Southside African Restaurant

Stopped by this place to get some food. There was definitely a line and it’s a pretty busy place so plan accordingly or order online if you don’t want to wait. I got the jollof with chicken - the rice was smoky and spicy and the chicken was tender and slightly spicy. Overall really yummy and I loved trying Nigerian food.

Southside African Restaurant is a vibrant and welcoming spot known for its authentic African cuisine. The menu features a variety of flavorful dishes, including stews, grilled meats, rice dishes, and traditional sides, all prepared with fresh ingredients and bold seasonings. Customers appreciate the warm and friendly atmosphere, as well as the attentive staff, making it a great place for casual dining with family or friends. The restaurant offers a genuine taste of African culinary traditions in a comfortable setting. During busy times, there may be a short wait, but the quality and authenticity of the food make it worthwhile. Overall, Southside African Restaurant is an excellent choice for anyone looking to enjoy authentic and satisfying African cuisine.

This place is very very good! I go often! Customer service is good and the food taste great! Very fair potion size for the price!! I always order the Egusi soup with fish or another soup kept in the glass container/warmer (small bowl) it is green has a boiled egg in it! It’s very good I’ve also tried the pepper goat it was very tough both times and I’ve tried the pepper fish I didn’t enjoy it!

Wish I could give this place 0 stars. The customer service was off and the food was greasy. I came all the way from south Elgin for African food. I could have made the meal better. Spend your money elsewhere.

Very respectable workers. Clean and friendly atmosphere 👌 I visit at least once a week. Great place, delicious food!

OK my goat portion was very satisfactory. Full piece of fish and goat was tender. Egusi was so so good with fufu and pepper sauce.

These guys have ZERO customer service skills. Need tire shine for your car? This is the place to be. Extra grease included.

This is the second time I’ve ate from here and was disappointed. Service was horrible . I asked for goat and was serve a meal with no meat and charged for it . The food isn’t worth the price . I wouldn’t recommend

Good local food from Nigeria. The restaurant itself is not very dressed up nicely and the food comes in a Styrofoam box. The tables are also not totally clean and the place looks a bit shabby. However, it tasted delicious and was served quickly. The staff was helpful and very kind as well. If you're looking for good food, and don't mind dirty tables/are going to take the food out, I would highly recommend this restaurant.

If you are vegetarian or vegan, skip this restaurant. They don't offer enough options to make a balanced meal without meat. Two or three different kinds of starch don't make a meal. Underwhelming.

Tried this place for the first time using Uber Eats once the African Restaurant near River Oaks failed terribly. This is my new spot for egusi. It was so good. Spicy just how I like it. Fufu wasn't mushy and this place was much more affordable. The portions were average.

This is a tapeworm I found in my food yesterday. I will Scratch this one off the list lol until then the food was great! Lol the rest went in the garbage.

They need better organization and respect for all people. I called my order in and 4 people who came in after me were serviced and checking out before i just decided to leave. I am not African and usually order the food online but going in really made me feel unwelcome, i would not go back. I was walked over and not respected just for being African American.

Pretty decent food here. My go to is definitely the jollof rice and meat pies. Conveniently close to work so I stop here often on my breaks or when heading home.

My people. I want to love you. Agh!!! But when you give one piece of fish and play games with portions. Maybe you thought I was simply an American tourist or something but you know that we don't play with this kind of thing. Your food is inconsistently spicy, people are not friendly and you cater to your regulars more so than customers that you l don't know. Well, I'm done with yet another terrible customer experience from a Nigerian restaurant here in Chicago!

Terrible first experience. Maybe we just went in, in a wrong time. I assumed they are open til 10 pm, and went in at 7. They are out of Everything And we ended up having the last of whatever was left. So disappointing especially since I read through all the great reviews and had my Hope all the way high. I would definitely HAVE to try it again.

Very good the best egusi I have had in Chicago Arrive early because things sell out quickly

The Egusi w/ spinach was DELICIOUS‍ This is my first time trying this restaurant out and I am not disappointed. My food was perfectly spiced and fresh all for a much more reasonable price than most! I Will definitely be back for more

The restaurant was clean. Nice atmosphere and vibe. Everything is a la cart. No prices are listed. If you google them and go on post mates you can see the prices ahead of time and get an idea of what it will cost you. The young lady waiting on us was helpful in answering all of my questions. I had never had Nigerian food but the person I was with did. The Jollof was flavorful. A little spicy for me but I'm a light weight. We got pounded yam (fufu), Egusi and Okra stews. We added meats of Cow skin, beef and tripe. We enjoyed it all. We also got plantains. They were just ok. Portions are smaller than expected. I knew this going in. I was told they tasted better than the competition in the area but their portions were smaller. I choose quality over quantity.

Absolutely amazing, I pray they stay consistent. My Egusi, EFO and Jollof was season to perfection. I will definitely be returning

Great authentic Nigerian restaurant. Maybe the only one on the south side. I tried the jollof rice with beef stew (you can choose the meat you want) and eba with egusi soup. The egusi is very spicy for a typical American palette (perfect for me). My Nigerian friend gave me suggestions on how to eat eba... take a bite on your spoon, dip in the soup and swallow. This place has reasonable prices. The prices displayed included tax. Nice serving size. They have a few tables for eat in if you want but it's more designed for take out.

Went to the Southside African restaurant just for something different. It's a small place with just a couple tables and you order at the counter. There were only a couple of menu items that I recognized like fufu and jollof, of course I didn't order either of those. I did order the beans and whatever the special was... some sort of beef stew. The beans were wonderful, the special was okay-- both were pretty spicy. I'd love to go back and try everything else on the menu!

I'm giving this restaurant 1 star not because of the food but the service which oftentimes is just as important. The restaurant made a mistake on our recent UberEats order. I immediately made them aware and they acknowledged the error. Fast forward to less than 24 hours later, after driving over 7 miles to get the correct item I also asked for a replacement on the EFO which wasn't eaten the prior day due to the missing fufu. I explained that after driving this distance for a $2 item that the least they could do give us not a free soup but replaced the one that wasn't eaten the prior day. I was basically told since there was nothing wrong with the EFO that I was only being given the correct fufu. The young lady helping me seem to think she was doing me a favor by giving me something I had already paid for. We went around and around back and forth with no regard for customer service. This will be the last time we frequent this establishment as it's obvious they would rather go back and forth with me instead of giving me a new soup that had already been served and bagged. Their not the only African Food restaurant in chicago so I'll take my business to one that appreciates my hard earned dollar.

The egusi soup with mixed meat was the best egusi I've ever had. The okra stew was also magnificent. I was happy to order from here for the first time. The pepper was bearable as well. I highly recommend this place.

Authentic Nigerian soups and stews. Very tasty remind me did me of my visits to Nigeria and my own stew that I cook in the winter months. Jollof rice was absolutely wonderful. Fresh and moist with additional red sauce adding a special touch of perfection. I typically have the Egusi soup and Okra soup...both full of flavor. All are absolutely great.

Food is so delicious , it's fresh, hot and tasty. My family and me order online from them and it still has amazing quality as well. I totally recommend for everyone to try it. Especially the ayamashe just had some the other day it was soooo good.

I had a super strong craving for some African cuisine, preferably stew or egusi soup, but was feeling far too lazy to drive way up north to get it haha. So I took out my phone, went straight to Yelp and came across this place! Now the name itself seems a little generic and off-putting but it had really good reviews on google and it wasn't too far from where I already was. So I pull up to the place and it's a little hard to tell where to go. I mean there's a giant sign on the side with the name of the restaurant, but I literally had no idea where to park. I'm assuming the restaurant shares the lot with the autoshop next door (assuming because I just parked there and never asked whether I could or not haha). So walking in I was a little caught off guard. While there are tables inside it's honestly not the ideal setup for dining on.(pictures will show you). The ordering window is a little strange as well,but you can see straight through to the kitchen and watch everythibg that they do, so that reassured me. I was handed a flyer like menu and told that those were the items that they had. Still wanting to sit down and eat,but not be rude I ordered egusi soup and a meat pie and went on my way. Now the meat pie itself was great! Fresh,thick dough but good and nice flavoring (think of a pot pie in the shape of an empanada.) There was also an extra kick of spice that I definitely liked! The egusi and pounded Yam was also really good! It was one of the spiciest I've had and all of the good flavors were there! I'll definitely be back to try out more menu items, but I probably won't dine in haha

Love their food. People are friendly and food is overwhelmingly delicious. Crave it constantly. I wish the meat was more tender. But, it is still really good. I'll be back soon

This is the WORST!!! If I could give them a 0 rating, that would be too much. My husband and I ordered the jollof rice. It was burned. They must've burned the rice and scraped the bottom of the pan. The rice was infused with the burnt taste and smell. Then we ordered the goat meat pepper soup. Totally disgusting. They had all types of pieces of the goat, that was hacked up and thrown in. It was more organ meat than anything in there. Then the beef stew was tough as nails. Pieces of beef thrown in what looked like tomato sauce. To top off this negative experience, they had a worker carving up a goat head right in the front. THIS PLACE SUCKS

Some of the best Nigerian food I've had. I had fish pepper everyday for 2 weeks. It was so spicy and filled with flavor.

A Nigerian restaurant on the East Side!! I went here for lunch with my Dad on the way back from getting gas in INDIANA. The egusi was nice and fresh.

Great little spot hidden away that serves the African immigrant community with dishes from back home. Yollof rice, grilled meats and fish, eugosi soup and more. It is a great treat

Portions are VERY generous. First is egusi soup (beneath the red sauce or tomato stew) and pounded yam. The soup was very greasy. I had to use a fork to pick up the egusi so the oil drained before eating. Second, is the jollof rice and it will pass on authenticity. The general flavor was there for both meals but not the greatest. The restaurant will definitely do if you're not up for a trek north; most of the African (Nigerian) restaurants in Chicago are located up north.

Food still good. Service, gets worse and worse every time I go there. The young lady who takes the orders seems to have a diabolical agreement with the owners where she works for 5 pennies an hour and she gets a place to live, some food and maybe her immigration papers. Either that or she's just a sovereign mule and is not cut out for the job. You can't have my money anymore. Good bye.

Very great food I love it here I eat here everyday.... nice people pleasant host magnificent everything and I love Maryam n Lala....

No frills african restaurant. The food is great and portion sizes are very generous. It's pretty much just your basic pick up and leave type restaurant. Although there are a few chairs, it's not really a group friendly place. That being said, if you want tasty quick Nigeria food, this is the spot. PS, make sure you call ahead and make sure they're open!!!!! I docked one star because they're so inconsistent with their hours. There's nothing more annoying that taking an Uber to a spot for some food you've been craving only to find out that they're not open, even though yelp, google and everything else says they are. Always call!!! Make sure you call ahead. Can't stress it enough. Besides that, there are no complaint

Best West African food that I could find on the South Side. Love the stew! One thing that is frustrating is the fact that I get charged different prices every time I go for essentially the same dish. It can range from $14 - $21. Usually the guy charges me more than the other cashiers. Wish there was more transparency with prices because they do not have an itemized menu. I'll continue to support.

Great food. Good service! There egusi soup is amazing! This is my go to spot for Nigerian food on the Southside!

My fiancé and I went there yesterday 8/3/2019 to get some Nigerian food. We usually eat at Qaato (which is on the north side). I was craving some nigerian food but I didn't want to travel to the north side, so I found this place which was near my house . The lady taking the orders was rude as hell, we told the lady we wanted to dine in( never doing that again) when our food was done they called us to the front to get our food because they said they forgot we were dining in. Overall the food was good but the service sucked. Oh and they charge to 2 dollars when you use your credit card. Thumbs down

The food was amazing. The staff was extremely polite as well. My food was spicy just how I like it. Also tried the egg rolls the were amazing I wish I ordered more to bring home due to the drive. I'll make the trip again soon.

I recently had a craving for some African food. I went in, ordered the Eugusi soup with (fish, beef, chicken),fu-fu and the Jollof rice. The food was okay, but it was very spicy. I really couldn't enjoy it like I wanted to b/c of the hotness. Maybe I should of asked for less spice, not sure if that's an option.

This place serves Cameroon food,fresh healthy and good.you don't have to go far to eat the foods of your ancestors stay connected.

This is my absolute favorite African restaurant. I eat here at least once or twice a week. I love the owners. I love love love the food here. The efo riro is a must with anything I order. Wasn't big on eating jollof rice until I tried theirs. Now I just can't stop eating it. Egusi soup and pounded yam is a must. I will continue to eat from here as frequently as I do now. I'm so glad I don't have to travel up North anymore for authentic African food. Must try.

Got fireworks shot at my car as I passed by, recently.

Awesome jollof rice. The egusi stew is great, but not enough stew, plenty of meat though.

The food is so good! And it's on the south side! I have had the jollof rice, egusi soup, and rice and stew!!!! I am so excited! I am going tonight!

The jollof rice was trash. Can't believe a fellow Yoruba made such nonsense. It lacked flavor and tasted stale. Needed more salt, thyme, bay leaf, and other spices. They get 2 stars because the Egusi was good minus the shaki that was so tough. You people almost broke my tooth lol.