Soup Cars and Spicy Peanut Butter Sandwiches

How Lula Café pioneered Logan Square’s powerhouse culinary scene
By Carol Candeloro

“What do we want to offer people?”

That’s what Lula Café owners Amalea Tshilds and Jason Hammel asked themselves when they started selling soup and sandwiches out of their car during the early 90s.

To its owners, Lula Café started out as a community first and a restaurant second. In 1999, Lula Café opened a small storefront on Kendzie Boulevard with a four burner stove and thrifted kitchenware.

Now as an established farm-to-table trailblazer, Lula Café attracts people with its crafted feel and eats. As a pioneer in Logan Square – a rival neighborhood to West Loop where Curtis Duffy’s restaurant, Grace is located – Lula Café showcases an elegant, small and causal menu still true to its modest roots. As Logan Square gentrifies at an increasing rate, Lula keeps its authentic, warm and quiet passion.

Discover Lula Café’s entire backstory from its owners Hammel and Tshilds.




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