I wish I were prescient enough to have predicted that a boom in southern and soul food was coming our way, a welcome respite from the relentless Italian-food invasion. We have good southern food here and there, both high and low end, but the depth and breadth of regional southern cooking has yet to be thoroughly explored, which is hard to fathom given Chicago’s strong connections to the south.
Most of the shrimp I tried at Luella’s was remarkably good, fat and sweet, swimming in a buttery New Orleans-style barbecue preparation (not actually barbecued) and resting in a pool of ultracreamy grits. They’re in the low-country boil too, a minimally seasoned vat of crustaceans with sausage, potatoes, and corn, served with toasted baguettes to sop up the liquor. But they’re a different size altogether in the shrimp po’boy—too small to stand up to a deep-fryer—and they don’t leave much of an impression when overwhelmed by bread, remoulade, onions, and a pink out-of-season tomato.
4609 N. Lincoln 773-961-8196luellassouthernkitchen.com
