Get ready for rosemary fried chicken and the gooiest mac and cheese when acclaimed East Bay chef Fernay McPherson debuts the first San Francisco location of Minnie Bell's Soul Movement next week.

After a bit of a delay, we now have an opening date for Minnie Bell's Soul Movement at 1375 Fillmore Street, and it is Friday, April 19. Expect great fried chicken and classic sides like braised collard greens, candied yams, blackeyed pea salad, and brown butter cornbread, with plates starting at $20. But the star of the show may be the mac and cheese, which is extra cheesey and gooey and everything good.

Because of TikTok, or Instagram, the caviar-on-everything trend will extend to Minnie Bell's too, with optional caviar additions to either the fried chicken or the cornbread.

There are also several vegan options on the menu, including rosemary fried oyster mushrooms and plant-based mac and cheese. And later this spring, Minnie Bell's will begin serving brunch, featuring fried chicken and French toast (instead of waffles), and a braised oxtail and grit cake.

Since launching in 2018 as a stall at Emeryville's Public Market, chef and restaurateur Fernay McPherson has gained plenty of attention for her cooking, and the new Fillmore location marks a major expansion as well as a homecoming for McPherson. She is a third-generation resident of the Fillmore, and this location — in the former Bruno's pizzeria space — will be Minnie Bell's flagship, which McPherson has longed to open for many years.

"Minnie Bell's homecoming to the Fillmore is very special for me,” McPherson says. “I'm grateful and excited to be a part of the neighborhood’s revitalization. Being a representation of a bygone era is what this neighborhood needs and I look forward to seeing more of it."

McPherson's grandmother Lillie Bell and great aunt Minnie give the restaurant its name, and both women moved to the Fillmore neighborhood in the mid-20th Century.

Known as the "Harlem of the West" in the 1940s and 50s, the Fillmore once was home to a vibrant jazz scene and a post-war African American community. San Francisco's redevelopment efforts in the 1960s, now broadly seen as racist, were responsible for dislocating thousands of residents and decimating the city's Black population, which never fully recovered.

Revitalization efforts over the last two decades, particularly along the Fillmore Street corridor have sputtered, and the city is in the process of finding a new operator for the now almost 20-year-old Fillmore Heritage Center, which has sat mostly vacant for over six years.

Still, these few blocks of Fillmore Street between Geary Boulevard and Turk Street have seen a boomlet in fine dining over the last decade with openings of Michelin-starred State Bird Provisions, The Progress, Merchant Roots, and more recently Anchovy Bar and Bansang, which is a Michelin Bib Gourmand honoree.

"The grand opening of Minnie Bell’s Soul Movement in Fillmore is a testament to the strength of community and the transformative power of pursuing one's dreams,” says Sarah Dennis Phillips, San Francisco's executive director of the Office of Economic and Workforce Development, in a statement. "Fernay’s dedication to her craft and her investment in the Fillmore district is a beacon of inspiration, and this restaurant will be a wonderful addition to the collection of San Francisco’s culinary gems."

The restaurant's opening has had a leg up from Mayor London Breed's Dream Keeper Initiative, which provides grants to reinvest in San Francisco's diverse Black communities, and in this case, to help revitalize this historically Black retail area.

In a nod to the history of the neighborhood, a floor-to-ceiling, black-and-white photo will greet customers arriving at Minnie Bell's Soul Movement, showing an image of the intersection of Turk and Fillmore streets in 1966 — before a vast amount of demolition occurred. It features a 22-Fillmore bus, American Theatre’s “Black Arts West Presents," and Gilmore's Bar-B-Q.

Opening hours, starting on Friday, April 19, will be 4 pm to 10 pm, Tuesday through Saturday, with Sunday brunch launching at a later date this spring.

Previously: Acclaimed Fried Chicken Spot Minnie Bell's Is Coming to the Fillmore