When Soul & Smoke co-founders Heather Bublick and D’Andre Carter first began accepting take-out orders during the pandemic, they did not know what their catering company would become.
“We didn’t even realize we were opening a restaurant,” Bublick said.
Now, after over two years of renovation, the highly-rated barbecue spot is preparing to open an expanded Evanson location at 1601 Payne St., which Bublick expects to be ready in May.
According to Bublick, the renovated space will feature a full restaurant kitchen and dining room, private dining spaces and an open pit room so diners can view the meat smokers. The restaurant will still maintain its separate to-go window and pick-up space.
Bublick said they are also expecting to debut an expanded menu, which will include brisket cigars, a seafood platter and all-day barbecue options.
Soul & Smoke’s Evanston location has remained open to orders from their take-out window since its renovations began in January 2023. Yet, Bublick said the restaurant employees have had limited interactions with customers.
“I’m just excited to be open and be able to be face-to-face with people again,” she said. “It’s been a long time of just doing to-go (orders). We don’t see a lot of people. Being able to have the community come in is really exciting.”
Both Bublick and Carter have a background in fine dining and decided to forge their own path in 2012.
Bublick said the pair initially did not have the funding to create their own space, so they dove into the world of pop-ups and established their catering company, Feast and Imbibe.
Soul & Smoke purchased its Evanston location prior to the pandemic, when the building functioned as the base for its catering company and event space. Bublick said business changed dramatically over the course of the lockdown, when they began taking “on-demand” orders out of their window and put themselves on mobile food delivery platforms.
Soul & Smoke’s Resource Manager Rebecca Bladen, who joined the company during the pandemic, said many developments were taking shape. She said the restaurant launched several philanthropic ventures, working with World Central Kitchen to provide meals to the Chicago community.
“We were able to get paid a little bit, cover the cost of some of the food, get food out to people who needed it and never lay anyone off — in fact, hire people — during the pandemic,” Bladen said.
Once customers started to return to sit-down dining, Bublick said it seemed like the perfect opportunity to build a restaurant.
She added that it was a priority to remain at their location in the 5th Ward.
“We really wanted to be able to build the restaurant right here,” she said. “We thought that that was the right move. It didn’t feel good to kind of succeed and move to downtown Evanston.”
Soul & Smoke was able to secure $650,000 in funding to renovate that location through the City of Evanston’s Five-Fifths TIF, according to Bublick. This would have been sufficient to complete renovations had they not encountered a few setbacks, such as issues with the permitting process and the unexpected installation of a sprinkler system, she said.
Regardless, Bublick said she is excited for the restaurant to open where the company first set down its roots. For Evanston residents, maintaining the restaurant’s connection to the community hasn’t gone unnoticed.
Jonathan DeRuiter (School of Professional Studies M.S. ’16), co-founder of the events newsletter Around Evanston, said in a statement to The Daily that Soul & Smoke is a fixture of the Evanston community.
“If there’s an outdoor event in Evanston with food, there’s a good chance Soul & Smoke will be there,” DeRuiter said. “They’re truly an Evanston institution, and we personally love their brisket.”
Email: sophiebaker2028@u.northwestern.edu
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