LINCOLN SQUARE — Luella’s Southern Kitchen’s owner is leaving Lincoln Square after nearly a decade in the neighborhood.
Owner Darnell Reed announced via social media this week he doesn’t plan to renew the lease for his restaurant at 4609 N. Lincoln Ave. when it expires in October. Saturday marks the restaurant’s ninth anniversary.
Reed said he’s looking for a new location that would let him shift the business to focus on brunch.
But before Reed leaves Lincoln Square, he wants to treat loyal customers to dishes that haven’t been on the menu for a while, he said.
“There are certain dishes that we’ve had over the years that rotate on and off the menu that people really enjoyed. Now would be the time to bring some of those back, “ Reed said. “We’ve had the brisket mac and cheese, pimento cheeseburger and sea crab soup. There’s a few things that we don’t have every day that we can bring back as specials or some other format.”
Reed spent 18 years honing his skills at Hilton hotel properties before opening Luella’s in 2015. He named the restaurant after his great-grandmother, Luella Funches.
Reed’s great-grandmother moved to Chicago from Mississippi in 1943 and gave him his first culinary lessons, which led to his restaurant offering a contemporary update to her Southern recipes, he said.
“This is my first restaurant. Lincoln Square has been really good to us. It’s always going to be something that’ll be in my memories. It’s been a great journey,” Reed said.
Part of the reason for the move is that Lincoln Square doesn’t appear to be able to support a daily brunch service, which is the direction Reed wants to take the restaurant so he can spend more time with his family in the evenings, he said.
“We’ve been living in our current home since 2018, and I’ve probably cooked in the backyard, if you don’t count COVID restrictions, I think maybe once or twice,” Reed said. “This decision is me trying to balance my work and life a little better so it’s not family versus career, but having family and a career.”
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