Daniella Coffey gave up nearly everything to keep her father’s soul food restaurant open just a few years ago. She and her husband sold their house. They emptied his 401(k) account.
And it still wasn’t enough to pay off more than $600,000 in inherited debt. “We were still $25,000 short,” Coffey said. If they didn’t come up with the money, they would lose the business to the bank.
When she checked the numbers two days before the deadline, she thought there was a mistake. “There was $35,000 in my account.” Coffey had applied for a grant, but it had been denied.
A representative told her they didn’t know what happened. Somehow the application was reviewed again and approved. St.
Rest #2 Country Kitchen in the Chatham neighborhood on the South Side, one of the restaurants in Chicago, had been saved — a legacy nearly lost. The legendary are all gone. To celebrate soul food, former Ebony magazine , who once ran , created in 2001.
The event is celebrated annually in June. But in 2021, Coffey, the new St. Rest chef and owner, was still grieving the loss of her father, the Rev.
Larry Hopkins, who had died just months earlier. You’ve probably passed by the restaurant a million times. It’s right next door to a Garrett Popcorn Shop (the location with a drive-thru).
And they’re up the street from Harold’s Chicken on 87th Street (#55, widely considered one of the best locations). They’re only open three days a week now. Regulars line up before opening at lunch.
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