Soul food returns to Reading Terminal Market

Reading Terminal Market recently announced a new soul food merchant set to open later this month.
Ma Lessie’s Chicken and Waffles will be owned and operated by Perry Ison, former manager of KeVen Parker’s Soul Food Café, and his cousin Stacy McCarthy. The restaurant will serve comfort food including fried and baked chicken wings, baked mac and cheese, collard greens, smoked turkey, and peach cobbler.

Ison left his management role at KeVen Parker’s Soul Food Café in 2019 to open Ma Lessie’s Chicken and Waffles as a food truck, which is also set to open for business in the coming weeks.
Ma Lessie’s is named after Ison and McCarthy’s grandmother, Ma Lessie Collins. The menu will feature soul food dishes inspired by recipes she passed down through the family. Additional menu highlights include fruit-infused waffles and rice and gravy. The restaurant is targeted to open in mid-August and will serve diners seven days a week.

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