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BOO'S SOUL KITCHEN
Sunday, November 19, 2000. There is a fellow called Big Man who
is a regular at Boo's Soul Food Cafe, 10936 S. Vincennes Ave., and
who often blames Boo, and not the food she serves, for making him
go off his doctor-ordered diet. Other customers accuse her of making
their waistlines expand. As if on cue, one such man walked in the
door of this extremely cozy and friendly cafe and said to a stranger,
"Look what she's done to me." He patted his ample stomach, laughed,
said again, "Look what she's done to me," and ordered meatloaf,
mashed potatoes with gravy, green beans and peach cobbler, "always
that peach cobbler." It was lunch time at Boo's, and most of the
dozen or so tables in the brightly lit, rectangular dining room
were occupied. One of those eating was Boo herself, otherwise known
as Willetta Tatum, who told us, "The name Boo comes from my childhood.
It's what my mama called me. She died two years ago, just before
I opened this place, and I decided to honor her memory by using
the name." Tatum opened Boo's on a "prayer and a dream," in a space
next to a car wash that had already been an unhappy home over the
years to four or five failed restaurants. A native Chicagoan, she
learned to cook from her mother and later worked as a manager for
LaSalle National Bank and in the food service operation at Midway
Airport. Before opening Boo's she ran the cafeteria at the old Board
of Education headquarters on Pershing Road. "I always wanted to
start my own restaurant, and business here was good from the start,"
she says. "But knowing how to cook doesn't mean you know anything
about running a place. At first I was overwhelmed. I had a lot to
learn." She has learned quickly. Customers are so happy with the
restaurant that they bring Boo gifts such as stuffed animals that
she proudly displays. Boo's is open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily,
except Mondays when it's closed and Sundays when it opens at 8 a.m.
It serves great food. On any given day, diners can choose one of
three entrees from a list that includes pot roast, baked ham, smothered
pork chops, chicken and dumplings, chitterlings, ribs and catfish.
They come with two side dishes (choose from yams, collard greens,
rice, black-eyed peas, green beans, mashed potatoes). And "always
that peach cobbler." Most meals will cost you a couple of bucks
less than $10. Boo's husband, Jackie Tatum, has remained relatively
thin and says, "I knew she was a good cook, but it's been great
to see so many other people really enjoy her food. Some days we
run out of food way before closing time." So popular has Boo's become,
especially on Sundays, that many people are telling her that she
needs to expand. Though she has notions of one day opening another
location, she wants this place to stay the way it is. "I love to
keep it small and homey," she says. "We put a little bit of home
here 'cause we're never home."
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