Martha Lou’s | Mike Ledford

A loss for the Lowcountry

Martha Lou Gadsden, whose eponymous restaurant was praised across the world, died at 91 on the morning of Thursday, April 1. She was 91.

The Post & Courier reports that family members say she had been in good spirits the day before her death and think that Gadsden may have passed away following a fall.

Gadsden opened Martha Lou’s Kitchen in 1983 at 1068 Morrison Drive. The restaurant sold what Gadsden cooked in her home — fried chicken, lima beans, cornbread, and many other Southern staples.

In September 2020, after 37 years in business, the soul food restaurant closed due to the increased in development in the NoMo area and the land being sold. At the time, Gadsden said she was too old to start again.

The Southern food legend was well known to every resident and