Toya’s Offers Homestyle Southern Fare

Toya’s Homestyle Kitchen. Photo taken April 4, 2025 by Cari Taylor-Carlson.

Latoya James, owner and chef at Toya’s Homestyle Kitchen, promises “Comfort Food, Cooked with Love” on her website and that is exactly what she delivers five days a week in her new restaurant on West Capitol Drive.

When a friend and I came for lunch, James told us she has been in the kitchen since she was 11 and that is where she learned the art of snapping beans and pulling greens from her grandma. That led me to ask, “So, where are the greens? I don’t see them on the menu.”

“Not yet,” she said, “but they will be on the menu on Soul Food Sunday which is coming soon.”

She learned how to cook from her mom and her grandma and credits them for her passion for food and her passion for creating a restaurant where her customers will feel like they are enjoying a meal at home. Just like she wrote on her website: “I serve comfort food so people will come here and relax.”

She also told us that everything on the menu is made from scratch every day which explained why the mac and cheese I ordered was not available. It was still in the oven!

When you enter this immaculate restaurant with its multiple windows and colorful painted walls, it might appear at first glance that this is a fast-food restaurant. This could not be further from the truth. Because every meal is cooked to order, you must be patient as my companion and I learned while we waited for our catfish po boy, fried okra, and pork chop bites.

James had mentioned that each protein has a different flavor in the breading and that was apparent when our meals arrived. We forgot about the wait as soon as we bit into our catfish and pork bites. The po boy had a huge piece of deep-fried fish that was crisp, lightly breaded, and combined with sliced tomatoes and lettuce in a soft bun that let the catfish be the star. My companion, a southerner, said her fried okra, a side, was precisely what fried okra should be, both crunchy and soft.

The pork chop bites, a convenient way to enjoy a pork chop without the bone, were also breaded and deep-fried. The small cubes of pork were juicy and would have been fork-tender, had I needed a fork. There were plenty to take home. I estimated there were the best of at least four chops in my basket. They were served with hot sauce and coleslaw which James’ mother, who helps her in the kitchen, makes daily.

There is also plenty more to choose from such as potato salad, cabbage, onion rings, spaghetti, and fried mushrooms from the sides. Fish and seafood choices include catfish tails, perch, shrimp, lobster, and salmon bites. You can also order wings, chicken tenders, chicken gizzards, or a leg and a thigh.

Desserts were not made in-house but no problem. We ordered caramel cake and peach cobbler from Rashida’s Creations. Both tasted as if they came straight from the oven to Toya’s, and were a delicious and appropriate way to end our very southern lunch.

Toya’s has only been open since December 2024, but based on the number of people in the restaurant and the number of carry-out orders we observed, her old-fashioned southern cooking has found its place in Milwaukee. I know someday soon I will want to return for more of her pork chop bites and another piece of Rasida’s caramel cake.

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• Location: 3326 W. Capitol Dr.
• Phone: 414-488-2060
• Hours: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tue-Thu, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
• Neighborhood: Lincoln Creek
• Website: https://www.toyashomestylekitchenmke.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61566641859714

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