The village of Hazel Crest is located in Cook County, Illinois, right next to the city of Country Club Hills. Both are about 25 miles south of the Chicago loop. The area around the two features several traditional soul food restaurants. The restaurants specialize in food that traces it origins to African, Jamaican and Caribbean cultures.
Sabrina's Family Restaurant
Sabrina's Family Restaurant, located in Hazel Crest, opened its doors in 1996. Sabrina's serves a breakfast buffet on Saturdays complete with traditional American breakfast food and soul food favorites such as fried and smothered chicken. A soul food buffet is served for lunch and dinner Tuesday through Sunday. Standout soul food items include the fried and boiled catfish, ham hocks, beef liver with gravy and onions, boiled pigs feet, collard greens and black-eyed peas. This down-home southern restaurant has seating for 200 people and the entire menu is available for catering. The breakfast buffet runs from 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. on Sundays. The soul food buffet opens at 11 a.m. Tuesday through Friday and at noon on Sundays. Sabrina's stays open until 9 p.m.
Army & Lou's
Known as the oldest black-owned restaurant in the Midwest, Army & Lou's is located 16 miles north of Hazel Crest on East 75th Street in Chicago. The breakfast menu features items like salmon croquettes, baby beef liver and catfish steaks. The lunch and dinner menu begins with appetizers with a heavy Cajun influence such as the jambalaya and gumbo. It also has numerous seafood and sandwich entrees. Meat choices include pork chops, fried chicken, rock Cornish hen, turkey legs, baby back ribs, lamb chops and chicken livers smothered in chicken gravy. On the first Sunday of every month, Army & Lou's serves a breakfast buffet where everything is made from scratch. Live jazz music is featured on Friday and Saturday evenings.
BJ's Market & Bakery
BJ's Market and Bakery is 13 miles north of Country Club Hills in Chicago. BJ's Market opened in 1997 and serves cafeteria-style soul food starting at 7 a.m. The breakfast menu features buttermilk pancakes, egg and sausage combinations, breakfast sandwiches and cereals. The lunch and dinner menu has several rotisserie chicken choices, mustard-fried catfish, barbecue rib tips, baked catfish fillets and smothered pork chops. Traditional soul food side dishes include collard greens with smoked turkey, red beans and rice, sweet potato souffl and cornbread dressing. Caramel cake, sweet potato pie and lemon ice box pie are on the dessert menu.
Izola's Restaurant
Izola's Restaurant, located on the South Side of Chicago, opened its doors in 1956. This restaurant serves up authentic soul food 24 hours a day, except for Wednesdays. Izola's features made-from-scratch soul food recipes including extra crunch juicy fried chicken, fried catfish with a tart pickle-studded tartar sauce and candied sweet potatoes. No meal at Izola's is complete without a few buttery corn muffins. Take cash when you eat at Izola's; no credit cards are accepted here.
Tags: soul food, Hazel Crest, , Club Hills, Country Club, Country Club Hills, lunch dinner