Lucky Bean is something of  a Johannesburg institution with our guests being drawn from the local residents, greater Johannesburg and loads of tourists and business travellers. A favourite of the arts and cultural world the attraction is the laid back and cosmopolitan style of the restaurant. There is always great music and a great vibe.

The food is contemporary without pretention and we offer an excellent wine selection with fabulous cocktails.

Coming to Johannesburg and not visiting Lucky Bean, is like going to Zimbabwe without billions of Zim dollars.

 The name was changed from Soulsa to Lucky Bean after we lost a legal battle with a national food brand over the use of the word “Soul”.

Our new name was derived from the beautiful tree mural in Soulsa. Photographs of this tree have been seen around the world. Our restaurant has featured in, amongst others, KLM, Swissair and British Airways in-flight magazines as well as in Lonely Planet, on Unlike.net and in numerous other publications and TV programs, locally and internationally.

Lucky Bean Restaurant is at : 16, 7th Street, Melville.

This tree, the Erythrina Lysistemon is also known as the Coral Tree and “die Kanniedood nie (cannot die)”. It is called the Mophete in Tswana and the Umsinsi in Zulu.

Also commonly known as the Lucky Bean tree it is used for traditional medicines (muti) and the seeds are used as lucky charms and as beads and necklaces. The trees were planted on the graves of Chiefs.