Southside African Restaurant is: The Best Egusi in Illinois! The other dishes are Very Tasty too! But,I truly enjoy eating Egusi & FuFu. Allison & Sam are Amazing employees...as well as the others who are employed at Southside African Restaurant! The atmosphere is very friendlty! It's like being back in Lagos, Nigeria. Their food is the Real Deal, Authentic African Dishes. You won't be disappointed whenever you order any dish from their restaurant! Tell Allison & Sam...Ms. Sharon recommended you order their delicious meals/dishes! From An Extremely Satisfied Customer, Ms. Sharon read more

I've been waiting to try this restaurant for no other reason than the location away from my home but after trying the food today it was well worth it. This was my first time trying west African food. I've seen tons of YouTube recipes on west African cuisine and it looks delicious and by the way, it is! I had the jollof rice, chicken in a spicy red sauce. It was very good, the rice was perfectly cooked, chicken was tender and the sauce was fantastic. Spicy and flavorful. I'm definitely returning to try the fish and egusi soup. My only issue was the chicken pieces weren't whole pieces and shouldn't be charged as such. read more

Southside African Restaurant - Menu - African Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

This place is right off of Stoney Island not too far from the main road. They have a lot of parking when you come into the restaurant. There is two different areas where you can sit and eat. They do have a sink at the front door (that's how you know it's a great African restaurant). Very convenient see and placement. The food is served in buffet style. Everything is covered though. I ordered jollof rice, egusi, red stew with three pieces of meat. They do charge per piece of meat upwards of four dollars each. The jollof rice was reasonably priced as well as the goosy. The goosy was really good. I do feel like Fufu should come with the meal, not extra. The Fufu I had tasted a bit old. It was sitting out on the glass, but it wasn't fresh. My food tasted really good. The jollof rice was pretty decent. The goosy was very good. The red stew is spicy but not spicy enough. It was flavorful. My favorite piece of meat that I had was the beef. The turkey pieces were cut weirdly as well as the chicken. I did get some of those and tripe. All in all I will be going back just so that I can try more things that they have. They do have puff puff, but it did not look fresh. The restaurant was clean and it did not smell like a typical African restaurant. The service was very Nigerian. Do not expect them to be nice. You must know what you want. Don't ask too many questions because he will look at you crazy. He was definitely looking at me crazy. Besides that I would still go back and eat at this establishment. read more

I pulled up at 5pm on a Thursday. Called ahead but that was in vain--your food will be prepared when you arrive. When I got there it was no line, no wait. Anyways, Outstanding flavor on the food. I got the jollof rice and 4 pieces of beef, with egusi soup and fufu. Do yourself a favor and try this out if you're in the area. read more

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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. read more

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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. read more

I want to start with Ive been looking for a good African restaurant for a while without going to the north side. I be been coming to this restaurant for over a year the food is good the service from a young lady there has always bee courteous . Lately there's been an older guy there that's very rude and this is very bad for business. I have my family coming to this res as well. The last time there he overcharged me and when I requested my receipt he kept sayi bye to me. I demanded my receipt and he fin gave it to me to not alert the employees in the back. .That is how I dis whet he overcharged me for. He said I can give you 2more pieces of fish that was not ok but I felt offended by his total attitude and service. I thought long about doing this review but the owner needs to be aware of his actions towards his customers. I pray he does better to keep all customers happy read more

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. read more

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! read more

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. read more

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. read more

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. read more

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. read more

Southside African Restaurant - Egusi soup (goat) with eba - African Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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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! read more

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

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. read more

Had this amazing food for the first time a few weeks ago. It was so delicious that I placed an order today via Uber eats. Unfortunately my order was wrong they did not give me all of the food that I paid for. I called the restaurant hoping they would send it. The man that answered the phone was extremely rude! He told me to shut up as I was calmly trying to explain what happened! He then told me I ordered wrong and just call Uber eats and get my money back! I will reserve my comments and say they CLEARLY have more than one chef cuz And providing excellent customer service is key! read more

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 read more

Southside African Restaurant - (Left to right) *Egusi w/ Spinach /collards and fufu *Jollof w/ beef & Mackerel - African Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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. read more

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

Southside African Restaurant - Egusi - African Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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 read more

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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. read more

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 read more

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 read more

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. read more

Southside African Restaurant - a meal of rice, meat, and vegetables - African Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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.

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 read more

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. read more

Southside African Restaurant - African Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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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. read more

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. read more

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

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. read more

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 read more

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

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. read more

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 read more

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. read more

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.

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. read more