Angie’s Soul Café on Carnegie Will Open in September

It’s been more than a year since we first reported that Angie’s Soul Café would be taking over the vacated Hot Sauce Williams building at Carnegie, but now we have learned that the finish line is in sight. The new restaurant is on pace to open in September, according to Akin Alafin, owner of Soul Republic United Restaurants.

Commuters from the East Side have watched the exterior come alive with all new siding, windows and doors. Inside, the building was stripped to the studs and is being rebuilt with new flooring, new kitchen, new equipment, new bathrooms, new furniture and pretty much everything else.

When it opens this fall, Angie’s Soul Café will offer soul food classics like crispy fried chicken, freshly fried fish, daily specials like meatloaf, Salisbury steak and liver and onions, and those irresistible sides like black-eyed peas, collards greens and macaroni and cheese.

“We’re not trying to create a brand-new system, just to continue to evolve with the rest of the world,” says Alafin.

The new restaurant will facilitate take-out orders with dedicated parking spots, curb service and, soon, an app for ordering and payment.

When this newest location opens its doors – or a few days prior – the store on St. Clair (3400 St. Clair Ave., 216-426-8890) will permanently close.

“We’re finally moving back to the street where we started,” Alafin says “A lot of people don’t know that that’s where Angie started at, in the Carnegie Hotel.”

Alafin is referring to Angie’s Soul Cafe originator Angie Jeter, who began her professional cooking career just blocks away at the Carnegie Hotel at E. 69th Street. Jeter went on to open soul food restaurants after the hotel closed.

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