Soule, the Soul Food Smash Hit, Will Soon Open a Second Location

The second location of Soulé, the hip soul food restaurant that’s been a celebrity magnet for musicians and athletes in West Town, has an opening date. After nearly a year of hot anticipation, Soulé 2 will open on New Year’s Day at 3615 W. Roosevelt Road in chef and co-owner Bridgette Flagg’s childhood neighborhood of North Lawndale. The restaurant is in its hiring phase.

Flagg founded the original Soulé in 2017 on Chicago Avenue and the upscale restaurant quickly became a hit among celebrities and average Chicagoans, luring patrons from across the city with creole-infused soul food like shrimp and grits, fried catfish, and lamb chops. The menu draws on dishes Flagg learned from her grandmother, Beatrice “Bea” Tolliver, a native of the Mississippi Delta who went on to become the head cook for Chicago Public Schools.

Soulé 2 will be North Lawndale’s first new sit-down restaurant with a bar in half a century, Flagg told Eater in early 2022, so she’s going all out: it’ll seat 100 in a space three times the size of the West Town original and will include a bar and deck. Built from the ground up, the restaurant’s construction was funded by grants from the local nonprofit the Neighborhood Opportunity Fund.

Soule, a longtime Eater 38 member, carved a niche along Chicago Avenue, paving the way for other Black-owned restaurants in the area, including Provare. It also gave Black artists and performers, particularly from the South, a reminder of home. The restaurant’s website features a list of celebrity diners including NBA players like Chicago Bulls great Scottie Pippen.

Soulé 2, 3615 W. Roosevelt Road, scheduled to open January 1.