BEVERLY — The chef and owner of a popular West Side soul food spot is ready to expand his brand, starting in Beverly.
Chef Quentin Love opened the second location of Soul Food Lounge late last month at 10701 S. Hale Ave., just over a year after opening the original Soul Food Lounge in North Lawndale. The South Side restaurant is open 4-8:30 p.m. Wednesday-Friday and noon-8:30 p.m. Saturday-Sunday. Customers can make reservations online.
Love said the success of his North Lawndale restaurant — a joint venture with the Lawndale Christian Development Corporation at its mixed-use MLK Legacy Apartments — inspired him to bring it to Beverly.
Love’s goal is to develop Soul Food Lounge into a restaurant chain with locations in other parts of the city, he said.
“The demand was [there],” Love said. “People wanted to have something like this on the South Side, so I have been looking around and trying to find something that stood out, and [there’s] something about the historical essence of this location. This location was called Healy’s Cafe and historically … it had been a staple in this community for many years. It would only be fitting to do it here.”
Love also owns Turkey Chop Gourmet Grill in West Humboldt Park.
Once Love decided to pursue a South Side location, one of his business partners, who lives in Beverly, suggested he open it there, Love said. He plans to split his time between the two Soul Food Lounge locations.
As with the original Soul Food Lounge, the Beverly location serves soul food fusion, mixing Italian, Mexican, American and Asian flavors with traditional Southern dishes.
However, the menus of each location are distinct, which Love said he hopes will encourage repeat visitors at both spots.
New dishes available only at the Beverly location include Japanese teriyaki salmon, Dominican coconut catfish mangu, Mexican barbecue brisket and bayou blackened shrimp tamale.
“I didn’t want to have people come to the West Side and then say they don’t want to come to the West Side anymore because, ‘Well, I have [a Soul Food Lounge] right here,’” Love said. “I want you to continue to go to the West Side and have that experience because that’s my flagship location. That’s the one I started [with], so I have a certain level of passion for that location.”
Beverly’s Soul Food Lounge also features a different aesthetic from its sister location in North Lawndale, with dark, moody colors and strong lines that contrast with the earth tones and artsy decor of the original.
Love hopes his restaurants can be a key point in the revitalization of South Side neighborhoods, he said.
“My thought process around opening our restaurants is like revitalizing areas — bringing areas back to [their] original glory, where you can go to the grocery store, you can go to nice restaurants, you can have entertainment right in your own backyard,” Love said. “You don’t have to go Downtown for that experience.”
Love said he’s gotten a lot of support from neighbors for his new Beverly restaurant, which he attributes to an increased appreciation for life and the desire for more positive experiences following the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I love food, I really do. I love what food does to people, and food makes people happy, and that’s what the Soul Food Lounge [does],” he said. “When people come here, I want them to be very happy when they come in, and more [happy] when they leave out. That’s what it’s about.”
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