Viral video of Dolton soul food restaurant generates more business

A few days after the restaurant’s grand opening April 1, there was a dip in customers at L&J Food for the Soul in Dolton, said owner Melanie Holly.

On April 5, after no customers came in for about four hours, her father and restaurant supervisor Donald Jones was sitting on a cushioned bench against the front window looking out at the parking lot. Jones’ other daughter, Ladonna Jones, took a video of him sitting there.

That evening, Ladonna Jones posted the video on TikTok with the caption that stated, in part, “it breaks my heart everyday to see my daddy sit at this same window waiting on customers to come in.”

After one hour, the video had about 4,000 views, Holly said. A few hours later, 11,000 views, she said, and by the morning the video had 1 million views. Holly said she was shocked at the number of people who saw the video because her content has never gone viral.

Since the video posted, Holly said the restaurant has seen an influx of new customers and a growing number of returning customers.

“It’s nice to have people know who we are,” Holly said. “I’ve told customers, TikTok and Facebook may have brought you here, but I’m going to make sure you stay.”

Holly said she’s been passionate about opening a restaurant because she wants everyone to enjoy her family’s soul food recipes, including her father’s fried ribs, her mother’s greens and her pepper chicken and rice. Her family also helps her cook and run the restaurant, Holly said.

Cooking has been passed down from generation to generation, Jones said, as he recalled standing in the kitchen when he was little and helping his mother cook. It was important to him, Jones said, to make sure his five daughters and two sons knew how to cook.

Growing up, Holly said she also spent time in the kitchen with her parents. When she was about 7, Holly said she made her father a potato dish that she remembers proudly serving him.

Though he didn’t say it at the time, Jones said the potatoes did not taste good. But he said he then took time to cook potatoes with Holly to show her how to improve her recipe.

“I always said if I ever get kids, I’m going share the same things with my kids like my mom shared with me,” Jones said. “My daughter, Melanie, I am so proud of her.”

While Holly opened the brick and mortar location earlier this month, she said she started L&J Food for the Soul as a food truck in 2018. But after participating in the 2022 Chicago Food Truck Festival with little response from customers, she decided she needed to open a restaurant so people could come and try her food.

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“It’s simply because they just don’t know who we are and they went to what they knew and felt comfortable with,” Holly said.

With family nearby and a restaurant closing, Holly said the space in Dolton was the perfect location. The restaurant, 819 E. 142nd St., has a walk-up counter to place orders and a counter-style space on one wall for people to eat their food.

When customers come to the restaurant, Holly said they are greeted with “Welcome to L&J’s where we set your soul on fire.” Holly said she named her business “L&J” to represent her mother’s name and her father’s last name.

Holly said she rotates through a menu of daily specials, such as fried ribs, cat fish, pot roast and smothered pork chops, which are served on the same day each week. The specials are paired with a menu of classic soul food: fried chicken, barbecue chicken, baked chicken or pepper chicken with rice with standard sides.

When picking the specials menu, Holly said she choose the foods that her family and friends enjoy. The specials menu allows her to focus on that particular dish for the day rather than trying to cook everything all at once, Holly said.

Holly said she would love to open a buffet style restaurant to offer all the daily special meals at once. But, in the meantime, she said she looks forward to serving customers.

“I want the world to taste my food,” Holly said. “The route that it’s going, the world will taste it. I’m just overwhelmed with joy.”