Luella’s Southern Kitchen is a Black-owned Southern restaurant in Chicago. Chef and owner Darnell Reed opened the restaurant in 2015 to honor his great-grandmother, Luella Funches. She brought her Southern cooking traditions to Chicago from Mississippi in the 1940s. Today, Reed draws on those family recipes and his own culinary experience to serve Southern comfort food with influences from across the South.

The menu features made-to-order breakfast and brunch dishes with bold Southern flavors. Favorites include buttermilk fried chicken and waffles, crab-stuffed shrimp and grits, Nashville hot chicken and waffles, Creole catfish, biscuits and gravy, and buttermilk pancakes. Guests can add classic Southern sides such as baked mac and cheese, collard greens, cream cheese grits, and buttermilk biscuits. Beignets and pecan pralines offer something sweet to finish the meal.

Luella’s Southern Kitchen works with regional farms and producers to source many of its ingredients. The restaurant also offers takeout, delivery, and catering for weddings, corporate gatherings, celebrations, and other events.

For diners searching for Southern food and brunch in Chicago, Luella’s serves familiar comfort food through the lens of family tradition and Chef Reed’s professional culinary background.