(COLORADO SPRINGS)– As February comes to a close, so does this year’s Black History Month but that doesn’t mean the celebration has to stop. Southern Colorado is home to a variety of black-owned businesses and restaurants offering everything from delicious ice cream to classical soul food.

Luchals has a unique spin on the beloved southern food, ninety percent of their menu is gluten-free to serve the needs of people in the community who have Celiac disease or other dietary conditions.

“I think they called it the triple threat, and it was composed of fish and chicken in this dish, I also got the fried tomatoes and it was all really good, it was very tasty,” said one satisfied customer on Saturday.

The restaurant balances opposites by finding a way to blend seafood with soul food.

“We have a soulfulness to our food, which is why it’s soulful seafood, and that kind of changes the concept of when you get here, you understand that we put love and heart and soul into our food,” said Shantel Lucas, the owner and founder of Luchals.

The veteran-owned business began the restaurant when they noticed a lack of flavors in Colorado Springs.

“Especially like being away from home, being in the military. You crave that home feeling, and this is kind of the feeling, you know, about being back home,” said another happy customer.

Soul food is not just a cuisine, it’s the story of resilience, creativity, and cultural heritage.

“I think we are finding that a lot more minority-owned restaurants and soul food restaurants are popping up on the scene, which is good,” said Lucas.

Also meeting dietary needs, “sometimes people think gluten-free is, you know, nasty, dry, no taste flavor flavorless, we can keep the essence of what that food is supposed to taste like, flavor profiles and all of that without taking it away, and we’ve been able to do that without taking it away solely,” said Lucas.

Juicy meats, hot peppers, and garlic are just a few of the ingredients that give their dishes rich flavors.

“People love our fried green tomatoes, it is awesome with all of our signature sauces, our sauces are all made in-house. So, that gives also a different essence to those products that you are tasting, and if anything else, our salmon bites are to die for,” said Lucas.

The story of soul food begins during slavery when enslaved Africans transformed scraps of food into nourishing flavorful dishes.

For more information on the trending restaurant, click on the link above.