Kitchen + Kocktails by Kevin Kelley, a Black-owned restaurant with a location in Northwest D.C., did not simply outgrow its River North address in Chicago. It pressed against it, strained its walls, and then left it behind, carrying proof that a Black-owned restaurant can thrive downtown even when the path is made harder than it needs to be.
After what Kelley called overwhelming support, the restaurant moved into a new 13,000-square-foot space at 339 N. Dearborn Street, across from the House of Blues Hotel Chicago and beside Marina City, with service set for this summer season.
“We opened in 2021. This is my second location. Now I’ve got nine hospitality concepts,” Kelley said during an interview on the “Let It Be Known” morning news show. “Chicago was number two. So, without the success of Chicago, we don’t get a chance to be in these other markets,” he noted.
That Chicago success, Kelley said, helped unlock a national footprint that now includes Dallas, Washington, D.C., Charlotte, Atlanta, Philadelphia and Miami, with additional markets on the horizon.
“Kitchen and Kocktails [is] the new weekend ritual,” one social media user wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
He said he is currently in Miami, where a new location has opened, and he shared the address on air, 2823 Northwest Second Avenue in Wynwood. He also said he has been in negotiations on spaces in Columbus, Ohio, and expects an Ohio location in 2027, with Los Angeles targeted for 2028.
The new Chicago site will continue the concept’s blend of elevated Southern comfort food and curated cocktails, including dishes such as fried chicken and lobster tails, shrimp and grits, jerk lamb chops, and inventive waffle interpretations. The Chicago kitchen will be led by Executive Chef Michael McLaurin. Kelley has also said the beverage program will incorporate Black-owned spirits and alcohol brands, with cocktails known for distinctive presentation.
Still, Kelley made clear that Chicago’s embrace has existed beside a different reality, one he said has nothing to do with the quality of the operation and everything to do with who owns it.
“In Chicago, the challenge is getting people to believe in us as a business,” Kelley said. “Sometimes, you know, when you’re a Black-owned business, sometimes you get more of a difficult time than a white-owned business.”
He then described what he called the biggest obstacle his Chicago location has faced, which he identified as governmental restrictions tied to the local alderman’s office. Kelley said he and his team have not been allowed to host DJs or live music at the restaurant, despite operating as a full-service dining destination, not a nightclub.
He identified the official as Alderman Brendan Reilly and said the issue has persisted despite outreach and what Kelley described as a clean record in Chicago.
“We’ve got an alderman that is in that area that will not allow DJs in our restaurant,” Kelley said. “They won’t allow live music in our restaurant because we’re in River North.”
Kelley said the limitations cut into revenue and cut against customer expectations, particularly because live music is part of the atmosphere at every other Kitchen + Kocktails location across the country. He also said the restaurant that occupied the space before him was permitted to host live music and DJs.
“Every location I have has live music except for Chicago,” Kelley said. “But the business that was there before me, Katana, they were allowed to have live music. They were allowed to have a DJ. But we’re told that we can’t.”
Despite Setbacks, Kelley Keeps Going
A spokesperson for Katana, which specializes in Sushi, confirmed the eatery enjoyed live music, including employing a DJ.
Kelley said he believes the restrictions are race-related.
“With us being a Black business, it doesn’t mean that we’re a club. It doesn’t mean that we’re ratchet. Doesn’t mean we’re ghetto,” he said. “I’m a restaurant. We serve chicken and waffles. You can come with your girlfriend, and your children. You can come with your grandparents, too.”
He also explained why he chose to speak publicly now, despite past guidance from lawyers urging silence while negotiations and legal strategy continued. Kelley said he has never discussed the alderman matter publicly before, but the size of the brand has changed the calculus.
“I’ve never spoken about that on a podcast before or even publicly, because my lawyers are usually like, hey, we’ll deal with the city,” Kelley said. “But now I got restaurants across the country. What are they going to do to me?”
Reilly’s office declined to comment.
The conversation also showed how Kelley ties growth to purpose, with staffing and training presented as part of the business model rather than a slogan. Kelley said he employs about 125 people in Chicago and estimated roughly 95% are Black and brown. He described building a workplace where Black workers are not confined to the kitchen but trained and elevated into roles that shape careers and earnings.
“Put them in the front of the restaurant,” Kelley said. “Let them put on the nice suits. Let them talk to your staff, give them the opportunity to be operators at a higher level.”
Kelley said his customer base is also a guiding force in how the brand is designed and how the menu is built.
“I want to go to Kitchen and Kicktails so bad,” one woman wrote on X.
He described his customers as roughly 70% female and said he approaches the restaurant as an experience, not only a meal, with signature elements such as visually striking cocktails and photo moments like the rose wall.
“I want to deliver experiences to people, too,” Kelley said. “That’s my opportunity to curate an experience and to ensure that we can make a positive effect on your life.”
Those experiences have also intersected with the Black Press in a tangible way. During the interview, the show’s team discussed plans to return to Washington, D.C., Kitchen + Kocktails location for Black Press Week events in March. Kelley responded on air by agreeing to sponsorship support in the form of a $10,000 food and drink credit for the March 17 event, describing it as a party for the Black Press.
“The drinks will flow and the food that we’ll do,” Kelley stated. “We’ll do pastry food to make sure everything is good. So, I’m throwing y’all a party down there.”
As his Chicago team prepares for the new downtown address, Kelley said the music dispute still matters because it touches something deeper than decibels. He called it cultural, and he urged the alderman and staff to visit the restaurant before making decisions that separate one kind of dining from another in the same neighborhood.
“We do deserve the chance to sit down and hear music when we go to our restaurants, just like the white restaurants in River North,” Kelley said. “So, give us our DJ, give us our music.”
Source: Washington Informer
