Luella's Southern Kitchen Returns as a Brunch Spot in Albany Park

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A stalwart Chicago restaurant is reopening as a breakfast and brunch spot one neighborhood over. After a decade in Lincoln Square, Luella’s Southern Kitchen is moving to 4114 N. Kedzie Ave. in Albany Park to serve breakfast and brunch dishes like chicken and waffles and biscuits and gravy Wednesdays through Sundays. It opens August 6.

“Our [weekend] brunch was really popular at Luella’s, so I’m hoping that if we move to brunch five days a week, people will support us,” says Darnell Reed, the chef and owner of Luella’s.

With its homestyle Southern cooking inspired by Reed’s great-grandmother, after whom he named the restaurant, Luella’s won the appreciation of both neighbors and influential associations like the Michelin Guide, which awarded it a Bib Gourmand, and the James Beard Awards, for which Reed was a semifinalist in 2022. But a dinner restaurant’s hours are not favorable to those with families, and Reed wanted to spend more time with his two children.

“It’s so demanding, that sometimes it feels like the industry makes you choose: your family, or the restaurant,” he says. He was at work when his kids got out of school, and they were in bed by the time he got home. “If I offer brunch, I think I can balance things a little better where I can prioritize both.”

So he announced that he would be moving the restaurant last year, but then a deal for a new space fell through, leaving him to keep the Lincoln Square location open until June of this year. He initially wanted to move the restaurant to the South Loop or Logan Square, but eventually found the building in Albany Park, which previously housed the Mexican restaurant El Alebrije, and thought it was a perfect fit – plus it was close enough to the original location that it could retain many of the neighborhood customers.

Reed bought the building, which allows him more favorable financial terms and the ability to address maintenance issues on his own time – another form of security, given that even institutions can close over maintenance disputes between tenants and landlords, as the venerable bar The Violet Hour did earlier this year.

Dishes from brunch at Luella’s original location will be available at the new space, along with new creations like a donut play on a sticky bun and some specials that sold well. “We’ve always been into having items that are very regional,” Reed says, like the open-faced Kentucky sandwich known as a Hot Brown, which drapes turkey in a rich cheese sauce. “People that have tried it in Kentucky said ours was a better version, which is great to hear,” he says of when he served it as a special a couple years ago.

Shrimp and grits get a glow-up, with the addition of smokiness to the grits, crab, and extra corn in the form of the Creole dish maque choux. Intrigued by the trend of fluffy pancakes, Reed has refined his buttermilk hotcakes to make them extra tall, topping them with a compote of blueberries from Mick Klug Farm, one of several local farms from which Reed will continue to source ingredients. Reed will continue to dream up weekly specials, as well as a rotating French toast. Beloved sides like Reed’s collard greens and mac ‘n’ cheese will also still be on the menu.

Before Luella’s returns, Reed is partnering with Common Pantry and Mays Music Centre of Excellence for a gospel brunch on August 2 to fundraise for both nonprofits, which are a food pantry and music school, respectively. It’s a celebratory way to ring in a new era of Luella’s.