Nearly four decades later, the Chicago Tribune has called it the oldest Black woman-owned soul food restaurant in the city, and in 2017 the city renamed the stretch of 79th Street out front “Mother Josephine Wade Way” in her honor — that's the kind of civic recognition that doesn't get handed out for just running a good kitchen. Her son and co-owner Victor Love pushed to rename it Josephine's after a 2019 Food Network Restaurant: Impossible makeover, finally putting her name on the door. The menu runs deep Southern comfort: pan-fried liver and onions, golden fried catfish, chicken and waffles, a roasted half chicken with mashed potatoes and mac and cheese, and a gumbo good enough that Aretha Franklin reportedly called it the best in the world and had Wade deliver it backstage when she couldn't make it in person.
There's a real, standing Sunday special too: an all-you-can-eat buffet for $15. Beyond the food, this has functioned for decades as an actual South Side community hub — organizing meetings, political fundraisers, free meals for seniors throughout the pandemic — which is a harder thing to fake than good cooking. No star rating here is confidently nailed down across platforms, but a restaurant this well-documented, this politically and culturally load-bearing, doesn't need one to make the case.
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