The last vestiges of a South Side institution are no more.
A demolition crew took down what was left of Gladys Luncheonette at 4527 S. Indiana on Monday.
The popular soul food restaurant first opened on State Street in the 1940s before moving to the Bronzeville location in 1963. The luncheonette closed down several years ago.
The original owner, Gladys Holcomb, ran the restaurant until failing health forced her to walk away in 1997. She was honored with an Illinois General Assembly resolution after she died in 2003, which named the many luminaries who ate there, including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Lou Rawls, Redd Foxx, Governor Jim Thompson, Della Reese, Reverend Jesse Jackson and Gladys Knight.
The resolution specifically highlighted the luncheonette's "delicious fried chicken, smothered chicken, smothered pork chops, peach cobbler, 'melt-in-your-mouth' biscuits and other down home, southern delicacies."
It's not clear if another business is planned for the property.
