Rib Tips and Brisket-Topped Pizza Are Coming to Canaryville From Luella’s Family

by Naomi Waxman and Ashok Selvam / Eater Chicago / February 2, 2023

Over the past eight years, Chicago’s soul food aficionados have become close friends with Luella Funches, the late great-grandmother of chef Darnell Reed and the inspiration behind his beloved restaurant Luella’s Southern Kitchen in Lincoln Square. But the city is about to see another side of the legendary matriarch’s culinary legacy — one that’s all about barbecue — thanks to chef Tyris Bell, Reed’s brother and fellow great-grandson of the woman they call “Baye.”

Bell Heir’s BBQ, Bell’s to-go restaurant featuring hickory-smoked rib tips and barbecue turkey legs smothered in baked macaroni and cheese, will open on Friday, February 3 at 704 W. 47th Street. He’s bringing a number of his great-grandmother’s recipes from Reed’s restaurant but isn’t restricting himself to tradition, promising some offbeat crowd-pleasers like pizza and nachos piled with juicy brisket. Pizza isn’t the focus of the restaurant, but a product of having the proper equipment thanks to the restaurant that proceeded Bell Heir in the space. The crust is a little thicker than tavern style, but thinner than pan pizza and cut into triangles.

Bell has worked as Luella’s general manager since its founding in 2015, but as a lifelong South Side resident and graduate of Dunbar Vocational High School in Bronzeville, he felt compelled to “get back to [his] roots” with opening a restaurant in the area where he grew up. Read more HERE