Luellas Southern Kitchen - Chicago (IL)

3 /5 John Ratulowski: Took an adventure to the North Side with our son. We saw some photos online and thought wow this looks like some good comfort food. You have to find some parking, parking some distance away isn’t a bad thing based on how much food they serve you, walking it off back to the car (if you’re driving) is good. My old lady ordered the Kentucky Hot Brown, it’s a sandwich on a brioche bun, yet it wasn’t soft. It was a bit dry, moisture was needed. Gravy, ham (she doesn’t like ham), and bacon were delicious… honestly. I ordered the Chicken and Waffles smothered with Nashville Hot sauce. The chicken was hot, spicy, crunchy, and juicy. The waffle was a bit thick but the syrup made it pretty melt in your mouth. We ordered a side of Mac n cheese which was baked and there had to be some Asiago in it, it was very delicious. We also ordered some beignets to go, they were fresh and warm, who doesn’t like powdered sugar? Overall service: Ordering was a bit annoying, you had to order once you walk in, before you get a table. Also I ordered the beignets to go after I already got to my table, I had to go back up to the register and also wait in line for other people to order. It is not very spacious, wouldn’t recommend bringing in a stroller, we felt like we took up a lot of space. Food was made to order, it felt like they were understaffed, the host and the bar back/server/busser were serving food and cleaning tables. Which also caused some delay in new customers ordering. It is a bit pricey, definitely wouldn’t go out of our way to come eat here again but if we were in the area we would definitely stop by.

5 /5 Ren Lance: Being from Myrtle Beach this restaurant gives me the low country flavors I miss! My partner and I have made it our brunch spot, doing the short commute from wicker park to get a taste of rotating specials with quality products. We’ve never been disappointed! Service here is great, it smells like Church on the third Sunday where they feed you after. Really nostalgic and thoughtful curation - a single turntable playing the morning queue, wildly accepting place. Friendly for LGBTQ+ indeed. Go get your brunch, savory or sweet - family style it all for a fun time.

5 /5 Monica: Ok this place is truly amazing. We first saw this place on TikTok and it looked so good. I can say it lives up to its hype. For context, my boyfriend is a chef who can be hard to impress, and I lived in the south for 10 years. This blew both of our minds. I am a clean freak and I never touch foods that falls on the table, but I was picking up every single crumbs wherever they landed (we were a little messy). We ordered shrimp and grits, french toast (lemon and cookie crumbles this week), pimento brisket bagel sandwich (another special, don’t remember the exact name) and a side of hash browns and biscuits. Every single one of them were delicious and so flavorful. I don’t know what we have been eating before but other hash browns, grits, and biscuits we have had before aren’t the real deals because they suck. Neither of us like grits in general but we absolutely loved it here. We spoke about the food the whole time while we were there and that is unusual for us. My bf mentioned he could tell everything was made freshly also. Little tip: if you go on weekends, go early. We got there around 1pm and the waitlist was full. This was our second attempt and we went as soon as they opened. Seatings are a lot easier during the week so do that if your job allows it. We will be going back again. Thank goodness we live nearby. The only reason why we can’t stop by often is because we would be so out of shape otherwise. Absolutely amazing.

5 /5 Renee Flores: Fantastic counter service restaurant!! Order from the limited menu before you seat yourself. Everyone in my group of 4 loved their dish. I had pancakes with a side of hash browns. Both were the best Ive had in a long time. Service was a little slow. But it was super crowded on a Saturday at 11. Ambience is definitely fun & funky. Bright & warm atmosphere.