How Food Trucks Help Anchor South Side Community Initiatives

Last month, the city unveiled an 8,500-square-foot outdoor plaza in Chatham. This is a new area packed with picnic he benches and tables surrounded by the work of local artists. Named after the influential gospel singer who joined the civil rights movement with her friend Martin Luther King Jr., Mahalia Jackson Court is a unique space meant to foster community.

One of the first steps in attracting visitors was enlisting the help of some of the best food trucks in the area, including I 94 Ribs, Haire’s Gulf Shrimp, The Love Juice Company and TJ’s. The Greater Chatham Initiative believes restaurants are integral to its mission to drive investment in Chatham and the surrounding region. This includes 75th Street and Restaurant Row with Soul Veg City, Lem’s Bar-BQ and 5 Loaves Eatery. With the belief that restaurants can anchor communities, the initiative launched Food Lab Chicago to rebuild commercial corridors in black neighborhoods while also providing support to overcome pandemic-related challenges. This effort mimics the campaign in Detroit.

Launched at Mahalia Jackson Court in early October, Food Truck Saturdays is a way to serve the community and introduce customers to new foods while providing a stream of potential customers to food truck owners. . Executive director of the initiative, she said Nedra Sims Fears is a regular patron of food trucks and thought it would be a great idea to have them in one place rather than cornered.

There are concerns that Chatham will be bustling with shoppers at Home Depot and Walmart on Saturday afternoons.

The courthouse is located near the state and 79th Streets, near the 79th Street Red Line stop on the CTA. Fears said the hooded truck could serve commuters who take the train to work in downtown Chicago. She hopes she can eventually lure the breakfast truck to the plaza on a regular basis. A family-friendly Halloween event is also held on the last two Saturdays of October.

“We really appeal to busy workers and parents and want to make their lives as simple as possible,” says Fears. “It’s like the North Side, where you have a transit hub where you can pick up diners and go home.”

While people in the north had long queues waiting to enter grocery stores during the pandemic, people in the south and west had a different experience. Nearly a third of stores have closed at least temporarily, in part due to civil unrest and looting following the murder of George Floyd. Restaurants in Chatham, which were already open for takeout and delivery, saw an uptick in business “there was literally food there,” Fears said. In the two years since Fears said nearly 90% of his businesses have reopened.

She says she hopes to add more trucks to offer more flavor to the region.

“We are Chicago’s heart of soul food, Caribbean and West Indian cuisine,” adds Fears.

Food Truck Saturdays October 22nd and October 29th at Mahalia Jackson Court, 1 E. 79th Street.