to give this place 5 stars; however the food quality is hit or miss and I absolutely love authentic African food. The Moi Moi (grounded and seasoned to perfection black-eyed peas) is my absolute favorite thing to get here. When it comes to the chicken- it has never seemed like fresh chicken as it is always fried extremely hard and then sauced, it seems like day old chicken. The jollof rice is good; however I wish that they would make a milder version so those who can’t tolerate spice that well can enjoy or at least try it out too. Everything looks delicious from the photo but the chicken was a miss. The moi moi didn’t disappoint. Update in response: I’ve actually frequented several African restaurants and this restaurant several times and depending on time of day of arrival the food consistency differs. I wouldn’t have left a review stating my thoughts if I had only visited once or twice. African food is one of my absolute favorites as it intertwines closely with Gullah cuisine. I’m not saying based on this review that I’ll never visit again, it’s just the quality has not been consistent on the times that I’ve been. Again the Moi Moi, has never disappointed me."