The Soul Food Lounge

Here on a travel work assignment in Peoria and have been here twice. Each time the ladies were very pleasant and attentive with us;We get the chef's tasting each time with comes with 3 dishes, dessert or wine, and a drink for $70 a piece which compared to where we've been was a no brainer. We are from Arkansas so we were lookin for some kinda soul food which can be a challenge in America and had to drive to Chicago for some. We ended up at this place that offers a more elevated soul food type experience. The first time we went chef came and greeted us which was nice and the second time they had a guy playing violin to contemporary music which was kinda cool for ambience. Not in just the best part of the city but mind your business and you'll be ok! Would come a third time! We were stuffed and sleepy lol

Contrary to all the popular reviews, my party including myself did not enjoy this place. Another mediocre soul food place charging big bucks for poor service and unimpressive quality. This place is small but looks nice. We walked in to the hostess eating pot roast. We thought and was told it was going to be live music but turns out it was just a loud speaker behind my back The waitress was stiff as a board and lacked any possible customer service skills..even the simple and easy ones(like a smile at least). We received no napkins, barely got silverware and had to share what I think was kool-aid....We ordered the Grand Tasting...Brussels sprouts were tough and tasted air fried, the short ribs smelled funky. There was no aroma in the place of food being freshly cooked especially since it came out so fast! The only thing I enjoyed was the pond cake.

I honestly didn't know what to expect coming here, but I was destined to get here lol. Let's start with the service, I was greeted right away to be seated. My waiter was so pleasant and professional. They even offered me a purse holder. The ambiance was super intimate, love the greens and gold makes the soothing. They live music, jazz and it was pleasant to the ears not too loud. Now the good, we ordered the 3 entrees and got a complimentary wine and their signature punch. I have to say everything was so good, very flavorful. Each item was just infused with a different type of flavor. Food wasn't too salty or under seasoned it was just right. You have to try them for yourself. Ima just leave the pictures here lol. Will be back

The food and service were excellent. I ordered the Creole Seafood Dressing and my daughter ordered the Creole Catfish. We received generous portions and our entrees were served piping hot. We both had the peach tea infused with fresh herbs. We loved our entire experience at the Soulfood Lounge. Highly recommend!

I was thrilled to enjoy this black owned restaurant! My friend and I dined here on a Friday at about 6pm. I highly recommend a reservation as it a small and quaint place and want to ensure minimal wait. Luckily we did have a reservation, and we were sat shortly after being greeted by the hostess. Upon entry we were greeted by the soulful jazz tunes by a live saxophonist. This added a lively yet romantic vibe. And let me tell you this sax player had all the tunes going. Upon sitting, we were greeted by an extremely friendly server who gave us the run down on the menu, she suggested the 'Grand Tasting' menu which was a great bang for our buck so both we both partook. The 'Grant Tasting' was indeed a great bargain. You got three full sized entrees, and a complimentary drink. (non-alcoholic. tip: this place is BYOB with a s $20 corkage fee can bring wine, which we did) OUR TABLE WAS FULL!! Six full time entrees?! We were in foodie heaven. While it was indeed a lot of food, it was a good concept to be able to taste nearly everything on their menu. So here's what we ordered: Catfish Etouffee: Perfectly fried and golden catfish with perfect season and crunch in a bold stew and thick buttery garlic bread. Salmon cake: Bold and flavorful salmon cake that literally melted in our mouths. Topped with corn and a gravy which was a new and different concept to us but added more flavor and dynamic. Truffle Mac n Cheese: Cheesy rigatoni style noddles with parmesan bread crumbs and bold truffle flavor. Shrimp and Grits: Creamy creamy grits with large shrimp seasoned to perfection. Maple Glazed Fried Chicken: Fried hard chicken breast with a nice sweet yet spicy glaze served over cubed garlic potatoes. And lastly my personal favorite Creole Seafood Dressing! Blackened Catfish served with dressing that had crab, lobster and shrimp paired intently with the a sweet yam and leveled out with sauteed collard greens. Truly the star of the show. Every item was a HIT. Delicious bold in flavor, and hot/fresh. I mean each taste my friend and I hummed, and went for more bites. And allllll of this for 69 (per person?) You truly cannot beat it. Carry yourself to the SoulFoodLounge and try it yourself. You will NOT be disappointed!

Let me start off by saying Yelp needs to come up with half stars for reviews. There are times that a place almost gets it completely right on all fronts, then there are times where a small thing happens that does no allow you to take a review up to five stars. This is The Soul Food Lounge and with half stars, this would have been a 4.5 rating.The Soul Food Lounge was one of the places I selected for Restaurant Week 2024. I had seen the menu and had very high hopes for this place as the menu was quite eclectic and tantalizing to look at. The selection of entrees and the range of flavors is all over the place, but in a good way.The restaurant is located in a condo building on the first floor on the West side. There was plenty of street parking as we parked across the street from the restaurant. I was actually surprised at how quiet the street was as I always thought of 16th as a main thoroughfare to the east going downtown.The space is very small, so reservations are not an option, they are a must. You can do them through Yelp. We were fortunate when we walked in for our table as we had to wait about 5-7 min while they cleaned the table. The décor is cute and is lively, but again very small. I would definitely recommend doing 3-4 so you get a larger table to accommodate all of your dishes if you chose to do the Grand Tasting (three (3) entrees & a beverage).To maximize our experience, The Doctor, The Queen and myself all did the Restaurant Week menu, allowing us to get nine different dishes so we could all taste everything:Italian Flame Broiled Lobster Alfredo with shrimp, garlic puree potatoes, asparagus tips. This is the dish that is going to make me go back for real real. I didn't look at the menu too closely and thought this was going to be pasta but it was potatoes and I swear I swooned when I had a bit. But I am bias cause I love mashed taters and lobster.South African Peri Peri Chicken: field greens, broasted broccoli, cauliflower, potatoes, sweet herb pepper sauce. The Queen got this. She loved it but it was too spicy for me, so it is not a dish I would get, but if you like sweet and hot, do it.Creole Seafood Dressing: butter crème crab, catfish, lobster, shrimp, sautéed collards, fufu yams. The greens were soooo good.Louisiana Blackened Salmon with shrimp scampi, low country pilaf, & creamed spinach. I am not a fish person, but I could get this for myself. The fish wasn't overly blackened and the rice was nice.Fire Maple Glazed Fried Chicken: grilled pound cake, crispy herb potatoes. The chicken was fried to perfection and the grilled pound cake was a nice touch. Honestly this dish would have been almost perfect if it had not had the sweet syrup on it. It was a little too sweet for...maybe a light drizzle would have been better.Sweet Sriracha Southern Fried Steak: Asian assorted vegetables, basil rice. No idea what was thinking getting this. Again my brain was on vacation because all I saw was the fried steak and missed the sriracha and you know I don't do hot. But maybe the sweetness cut some of the heat because it was delightful.Mississippi Salmon Cake: creamy Maque Choux, garlic rice. Again not a fish person, but this was pretty good too. The cake was a very nice size. The Maque Choux was nicely seasoned and was indeed creamy. With two cakes, I could see this as a main entree. Marsala Braised Pot Roast: crispy herb vegetable medley, Thai honey brussels. Ok the pot roast was tender and delish, but those Thai honey brussel sprouts were to die for! I love flashed fried sprouts but that sauce was a different touch and added a nice balance to the savory flavor of the pot roast.Korean Glazed Short Ribs: garlic mash potatoes, sautéed broccolini. I am a sucker for short ribs and this was no different. The meat didn't really need a knife and the potatoes were a nice complement to the meat.For dessert there was pound cake and ice cream and chocolate cake and ice cream. Both were good but the pound cake was better for me as it was not to sweet. There is no alcohol served but they do serve different lemonades and teas, which were quite refreshing. You can bring in two bottles only for a fee of $20 each for corkage fee. There was live music, a saxophonist, who was quite nice. I really enjoyed his set and the staff were all very nice and friendly.The only thing that put a blemish on the evening was the fact that The Queen's food did not come out with ours. She had to wait about 10-15 min before everything came out while ours was out right away. Fortunately we had six entress on the table, so she was able to eat with us. There really wasn't an explanation for the delay initially, like the dishes requiring additional time to prep or something.Other than that issue, this was a good dining experience and we will definitely be back or I will....need that lobster alfredo and those taters!

Excellence from the walk through the door, seating, eating till the walk out to leave. Place was very clean. There was live music played by a violist. And the FOOD was delicious. Some of the best in Chicago. Will definitely be back again for more dis

Great service and ambience! food was tasty and they had a saxophone player on weekends.

The food was delicious..finger licking good! The place was very cozy and intimate and our wait for a table was minimal. The staff were very friendly and attentive. We were even able to meet and chat with the owner! He was very personable and friendly. This review is late however, I'm confident the food is still as tasty.

Ambiance was great. Food was delicious and well presented & prepared. Wait staff was friendly, polite, & helpful