Soule To Soule — Restaurant in West Chicago Township

The space is very accessible and the vibe is cozy. The staff were professional, but still came with the homie vibes. Do bear in mind it is BYOB, and you must purchase their mocktails if you bring hard liquor.

While the menu is fairly small, I think it serves well to focus on mastery of a few rather than competency of a lot. Because of the size of the menu, we had the opportunity to try essentially everything.

We started with the jerk wings, fried green tomatoes, and catfish sliders. While the tomatoes were passable, they are the worst I've had in Chicago. I'm from the South so I take my fried green tomatoes real seriously. The sauce has a mustard/vinegar base and is really good, I just didn't this the breading or fry was too great. The wings surprised me because they had just the right amount of bite to them without being overbearing. The sliders were surprisingly well done and a few could easily be a meal themselves.

For entrees we did the catfish plate, honey drizzled chicken, and surf & turf pasta. We had the greens, sweet corn, and Mac & cheese with it. We wanted the asparagus too, but unfortunately they were out. Since had already started with the sliders, we knew what the catfish was about. The dark meat chicken was juicy but with a nice hard fry. The drizzle wasn't too much, and it came with three pieces which was perfect for our party of three. While two of us didn't want the cream corn we were both surprised how good it was. The Mac was pretty standard, but I'd say the greens were a bit above typical soul food places in the city. The star of the night was definitely pasta though. Just the dish alone gives you a chance to try so much of the menu, shrimp, lamb chops, and pasta, which all can be their own dishes. The sauce was amazingly creamy, with a little spice to it. The shrimp were prepared well to fit with blending into the pasta, and the lamb chops were just something else. I've had lamb chops in many other places here and these win hands down. They were much bigger than other places, the meat to bone ratio was impressive, and the flavor was simple as to focus on how well the meat was prepared. I wasn't sure about ordering the lamb chops dinner by itself, but I know now it is definitely worth it.

Our bill came to about $160, which accounts for the corkage and the included 20% gratuity for parties of 3 or more. My party felt this is the best place we have gone, but it still only falls at #2 in the city for me. Definitely would recommend to anyone looking for a good soul food meal that is hearty, but not heavy, along with some great...

My words exactly...Price BYOB6 music6 prices6 salmon4 +6 Sort by Most relevant Newest Highest Lowest Latonya Barber Local Guide·34 reviews Dine in | Dinner | $20–30 My words exactly...https://goo.gl/maps/kdHkP2qiifC2itf17?g_st=ac … More Charmaine Cotton Local Guide·87 reviews·44 photos a week ago NEW Dine in | Dinner | $30–50 Just visited yesterday and everything was great. First, our waitress Cory was THE BEST!!!!! She was so kind and helpful. She answered all of our questions as this was our first time. Whoever was cooking is anointed by God to cook!!! … More Photo 1 in review by Charmaine Cotton Photo 2 in review by Charmaine Cotton Laura A Local Guide·60 reviews·132 photos 5 months ago Dine in | Dinner | $30–50 Stopped in for dinner one day after work. Made reservations for 5:30 pm since it was the earliest time slot available. Arrived on time to have to wait 10 minutes before being seated. After being … More Photo 1 in review by Laura A Photo 2 in review by Laura A 4 Danae Wilson 9 reviews·1 photo 3 months ago Dine in | Lunch | $30–50 My 3 friends and I were looking for some where we could sit down on our impromptu lunch date. We called ahead of time to be sure we did not need a reservation. “Hello, yeah this Soule to Soule” said the gentleman answering the phone. … More Photo 1 in review by Danae Wilson 1 RESERVE A TABLE ORDER ONLINE Charmaine Cotton Local Guide·87 reviews·44 photos a week ago NEW Dine in | Dinner | $30–50 Just visited yesterday and everything was great. First, our waitress Cory was THE BEST!!!!! She was so kind and helpful. She answered all of our questions as this was our first time. Whoever was cooking is anointed by God to cook!!! Kudos to them.

The food was great. We had the Fried Salmon bites, Fired catfish dinner entree and the Salmon and shrimp over mashed potatoes entree. All of the food was piping hot and fresh. I'm not exaggerating. The food was well seasoned. We had the Mac & Cheese, creamed corn and greens as sides. I'm very picky about Mac & Cheese and this Mac & Cheese was well seasoned and had such good flavor. Not very creamy but creamy enough and flavorful. The greens were seasoned well as was the named corn. Again, all good!!!

Nice atmosphere and vibe and the play list Cory picked was on point!!! Small place, loved the decor and at work on the walls. Went on a Wednesday at 7:30 and it wasn't crowded and parking wasn't too hard to find. Found a spot on the street less than half a block from the restaurant.

Great recommendation I found in the Black Women...

It seems clear this palace this place is still in the midst of a soft opening. I don't usually write a review until a place has been open for a bit because because it seems fairer that way. But there were a couple of observations that I didn't want to wait to share so the restaurant might consider them as they make some refinements.

First off, the food. No complaints there. I ordered the wings, fried green tomatoes, and Buffalo cauliflower. I enjoyed all three and would get them again. If you liked and miss the food at the original Soule before they relocated, I think you'll be happy that they are, more or less, back in the neighborhood.

My concern is mainly for the concept. Ukrainian Village is a fantastic neighborhood and when a restaurant is a big hit (Kasama, Lao Peng Yu, Forbidden Root, etc) people will rally around it and it'll have a long successful life. But it's also not the kind of neighborhood that gets an influx of lots of tourists who will throw money at anything. It's gotta make sense to survive. This is where I'm a little concerned about S2S.

You walk inside, and you enter what appears to be a bar/lounge. Lots of green velvet on beige walls that remind me of 1990s Harlem. The problem is that they are a BYOB place. So, how does this work? Will people make the trip there just to sit around and make their own cocktails? Probably not; more likely they will come to eat, and while they eat they may bring their own bottle of wine or beer. But, the tables aren't designed for dining. They're tiny, hunched over - it's meant for a cocktail bar, but you can't comfortably eat a meal there.

So it's a bar that doesn't serve drinks, or a restaurant that doesn't have tables. Neither one can last long in Ukrainian Village. And even if they do get a liquor license, they still need to reevaluate their seating arrangements.

I wrote this because I'm hopeful that as S2S evaluates its first months and what could use some tinkering that they will read this and take it under consideration. I'm excited that Soule is back and i want them to stay for a long time this time. Having the right concept is the best...