Jan 2 is my birthday. I wanted a nice hot dinner. Had a 25% off coupon from AARP (Entertainment) but was told it was not valid. They also didn't have chocolate cake or peach cobbler. A discount was given which was nice but the coupon needs to be removed from AARP. Ordered perch dinners with greens, fried green tomatoes, mac & cheese and rum pound cake. The fish was cooked perfectly with crispness and flaking. The greens were delicious and the mac & cheese was yummy. I didn't love the fried green tomatoes but they were crispy and perfectly seasoned. Not a fan of poundcake but it was the only desert they had. Ended up getting peach cobbler from somewhere else. Four stars because of the coupon not being honored and only having one dessert. Please get it removed from the website Yes I would go back because the service was top tier! read more

This place is a God send. It's called Soul Shack because the food feeds your soul and brings you back to life. All praise to the most high for such a decadent and delicious meal. I had the beef short ribs, yams, and greens with cornbread. Everything was super flavorful and really rejuvenated me. I will certainly be back. Trust me you don't want to miss out! read more

Soul Shack Express - Short ribs, yams, greens and cornbread - Soul Food Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Listeeennnn! The food was amazing I had that fried pound cake for the first time OMG so delicious. Those greens never miss a beat. I have to admit, I went back in the winter but it was some young females working the register and needed some customer service training and my husband lamb chops was small and undercooked. This time around the young man at the front register was very polite and apologetic for my first experience. I have to say- the perch, Mac and cheese, greens and souls rolls was top notch! This fried pound cake makes me wanna slap somebody's momma- it's soooooo good. The customer service definitely makes me wanna come back. read more

Soul Shack Express - Peach cobbler - Soul Food Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Some of the worst food I have ever eaten. We order the oxtail, fried chicken, Mac and cheese, dressing, cabbage and yam. Oxtail very salty. Mac and cheese tasteless, fried chicken-cooked with old grease...horrible. Cabbage- over cooked and very weird taste. Dressing....not my cup of tea. Yam's- they were ok but maybe from yesterday. Over all, we will not be back. $70 bucks down the drain. read more

Soul Shack Express - Bad food - Soul Food Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

First time and won't be the last! We had a taste for Soul Food and they did not disappoint Large portions definitely worth the price. No need to explain, just know everything was seasoned and full of flavor Next time I have to try the desserts read more

Soul Shack Express - Soul Food Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Had to wait on my mom and dad but the results are in they both had the Oxtail dinners and the said it was so good I had the perch with Mac and dressing and my daughter had chicken and fries. For me the Mac wasn't anything to scream about because they used an unfamiliar cheese that seemed old pre-prepared not fresh like the mac place into the Oxtail dinners and Mac was definitely over cooked dressing was horrible(Very disappointing with both sides) and the perch was fried to the GODS daughters chicken looked like it was fried in old grease but edible yet unenjoyable for her overall 3 star hit or miss restaurant read more

Soul Shack Express - Proof of purchase - Soul Food Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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I was so nervous about eating here because of the mixed reviews... This food was DELICIOUS! I had lamb chops, Mac and cheese, dressing and sweet potatoes. My husband had Turkey chops, greens and garlic, mashed potatoes. He thoroughly enjoyed his food. Our meats were so tender and juicy. Everything was flavorful! And the staff were very friendly and polite. read more

Hidden Gem! Great food excellent customer service and they cook with love! Will continue to support this great eatery! read more

The worst experience I've had this far! Waited an hour for a 20 minute, (so I was told) meal! I asked about my order, they lost the ticket and had the nerve to have an attitude about it. It took everything in me not to snap! I don't have to go back, ever! read more

Staff was friendly and the food might have been the best soul food I've ever had. Th Mac and cheese is a MUST. Greens were perfect and the chops were great. Not one complaint. Glad I saw this place on TikTok and decided to try it when visiting Chicago. read more

Tried the food and must say it's good. The short ribs were amazing and I liked the Mac and cheese too. Would definitely go back!

Best food you will find representing the South up North. All the food is amazing the portions are perfect, definitely will not get short change with your purchase. read more

I got some fish cabbage and sweet potatoes. Sweet potato cornbread. my guy had short ribs mac and cheese and dressing . When I say this food was horrible the cabbage was so salty no taste to it but salt . I will not ever return and blow $80 bucks again with them . The garage ate good read more

I'd say 4.4! This place is amazing. The food is delicious and authentic, like your grandma's kitchen. The waitstaff is friendly and knowledgeable. Service may be a bit slow, but it's because the food is cooked to order, piping hot. Portions are generous and great for taking home leftovers for a snack. You will never be sorry you came. Since it's in Fox Valley mall, parking and security are no problem. The Soul Shack is so much easier to get to than Pearl's in town and maybe be a bit better. read more

My review is not about the food. The food is consistently good little pricey, but good. My issue is with service. I've called several times to ask a question and I'm hung up on. Tonight an order of short ribs was picked up and nobody let us know that perhaps one of the sides were not available. I tried to call back. Nobody answered the phone. Running a business takes more than just a good product. It takes good service. As a business if one of your vendors were constantly rude, you would not patronage that vendor. I'm sure of it. You want good service as a buyer. The people running your cash register are forward facing and as a customer that's who we see first. When the service is not good with your gatekeeper, it doesn't matter how good your product is. Service also includes the voice over the phone. The service for me is not consistently good. This will stop me from coming back. read more

NEVER AGAIN!!!!! I called to see if they were open by it being Columbus Day. I put in my order on GrubHub at about 11:25am. They said it would be ready between 11:40-11:50am. Got a text from GrubHub at 11:46 saying my order was canceled by the restaurant and I was to receive a full refund. So I called the restaurant to see why my order was cancelled. The young lady said that their computer wasn't working so it didn't print out a ticket. So I asked her if I could put my order in with her over the phone and she told me no because it was a lot of customers in the restaurant. So I asked to speak to a manager and was hung up on. There is nothing worse than horrible customer service!!!! You definitely lost a customer after that. read more

Love love love EVERYTHING!! I've tried most things on the menu. The music makes you dance while you wait and the service is always given with a smile. Great example of Black Excellence in my neighborhood. Please stay open!! read more

The food must be good they ran out of food the waiting area is to small the service is horrible the the staff is so unfriendly and unorganized and rude order on line got there i was told they were sold out but still charged my card this is the after I was gave a refund receipt will NEVER go back read more

Soul Shack Express - Refund - Soul Food Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Father's Day 102 dollars spent oxtails both orders tuff not tender at all not tasty at all ! lamb chops were fine sides Mac and Cheese nope Yams was that out the can Dressing too much sage no gravy Greens ok definitely disappointed will not go back read more

Hello, I am disappointed with the food. I ordered a short rib dinner with mac & greens w/ honey cornbread. Upon opening, it was a small piece of hair in my macaroni. The short ribs were very salty, I could not eat them. It tastes like lipton onion soup mix, it was not diluted or too much was used. I couldn't get past the salt, there was no flavor. The greens were really good. The cornbread was on the harder side, not moist inside at all. The owner was very nice and welcoming, the atmosphere was great. I will probably not ever come back. I wasted $35. I wouldn't recommend the short ribs to anyone. read more

First and foremost, don't let the negative reviews discourage you. Try them out for yourself! We had dinner from here last night and it did not disappoint. I had the lamb chops with yams and green beans, and everything was absolutely delicious. The lamb was full of flavor, the yams were sweet and buttery, and the green beans really surprised me--in the best way. I don't usually care for green beans, but these were so well seasoned I ate every bite. Nothing was overly salty, just perfectly balanced. You can really taste the love in the food. Oh and they cook the food to order so, everything is fresh. Highly recommend. read more

whatever you do I repeat dont eat from here I just brought turkey meatloaf dressing and mash potatoes it was disgusting for the price to get something so bad I couldn't even give it to my dog hell I was afraid to put it in my garage can smh dont do it read more

This food was an insult to my intelligence!! The oxtails was black in color and not meaty. The one i tried was all fat. The yams were very hard and dry. I tried to cut them up, but yams are not suppose to be hard. The corn bread was old and stale. I tried the knife also to just a piece to try a half of it. I was very disappointed to say the least. I tried to call them, but calls were dropped on their. What a waste of $60 dollars. I sent a review to Yelp. read more

Let me start by say it was absolutely Terrible the wait was over one hour and half the wait is not worth staying there my Friend came up from California to find some good food and all he get was disappointment he was missing food he paid for let me start by saying you have to pay a $1 for cornbread that is so stupid to pay for cornbread at a soul food restaurant I'm from Chicago Born and rised I will not come back there I order oxtail yams and cabbage and I had to wait almost 2 hours if they need to know how to serve people please go over to the West Side to MacArthur Soul Food Restaurant and there food is A+++++I Recommend you go there but the Soul Shack Restaurant I don't recommend anyone to go there at all they get a F from me because Customer Service is absolutely Terrible. read more

The food was delicious you have to get the Lamp chops, jerk chicken & oxtails everything is good. Excellent customer service and nice atmosphere read more

Definitely sucks dry old and not what you would think plus expensive. My son was totally dissatisfied. Would not recommend .

The food just didn't live up to what I expected. I was really excited about the soul rolls but they seemed old soggy and luke warm.

First thing is my order was taken incorrectly. The service was very inconsiderate and unprofessional. We ordered 2 orders of beef short ribs with yams and Mac and cheese as the sides. We also asked for a side of collard greens with turkey. With one order they gave us extra cornbread for the side and with the second meal they gave us collard greens and yams. Portion size for the sides were small. Both of the orders of beef short ribs were over cooked to the point of being black and greasy. The cost for 2 inedible meals $54. Don't think we'll be back. Gave them 1 star because I couldn't give them 0 stars read more

Soul Shack Express - Soul Food Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

So my babe and I went over his best friends house and Soul Shack is what they wanted for dinner. It was so wonderful to see a black owned business with all black men working hard!!! I was truly impressed!! They were very friendly, professional and well groomed!! The food is cooked to order so there was a slight but not long wait. My food was 10/10 I had the short ribs yams, greens and cornbread. I also Tried the macaroni and cheese. To me everything was a hit.. There is a handsome friendly man greeting you and selling butter cookies when walk in.. There is free parking in the lot and on the street but it does get crowded. My love had the smothered chicken wings, greens and yams, he enjoyed it said the gravy was a bit salty to him but overall the food was good.. His BFF had the ox tails, macaroni with cheese and yams. His issue was not enough meat and a bit salty to him also. The lady of the house had short ribs greens and yams. Same review from her salty but good. I dont know what was wrong with them I like seasoned food.. They also have desserts like peach cobbler and pound cake and they have koolaid. So overall 9/10 on food and service.. we will visit again. ENJOY read more

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Short rib, greens, sweet potatoes. Perfect. A little off the beaten path, but the nicest staff!!

I had the ox tail dinner with two sides, no corn bread for greens for $31. The portion size was good, the food was good, but the ox tails could have been a little more tender and the rice under them was just a lil salty. But I definitely will eat there again considering everything. read more

SALTY SALTY SALTY !!! I purchased oxtails, dressing and green beans yesterday. The oxtail were too tuff and EVERYTHING WAS TOO SALTY. 32 BUCKS, I feel it was overpriced. I will never eat there again. read more

The service is horrible they don't cook your food until you arrive at the store the tracking isn't right it says ready for pick up they didn't even know I ordered my food and also they didn't have the peach cobbler iced tea I ordered 2 of then 5 dollars a piece and they didn't have any yams that place is trash and the food wasn't seasoned snd the greens taste like glory greens out the can the turkey chops is dry yall are trash should be shut down ASAP read more

Let's start with the service. I ordered online, arrived 10 minutes after the app said my food was done... it was not. Once I got to the counter to order the young lady was rude and nonchalant about my order not even being taken let alone made. To be honest the food was mid, a 4 with aspirations. Fuck this place frfr I should have went home and cooked I could have made some sgit I saw on tic tok read more

Young lady that cashier with the blue braces is not welcoming I walked in quiet respectful her attitude was so nasty towards me da young men in da kitchen took over n handled me properly, read more

A few months ago I wanted soul and didn't feel like driving that far so I looked up restaurants and discovered Soul Shack. I only wanted vegetables and I got there right as they were about to close and they allowed me access. I tried the sweet potato cornbread because it sounded interesting. The food was ok and cornbread although not bad was not what I expected so I 'll probably will never order it again. Last Sunday 9/7/25 I decided to try them again due to someone's rave review. That was a mistake. It took 45 minutes to get a side of macaroni and cheese(fair), collard greens (ok), and dressing (so,so) it seemed so unorganized. Three ladies I spoke with waited an hour and forty five minutes for their food. There was no explanation or apology that was offered to me. The music was too loud. Customer were yelling out numbers that were being called for orders so we could hear. At one point a lady had an issue with her order and everyone behind the counter stop working except the guy frying food. It's unfortunate I had this experience I really want to support Black businesses but Soul Shack Express needs to improve before I can support them. read more

I tried this place for the first time today. My husband had it yesterday and he had ribs Mac and cheese and yams. I don't even like ribs but they were really tasty and the Mac and cheese were very good. I decided to try the oxtails with greens and Mac and cheese. The plate also came with rice. The food was very good. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because it was a tad bit salty. The Mac and cheese was perfect. I really enjoyed it. They were playing good music while I waited on my food that was a plus. The staff was friendly. I would say it was worth the money. Much better than ooh wee restaurant by far. read more

I enjoyed my lunch today. I ordered the perch,greens and yams. Delicious. My son and daughter in-law order jerk chicken wings,rice and yams.

As a soul food cook, it is refreshing to go into an establishment and get good quality food that tastes just like mine or my grandma's. The portions were a great size and the staff were amazing. I will definitely be back again. read more

The food is amazing and it's the and price as other soul food restaurants. It's also just opened so there will be small issues. Everyone there is nice from the cooks to the young lady at the register. I would give this place more stars if I could. I had oxtails and my son had short ribs. It was GOODT as well as the Mac and yams! I'm headed back today lol read more