Dining with Molly
Movin' up: Chuck's Soul Food relocates to the boulevard


By Molly Abraham / Special to The Detroit News

AUBURN HILLS--Chuck and Lorraine Lizana thought Coney Islands would be their culinary territory when they took over a little hotdog joint in Pontiac in 1983.
   This should be an easy operation," Lorraine Lizana recalls thinking at the time.
   So the reaction of customers came as a jolt.
   "We did not do well," she says. "People found out we were from Louisiana, and they wanted red beans and rice and greens and catfish. They wanted real cooking."
   The couple responded, and Chuck's Soul Food restaurant was born, a true mom-and-pop operation, with their children, Chuck Jr. and Lisa, growing up in the business with their parents.
   Three years ago, a chain drugstore came along and bought out the Lizanas. And so, after taking a step up from Coney Islands, they were able to go up another notch on the restaurant ladder. After looking all over the metro area for a new location, they found one just three miles from the original, a former Ponderosa Steakhouse that had all the amenities they were looking for: a free-standing building, a parking lot and space for 150 customers in a very desirable neighborhood. To the east were homes and condos; to the west and north, industrial development.
   Working with designer Paul Greene of Birmingham, Lorraine Lizana rid the building of the Ponderosa aura, bringing in the gold, green and purple of New Orleans, along with lamp posts, street signs, wrought iron and intriguing little touches such as the umbrellas used as shades on the lamps hanging from the ceiling. They even added a little faux balcony to the building's facade.
   Chuck's on the Boulevard opened in August, offering barbecued ribs from the huge hickory-wood smoker behind glass in the dining room, po-boy sandwiches made with catfish, oysters, shrimp and hot sausage, and Southern fried chicken and catfish, along with a full bar where the fruity rum drink native to New Orleans, the Hurricane, is dispensed along with more conventional drinks. Occasionally, they book blues bands to add to the atmosphere and hope to do more of that during the holidays.
   Though the staff now numbers 26, including five cooks in slouchy white beret-style toques who can be seen in the partially open kitchen, it's still mom and pop to a certain extent. Chuck makes the tangy, slightly sweet barbecue sauce and the spaghetti sauce, pours the drinks and keeps an eye on everything.
   Lorraine provides bread pudding and lemon pound cake and, though it's not on the menu, she occasionally bakes red velvet cake with cream cheese and walnut frosting. Sweet-potato pie is another of her specialties, and it's now in season again. She's known for her candied yams, one of the sides that also includes greens, red beans and rice, baked beans -- and, in the menu vernacular, "cheese and macaroni" and "loudpuppies" among 16 choices.
   Cornbread is pancake-style, made in a skillet, and it's notable. It comes with the entrees along with two sides. Chuck's on the Boulevard also serves some interesting combination plates, offering a cross-section of their New Orleans style. The Bayou seafood platter includes fried shrimp, oysters, stuffed crab, catfish strips, breaded crab claws with French fries, loudpuppies and Southern slaw. The Down Home platter features barbecued ribs and fried shrimp with potato, tossed salad or Southern slaw.
   Lighter dishes include New Orleans salad (mixed greens with popcorn shrimp, cherry tomatoes and red onions), hamburgers and Cajun-spiced burgers, both made with certified Angus beef.
   Just don't ask for a Coney Island.
   

You can reach Molly Abraham at (313) 222-1475 or abraham67@com cast.net. Come back to The Detroit News for Jane Rayburn's restaurant reviews every Friday in Weekend Guide.

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