Army & Lou’s Restaurant

All I got to say is greens, pork chops, and mac n cheese PLEASE!!!
Everything I’ve had here is good!

I lived in Chatham for 21 years as an adult and technically via my grandparents for even longer (1958). Army & Lou’s was my favorite neighborhood spot. My husband and I used to come a least once or twice a week for breakfast. My favorite was the salmon croquettes.
The main draw back for me is that they don’t open til 9a and if you get there at that time you have to wait forever to get your food because their setting up. Hint Hint Get there at 7a and set up BEFORE your customers come in! My favorite waitress there is Marie! She looks a little like Aretha Franklin and she’s fun and sassy!

Can someone please tell me what has happened to Army & Lou’s?
We went recently and it was a weekend night but over ²⁄₃ empty. We loved A & L’s but are in no hurry to go back after this last experience —
All the older waitresses that gave this place so much charm are gone.
Out of the jambalaya and the gumbo (again).
Corn muffins no longer served while you wait for your meal.
And you will WAIT … took forever to get our food.
No ice in the iced tea.
Food was all cold.
Ribs and sauce not as good as before.
Flavorless mac and cheese.
Wait staff not attentive.
We noticed the old artwork is gone and other décor changes — maybe they are under new management? Sad to see these changes and lose a favorite.

This place serves excellent food. My community member and I decided to go looking for some good soul food and found this place. It looks like it was perhaps a fancy restaurant sometime back in the day, but was never updated. Nonetheless, it has its own style. The food was all served hot and had generous portions for a GREAT price. The service was absolutely slow the night we went though and the bad thing about it is that there were not too many other people in the restaurant. I am not too sure about the live music on a Saturday night either. I mean, I like live music, but they are blocking the front door. If you want some good soul food DEFINITELY check this place out… I think you will leave satisfied.

Dang Army. Dang Lou. The food was FABULOUS! Somebody get some extra moist towelettes up in here!
Glad to report that Army & Lou’s managed to impress me and my oftentimes hard to please Southern Mama from Mississippi. Once I saw her throw her hands up and «testify», I knew that A&Ls really put their foot in it! .
On my first visit I had the privilege of trying the Ribs (huge, whole slab) Catfish and Fried Chicken. All stellar… seasoned the way they’re supposed to be! Portions were huge. Now to the sides…
— MAC ‘N CHEESE (Somebody get a tambourine… Woooo!!)
— Greens (Tell a friend, these are the real deal)
— Yams (Sam I am, these some damn good yams)
— Cabbage (Seasoned well, tender, delish)
— Coleslaw (Quite possibly the best we’ve ever eaten. EVER… Creamy, sweet delightful… great with the Ribs)
The flavors and cooking techniques are similar to what I ate growing up, so the meal made me feel so nostalgic. I swear my Grandma Violet had to be back in that kitchen!
I’ll be back soon and a piece of cobbler will be coming home with me.

Not a bad place at all… Just the décor hasn’t changed ever… Last time I went the service was slow… But the food was good

I took a black female friend with me and visited Army & Lou’s.
For me it was cultural and historic trip to visit this restaurant where Martin Luther King and Harold Washington once dined. Along with visiting an area that in my memory was once a white enclave, it brought back memories of my childhood.
The food was very good, the fried chicken, along with the smothered chicken of my guest. The wonderful candied sweet potatoes, mac n cheese and the cobblers added to our dining experience.
However, it was the ambiance of the restaurant, the artwork on the walls, the picture of Martin Luther King, the vintage cash register, the soft jazz music playing, the warmth of the waitress and the guests made this trip all that more interesting, inviting and recommended. I’ve always been a fan of RB and so it was welcoming to hear it play in the background.
Yes, the service can be rather slow and sporadic however, the waitress was very polite, comforting and attentive in her own way.
If anyone has ever visited the South, one would understand that waiting on a table is not like rushing to put out a fire. So, expect a slower pace. …and as one of the posters said that waitresses are old… So what… You’ll be old one day too and I would hope that people would stop discriminating against older people who have been where you’re going… gimme a break!
I would visit Army & Lou’s again. It is nice to see a thriving black owned business that draws people from all over Chicago so doing well.
A great cultural experience on the South side.

Good soul food for your soul. Almost anything on the menu, breakfast or dinner, is worthwhile. Ambiance is fair. Nice artwork. Service is slow as someone mentioned. Food is really, really tasty. The downfall is even if you call in your order they are slow as he double hockey sticks in this place.

During our latest big trip to Chicago, we decided we needed to hit Izola’s or Army & Lou’s. I am so glad we hit Army & Lou’s!
It seems my comments should be taken with a grain of salt, as service & food seem to be inconsistent, but we went on the right night. the service & food were spot on. I loved the dining room — it was old school with real tablecloths and very simple décor.
Our waitress was young, but she had the soul of an old waitress. She was very efficient & if she didn’t like our choices — we were told. She wouldn’t even serve us our greens cause she thought it was too much food. (She was right — but we like leftovers)
Unable to decide, my husband & I split our plates. He got the fried chicken & I got the fried chicken livers. Both were fantastic. The coating at Army & Lou’s is of the «less-​is-​more» variety, a little salt, pepper & flour. Everything was juicy & hot… and fried liver that is moist is very impressive! The sides were all delicious: the mac & cheese was simple & tasty, the cornbread stuffing — super rich, sweet potato, and green beans… sooooo goooood!
We paid less than $ 25 for our whole meal with beverages. While I can’t promise you’ll find the same experience… I’m glad we got to go.

Just went to ALs and i have to tell you that i’m glad I went on sunday. if you go to ALs for one thing, go for the blackberry cobbler, which is only served on sunday. Apple and Peach are served all the time. the blackberry was absolutely delish. not too sweet and the berries were good and the crust was perfect. the food was decent, i’m from the south so i say it was a good attempt by northerners at cooking southern food. the staff was super nice but the service was really really slow, like wait 15 min for drinks, 45 for food, and then another 15 for the check slow. I had the «recession special» for 4.95 and you get fried chicken, a roll, mashed potatoes, and cole slaw then i added on mac and cheese and cornbread dressing (i know, i got a little carried away right. lol). make sure you have some time to linger so go here on a lazy sunday afternoon when you have nothing to do but just try to beat the church crowd. It’s a good place if you want to get a good meal and a great place if you want some cobbler and some history.

The food is a little hit or miss. Service is nearly always slow as molasses.
When the food is good, it’s very, very good. When the food is bad, it’s still okay, it’s just disappointing compared to what it can be.
This isn’t fine dining by any means, but you can get some good soul food. The smothered chicken and smothered pork chops can be otherworldly good, and I like any place that has pickled peaches.
If you’re into historical dining places, this is a must-​see place. If you’re just looking for great soul food this is one of several places to try, but I’m not sure that for food alone it should top your list.

Go on Sunday, so you can get the blackberry cobbler.
Army and Lou’s is a wonderful Southern cooking restaurant. If you’re hungry for a breakfast of eggs, ham, grits, and biscuits, this is the place to be. Everything is just as it should be. Sunday is the only day you can also get their famous blackberry cobbler. We were too full, so got ours to go. It made for a perfect dessert later that day.
Décor is below acceptable. It needs some basic work. The service is fine. Yes, the waitresses are typically old, but they nice, friendly, and do their job just fine. Relax and enjoy the cooking.

This restaurant, with many other South Chicago restuarants, was on my list of «Gotta Visit». I finally went last night. It took us 5 – 10 minutes to get a table and 20 mins to get a waitress.
So first thing, you don’t come here for a quick meal.
After we ordered, they didn’t bring us water, bread or the pop I ordered for like, I dunno 10 mins. Thank God we got a new waitress half way in this experience. Her name was Michelle and quickly sweetened our sour time. She got our meals ASAP, drinks, and basically fixed it. Now the food was just ok. I had such high hope for real damn good food. I got smothered chicken livers with two sides. The serving of livers is crazy, like 2 meals. I love livers, but these were kinda tough, and very under salted. The sauce had no flavor. So getting lots of it wasn’t such a good thing. The mac and cheese was ok, the pasta was overly cooked to almost mush. I ordered the cornbread dressing, too, but when my meal came out, they told me they were out. I got the cabbage which was just «eh».
My friend ordered salmon «croquettes» which were more like burgers. Croquettes should be lighter, these weren’t. The cornbread muffin were really damn dry. They tasted good, and I liked it that they weren’t sweet. We shared a bread pudding, which was soooo sweet. It was yellow cake mixed in a lemony custard. The plump golden raisins were yummy in it. It was an ok experience, at first made me alittle pissed. For the price, it was cheap. But I think I rather try somewhere else than go back here.

this place sucked old ass and i mean real old ass. It was full of old creepy fake roses and i felt like i was at a funeral home especially with the dark lighting and the waitresses that had to be about 90 years old. Food wise it didn’t get any better. Everything was soggy, not seasoned and tasted the exact SAME. it was truly terrible and i felt like the 2 hours i was in there i was in a nightmare.

Sit in some of the same booths Dr. King, Jesse and Harold Washington ate in (and strategized in) back in the day and have what is still some of the best fried chicken in Chicago at Army & Lou’s.
Both a stellar soul food restaurant AND and white tablecloth restaurant, they’ve been keeping people satisfied for more than 60 years — and you know that’s no simple feat.
A lot of the décor is red and is an interesting combination of modern African-​American art (a lot of mother/​child themed) and a feeling of entering the threshold into a past era. Tuxedo shirted and bow tied waitstaff are kind and knowledgeable and you will have excellent service, but it will probably be slower than you may be used to — your food is cooking back there! The menus are old fashioned and slightly bulky and everything from the font to the menu items is reminiscent of dining a long time ago — they give you crackers and corn muffins or biscuits when you sit down.
Although they claim their baby back ribs to be their specialty, I’m going to tell you to go with the fried chicken — screaming hot out of the fryer, moist, that perfect kind of crusty skin that you’re tempted to try and pilfer off of your companion’s plates (try it with me and get a sharp fork to the back of your hand.). Apparently this was MLK’s favorite chicken too, so I’m in pretty good company
All of the sides are also stand outs: drool making, buttery mashed potatoes, gravy you want to find an excuse to put on other things. The greens are so good they are in a class by their own and available as a separate entrée with either a ham hock or smoked turkey — and I mean a whole, giant, meaty turkey wing. Pork chops and catfish were also good, but I’ve found the short ribs to be too bony and difficult to navigate. Soups are also excellent, including the gumbos. I’m going to say the desserts are only average, but honestly, you should be so full by then that it’s okay either way if you have it or not.
We were also pleasantly surprised by really excellent live jazz and blues at times in the evenings on the weekends.
Army & Lou’s is worth the drive — from the north side, Iowa or from wherever you need to come from — get yourself here.

I have limited experience with soul food spots but I cant imagine a better place. The servers are sweet and the food is aplenty. A friend, who I usually go with, always gets the salmon croquettes and depending on the day I get the turkey plate. The greens are great, not bitter and the cornbread muffins are delightful.
SideNote: Generally, its pretty casual attire but on Sunday folks often come in their Sunday best.

I starvingly rode a bus from Hyde Park to 75^th st. for dinner at Army and Lou’s and had a meal that was definitely worth the trip. Once again wishing that i had more stomachs while trying to decide on an entrée, I wonder if i can go to India and get another one attached…
Army and Lou’s makes just about the greatest cornbread muffins. crispy crust, buttery, sweet, but not too sweet, soft, delicious. Pork chops pretty well prepared and swathed in a delicious gravy. A catfish fillet that is cooked perfectly, fish was super tender and breading had good flavor. Even the tartar sauce was good. Don’t know what about the mac and cheese made it good, but it was. Even the soupy looking spinach side was good, better than it looked. Their soup of the day was veggie with chicken. Good broth, lots of veggies, nice tender pieces of chicken.
I’d have to say though even though there was no room for dessert, just had to try some peach cobbler. And you know what, it was only OK. Peaches had the can peach flavor and texture, with is to be expected for a peach cobbler made at the end of Dec, but the crust was good. I think pie paled in comparison to the corn bread.
The service was super friendly and they made an effort to tell us of the buffet on first Sundays and Friday night jazz. This place is definitely worth the trip if you can stomach it.

Good restaurant… great service. The food was pretty good, nothing toooooooo out of the ordinary, but solid southern comfort food. The service was above average. I wouldn’t drive miles out of the way to go here, but if you’re not too far it’s one of the better choices in the area.

Definitely one of the better dining experiences I’ve had since moving to Chicago. I’ve been to Army and Lou’s twice now, once for breakfast, and once for the buffet they serve once a month (I believe, I could be wrong about that). Both times the food has been exceptional and the employees are some of the nicest around. I definitely recommend the fried chicken, and a side of their macaroni and cheese. Also, warm, fluffy biscuits that stay that way the whole meal are to die for.
If you go for a birthday, be prepared to have the entire restaurant (not just the servers) start singing one of the best celebratory songs you have ever experienced. It almost makes you wonder if it was all rehearsed beforehand just for you.
The only major problem with the restaurant is the proximity to everything else in the city. It’s pretty far south, so many people might not be able to make it out there, but if you’re willing to make the trek, I highly, HIGHLY recommend it. You will not regret it.

Soul food served at all times throughout the day — from their deep fried catfish and homemade cornmeal muffins. The bread pudding has raisins and cobbler and is yum! They have live jazz on Friday’s, too.