Chicago Real Estate Guide

African Americans Leave Chicago, And So Does Their Cuisine

• September 12, 2011

by Erin Calandriello

Image Courtesy of Earth Eats

As Chicago’s black population leaves the city, the restaurants that they made famous are also disappearing.

The Associated Press recently reported that places like Hard Time Josephine’s Cooking in Chatham are struggling to survive, and others like Army and Lou’s on East 75th Street, Izola’s on the South Side and Edna’s, a West Side establishment once patronized by the Martin Luther King Jr. have closed their doors in recent years.

These establishments were all bustling at one time when the city’s black population was growing. Over the past decade, however, Chicago has lost more than 17 percent of its black population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

From the AP:

When you lose your base, your foundation, the next generation isn’t there to keep it going,former owner Harry Fleming says of Army and Lou’s, which opened in 1945. It’s losing a real strong sense of heritage.

The article noted that only half a dozen places like Josephine’s remain in Chicago and they face an uphill battle to succeed as, in addition to the exodus, they lose business to fast food places and the economic recession has more people eating healthy and at home.

This article originally published at http://chicago.urbanturf.com/articles/article/as_african_americans_leave_chicago_so_does_soul_food/4129