How do you become a centenarian? For Elizabeth White, achieving 100 years of age may be attributed to living the Golden Rule (“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”). She instilled that spirit into the restaurant she purchased from her brother in 1964. Phoenix was a much more segregated city when Elizabeth White christened her eatery “The Golden Rule Cafe.” Despite the prevailing attitudes of the time, she believed in treating everyone with kindness and respect, a core tenet of the Golden Rule. Her prominent prescence and welcoming spirit led to guests adding “Mrs. White’s” to the “Golden Rule Cafe.” Like the wonderful woman who founded the restaurant, Mrs. White’s Golden Rule Cafe is an institution.
Mrs. White’s Golden Rule Cafe is a home away from home for guests of all walks of life. Famous clientele include Senator John NcCain, Jesse Jackson, James Brown and others. Guests frequent Mrs. White’s for comfort food, but they return because of the hospitality. You really are treated like a welcome guest. A longtime community cornerstone, its kitchen serves up authentic Southern soul food reminiscent of grandma’s cooking. Slow-cooked meals prepared to order hearken back to the days before homogenized food at copycat restaurants. It’s not a fancy restaurant by any stretch and it’s not exactly easy to get here, but wow, is the trip worth it. It’s a trip made by the Food Network, Travel Network and most recently by the bombastic Gordon Ramsay.
“Wait a minute,” you say, “doesn’t Gordon Ramsay visit restaurants in dire need of help? Indeed, the “Gordon Ramsay’s Secret Service” show was synopsized as “Gordon surveils and works to save a legendary soul food cafe on the verge of losing its legacy.” The show’s premise is to gather raw, unfiltered evidence and geta view of major issues facing a restaurant. He works with an “insider” to infiltrate the restaurant after hours to investigate the kitchen with black light technology that sometimes reveals “dirty secrets.” Ramsay then takes drastic measures to transform not only the restaurant but also the staff. Ramsay recognizes that he can upgrade the menu and renovate the restaurant, but the most important change has to come from the people.
In the June, 2025 episode, Ramsay encountered a deteriorating building, malfunctioning oven, peeling counters, dysfunctional equipment, and family conflict over management, particularly between Mrs. White and her son, Larry. With techniques similar to what a professional interventionalist might employ, Ramsay helped the family transform the restaurant, leading to improved kitchen operations, a focus on the restaurant’s founding principles and a renewed determination to preserve the restaurant’s legacy. Whatever problems may have existed earlier in the year seemed a long ago memory. We found an immaculate restaurant being capably run by Mrs. White’s eldest granddaughter.
Mrs. White’s menu has been called a “treasure trove” of classic Southern food, each dish crafted with care and tradition. Every item on the menu tells a story of love and heritage. It’s soul food at its very best–honest, satisfying and full of heart. Among the standout dishes that keep guests coming back are golden, crispy and juicy fried chicken; a hearty slice of meatloaf topped with a tangy tomato sauce; collard greens slow cooked with smoked meat and mac and cheese as creamy and cheesy as your dreams might conjure up. Inscribed on the rooftop enclosure is “Chicken Fried Steak 7 Days a Week.” Doesn’t that sound like an invitation?
In his terrific tome Soul Food: The Surprising Story of an American Cuisine, One Plate at a Time culinary historian Adrian Miller declared red Kool-Aid to be the official soul food drink. That’s a pretty audacious claim for which he puts up a good argument. In the South, Kool-Aid tends to be made with almost as many scoops of sugar as there are granules of Kool-Aid. That wasn’t the case with the fruit punch kool aid at Mrs. White’s. It tastes like a sweet, sugary, artificial blend of tropical fruits, primarily cherry, pineapple, and orange, similar to other classic fruit punch drinks and Hawaiian Punch, with a distinct candy-like essence rather than real fruit juice
Shortly after our beverages (sweet tea for my Kim, brother-in-law Tim and his bride Lola) were ferried out, our delightful server brought out a plate of cornbread. Unlike the cornbread which falls apart into a crumbly mess, this cornbread was light and buttery. While the rest of our party enjoyed the cornbread with even more butter, I doused mine in hot sauce. It drew comments of “yech” from our guests who roiled at the notion that I might actually order oxtail (a dish I love).
Perhaps it was the signage on the roof that beckoned me or maybe it was remembering all the trips Bruce “Sr. Plata” Silver and I made to restaurants serving chicken fried steak, but my choice was inevitable. As with other plates on the menu, the chicken fried steak is served with two sides. This is an excellent chicken fried steak with a delightful crust so reminiscent of fried chicken. That crust sheathed a very tender and juicy pounded steak you could cut with a fork. My sides were mashed potatoes and gravy along with a jalapeño cornbread. The latter took me back to Hackney’s in Lake Zurich, Illinois where coleslaw was made with horseradish.
Everyone else at our table had Mrs. White’s fried chicken. Every credentialed source you’ll find across the state will tell you Mrs. White’s fried chicken is the very best in Arizona. It’s hard to dispute that. The chicken is moist, juicy, golden…absolutely mouth-watering. Best of all, it’s chicken on steroids. Every piece is large and meaty. My Kim doesn’t often finish a plateful of anything she orders, but save for the morsels she shared with me, she finished off her chicken.
Mrs. White’s Golden Rule Cafe is among the very best fried chicken restaurants we’ve visited across the fruited plain. We would love to have met the lady who subscribes to the golden rule.
Mrs. White’s Golden Rule Cafe
808 E Jefferson Street
Phoenix, Arizona
(602) 262-9256
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LATEST VISIT: 27 December 2025
# OF VISITS: 1
RATING: N/R
COST: $$
BEST BET: Fried Chicken, Chicken Fried Steak, Mashed Potatoes and Gravy, Jalapeño Coleslaw, Fruit Punch Kool Aid
REVIEW #1506